Greeting

¹Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby command of cGod our Savior and of Christ Jesus dour hope,

²To Timothy, emy true child in the faith:

fGrace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Warning Against False Teachers

³gAs I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not hto teach any different doctrine, ⁴nor ito devote themselves to myths and endless jgenealogies, which promote kspeculations rather than the stewardship1 from God that is by faith. ⁵The aim of our charge is love lthat issues from a pure heart and ma good conscience and na sincere faith. ⁶Certain persons, by oswerving from these, have wandered away into pvain discussion, ⁷desiring to be teachers of the law, qwithout understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

⁸Now we know that rthe law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹understanding this, that the slaw is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,2 liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to tsound3 doctrine, ¹¹in accordance with uthe gospel of the glory of vthe blessed God wwith which I have been entrusted.

Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners

¹²I thank him xwho has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, yappointing me to his service, ¹³though formerly I was a blasphemer, zpersecutor, and insolent opponent. But aI received mercy bbecause I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, ¹⁴and cthe grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the dfaith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵The saying is etrustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus fcame into the world to save sinners, gof whom I am the foremost. ¹⁶But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. ¹⁷To hthe King of the ages, iimmortal, jinvisible, kthe only God, lbe honor and glory forever and ever.4 Amen.

¹⁸This charge mI entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with nthe prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may owage the good warfare, ¹⁹pholding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have qmade shipwreck of their faith, ²⁰among whom are rHymenaeus and sAlexander, whom I thave handed over to Satan that they may learn not to ublaspheme.