Chapter 1

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by order of God our Savior and of Jesus Christ our hope, ²to Timothy, my true child in faith; God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord bless you and be merciful to you, and give you peace.

³As I asked you to do when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on in Ephesus in order to warn certain people there not to teach strange views ⁴nor to devote themselves to fictions and interminable pedigrees; such things lead to controversy instead of the divine system which operates through faith. ⁵The aim of your instruction must be love that springs from a pure heart and from a good conscience and from a sincere faith. ⁶Some people have failed in these things and been diverted into fruitless talk. ⁷They would like to be teachers of law although they do not understand the words they use or the matters they insist upon.

⁸I agree that the Law is excellent—provided it is legitimately used, ⁹with the understanding that law is not intended for upright men but for the lawless and disorderly, the godless and irreligious, the irreverent and profane, men who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, ¹⁰immoral people, men sexually perverted, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, or whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, ¹¹as set forth in the glorious good news of the blessed God with which I have been intrusted.

¹²I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has given me the strength for it, for thinking me trustworthy and putting me into his service, ¹³though I once used to abuse, persecute, and insult him. But he had mercy on me, because I had acted in ignorance and unbelief, ¹⁴and the blessing of our Lord has been given me in the greatest abundance, together with faith and love that union with Christ Jesus brings. ¹⁵It is a trustworthy saying, entitled to the fullest acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And I am the foremost of them, ¹⁶but God had mercy on me in order that in my case as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display his perfect patience, as an example to those who would later believe in him and find eternal life. ¹⁷To the eternal King, immortal and invisible, the one God, be honor and glory forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁸These are the instructions that I intrust to you, my son Timothy, and they are in accordance with the predictions made long ago about you. Fight the good fight with their aid, ¹⁹keeping hold of faith and a good conscience. For some people have let that go and have had their faith ruined, ²⁰like Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I turned over to Satan, to be taught not to blaspheme.