Do not be afraid here means “don’t worry” (Good News Translation).

We have become poor … You have great wealth: Note Tobit’s use of the pronouns we and You. When Tobit speaks of his son having wealth, he uses the present tense, not the future; and the Greek does not actually say that this wealth is money, though Good News Translation and New American Bible assume so. The sense need only be that “if you fear [obey] God and avoid sin and do what is right, you already have [literally] many good things.”

Fear God means to “obey [or, respect] God,” not fear in a literal sense of being afraid.

Flee from every sin: It will be appropriate in certain languages to maintain the metaphor of flee or “run” (Contemporary English Version), while in other languages translators must use a term such as “avoid” (Good News Translation).

Do what is good in the sight of the Lord your God means to do what God considers good.

There is not necessarily any promise of a future in Tobit’s words, but only a reassurance that doing right is reward enough. If this interpretation is followed, an alternative translation model for the verse is:

• We have become poor, but don’t worry. If you obey [or, respect] God, avoid sin, and do what he considers good, you already are wealthy [or, have many good things].

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Tobit. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.