Single lesson
Tobit's Advice to Tobias
Tobit 4:1–19
In this Catholic additional book passage, Tobit gathers practical instruction for his son Tobias. The speech joins family care, obedience to God, generosity, self-control and wise choices in one ordered set of commands.
Before you teach
Tobit remembers money left with Gabael in Media and decides to call Tobias before he dies. The passage is a father’s instruction speech, moving from burial and honour within the family to righteousness, alms, marriage, work, counsel and prayer.
Describe the central teaching of Tobit's Advice to Tobias, using two details from the reading. Tobit teaches Tobias to remember God and show that loyalty in family duty, righteous conduct, generosity and careful choices.
Welcome: Tobit's Advice to Tobias
4 minIntroduce “Tobit's Advice to Tobias” and locate Tobit 4:1–19. Tobit teaches Tobias to remember God and show that loyalty in family duty, righteous conduct, generosity and careful choices. Invite each learner to name a detail or question they will listen for.
Tobit 4:1, Tobit 4:10, Tobit 4:19
Read and explain the passage
8 minTobit starts with clear duties. Tobias must bury him, not despise his mother, honour her all her life and not grieve her. He must also remember the dangers she bore for him and bury both parents in one grave. Honour is described through concrete acts.
Tobit speaks at length about alms. Tobias must not turn away from the poor or give with envy. He should give according to what he has, whether much or little. Tobit calls alms a good gift before the Most High and says it lays up treasure, delivers from death and keeps from darkness.
Tobit warns against fornication and tells Tobias to marry within his own people. He also speaks about kindred, idleness, prompt wages, discretion and avoiding drunkenness. Finally, Tobias is to share with the needy, seek wise counsel, bless the Lord and ask him to make his ways straight.
Read the selected verses together, pausing at “Tobit's Advice to Tobias”. Use the source reading below and check the explanation against the words of the passage.
Tobit 4:3, Tobit 4:4, Tobit 4:7, Tobit 4:8, Tobit 4:9, Tobit 4:10, Tobit 4:11, Tobit 4:12, Tobit 4:13, Tobit 4:14, Tobit 4:15, Tobit 4:16, Tobit 4:17, Tobit 4:18, Tobit 4:19
Discuss the details and their meaning
6 minUse the three questions below. Begin with “What does Tobit say honouring a parent should look like here?” and allow time to find the supporting verses. Tobit teaches Tobias to remember God and show that loyalty in family duty, righteous conduct, generosity and careful choices. Ask learners to explain which details support their answer and to identify a question they would like to explore further.
Tobit 4:3, Tobit 4:4, Tobit 4:7, Tobit 4:8, Tobit 4:16, Tobit 4:17, Tobit 4:18, Tobit 4:19
Make and respond: Instruction and context chart
9 minWork on “Tobit's Advice to Tobias: Instruction and context chart”. Follow the materials and steps below, using “Tobit's Advice to Tobias” as reading headings. Each learner should include at least two accurate details and their verse references. Share one observation from the finished sheet and explain how it connects with the central teaching.
Tobit 4:1, Tobit 4:10, Tobit 4:19
Closing: return to Tobit's Advice to Tobias
3 minRevisit Tobit 4:1–19. Invite a learner to summarise what the group has learned about Tobit's Advice to Tobias and another to support the summary with a verse. Give learners a moment to complete their response sheet. They can share a question or, if appropriate for the group, join the optional prayer.
Tobit 4:1, Tobit 4:10, Tobit 4:19
Questions to explore
What does Tobit say honouring a parent should look like here?
List the actions he names for Tobias toward his father and mother, especially burial, honour and not grieving his mother.
Tobit 4:3, Tobit 4:4
How does Tobit describe giving alms when a person has much or little?
Notice both the attitude he forbids and the rule that giving should match a person’s possessions.
Tobit 4:7, Tobit 4:8
What instructions appear in the closing part of the speech about giving, counsel and prayer?
Read the commands in order, including sharing bread and garments, the burial of the just, not giving to sinners, seeking wise counsel and asking the Lord to make paths straight.
