1 This scroll is a story told by Tobit. He was the son of Tobiel son of Hananiel son of Aduel son of Gabael son of Raphael son of Raguel, whose family came from Asiel, of the Naphtali tribe.
2 In the days of Shalmaneser king of the Assyrians, he was captured in Thisbe, south of Kedesh-naphtali in the upper hills of Galilee, northwest of Hazor and north of Peor.
3 I, Tobit, was trustworthy and behaved righteously during my entire life. I would help support my relatives and others of my country who were captured and taken with me to Nineveh in the country of the Assyrians.
4 While I was young and in my own country of Israel, the tribe of my ancestor Naphtali deserted the descendants of my ancestor David and stayed away from Jerusalem, the city chosen from among all the tribes of Israel for offering sacrifices on behalf of all the tribes of Israel. There God’s own dwelling place, the temple, was built and dedicated for use by all future generations.
5 Instead, all my relatives and the whole tribe of my ancestor Naphtali would offer sacrifices on all the hills of Galilee to the image of a calf that Israel’s King Jeroboam had set up in Dan.
6 I would often go by myself to Jerusalem on religious holidays, as the Law commanded for every Israelite for all time. I would hurry off to Jerusalem and take with me the early produce of my crops, a tenth of my flocks, and the first portion of the wool cut from my sheep.
7 I would present these things at the altar to the priests, the descendants of Aaron. I would give the first tenth of my grain, wine, olive oil, pomegranates, figs, and other fruit to the Levites who served in Jerusalem. For six out of seven years, I also brought the cash equivalent of the second tenth of these crops to Jerusalem where I would spend it every year.