Tobit 4:16, Tobit 4:17, Tobit 4:18, Tobit 4:19
Make, think or respond
Tobit's Advice to Tobias: Instruction and context chart
What you’ll need
- plain paper or card
- pencils or pens
- coloured pencils or crayons
Try it together
- Fold a sheet into three panels or draw three columns. Label them “Who is addressed?”, “What is required?”, “What reason or purpose is given?”.
- Read Tobit 4:1–19. Use “Tobit's Advice to Tobias” as your reading headings and add a short quotation or detail with its verse reference to each panel.
- Talk through your notes with an adult. Add a word, drawing or short quotation that helps you remember each part.
- Under the chart, distinguish instructions in their original setting from an application you could discuss today.
The finished sheet keeps the details of Tobit's Advice to Tobias connected to their Bible references and gives the group a way to explain what they noticed.
Adapt for your group
- For younger children, read the selected verses aloud, prepare the three panels and let them respond with drawings or a few words. Use Tobit's Advice to Tobias as the retelling prompt.
- For older children, add verse references to the response sheet and explain a connection between Tobit's Advice to Tobias and the final part of the reading.
An optional closing prayer
“God, help us listen carefully as we read Tobit 4:1–19. Help us understand what we have read, ask thoughtful questions and respond with care for others. Amen.”
Read the Bible passage World English Bible Classic
Tobit 4
1 In that day Tobit remembered the money which he had left in trust with Gabael in Rages of Media,
2 and he said to himself, I have asked for death; why do I not call my son Tobias, that I may explain to him about the money before I die?
3 And he called him, and said, “My child, if I die, bury me. Don’t despise your mother. Honor her all the days of your life, and do that which is pleasing to her, and don’t grieve her.
4 Remember, my child, that she has seen many dangers for you, when you were in her womb. When she is dead, bury her by me in one grave.
5 My child, be mindful of the Lord our God all your days, and don’t let your will be set to sin and to transgress his commandments: do righteousness all the days of your life, and don’t follow the ways of unrighteousness.
6 For if you do what is true, your deeds will prosperously succeed for you, and for all those who do righteousness.
7 Give alms from your possessions. When you give alms, don’t let your eye be envious. Don’t turn away your face from any poor man, and the face of God won’t be turned away from you.
8 As your possessions are, give alms of it according to your abundance. If you have little, don’t be afraid to give alms according to that little;
9 for you lay up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity;
10 because alms-giving delivers from death, and doesn’t allow you to come into darkness.
11 Alms is a good gift in the sight of the Most High for all that give it.
12 Beware, my child, of all fornication, and take first a wife of the seed of your fathers. Don’t take a strange wife, who is not of your father’s tribe; for we are the descendants of the prophets. Remember, my child, that Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers of old time, all took wives of their kindred, and were blessed in their children, and their seed will inherit the land.
13 And now, my child, love your kindred, and don’t scorn your kindred and the sons and the daughters of your people in your heart, to take a wife of them; for in scornfulness is destruction and much trouble, and in idleness is decay and great lack; for idleness is the mother of famine.
14 Don’t let the wages of any man who works for you wait with you, but give it to him out of hand. If you serve God, you will be rewarded. Take heed to yourself, my child, in all your works, and be discreet in all your behavior.
15 And what you yourself hate, do to no man. Don’t drink wine to drunkenness, and don’t let drunkenness go with you on your way.
16 Give of your bread to the hungry, and of your garments to those who are naked. Give alms from all your abundance. Don’t let your eye be envious when you give alms.
17 Pour out your bread on the burial of the just, and give nothing to sinners.
18 Ask counsel of every man who is wise, and don’t despise any counsel that is profitable.
19 Bless the Lord your God at all times, and ask of him that your ways may be made straight, and that all your paths and counsels may prosper; for every nation has no counsel; but the Lord himself gives all good things, and he humbles whom he will, as he will. And now, my child, remember my commandments, and let them not be blotted out of your mind.
World English Bible Classic. Public domain.