1 Timothy 1

GREETING

1Paul,^a an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command^b of God our Savior^c and of Christ Jesus our hope:^d

²To Timothy,^e my true son in the faith.

Grace, mercy, and peace from God the^A Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

FALSE DOCTRINE AND MISUSE OF THE LAW

³As I urged you when I went to Macedonia,^f remain in Ephesus^g so that you may instruct certain people^h not to teach false doctrine ⁴or to pay attention to mythsⁱ and endless genealogies. These promote empty speculations rather than God’s plan,^j which operates by faith. ⁵Now the goal of our instruction is love^k that comes from a pure heart,^l a good conscience,^m and a sincere faith.^{n 6}Some have departed from these and turned aside to fruitless discussion. ⁷They want to be teachers of the law, although they don’t understand what they are saying or what they are insisting on. ⁸But we know that the law is good,^o provided one uses it legitimately. ⁹We know that the law is not meant for a righteous person, but for the lawless and rebellious,^p for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and irreverent, for those who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰for the sexually immoral^q and males who have sex with males,^r for slave traders, liars,^s perjurers, and for whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching^{t 11}that conforms to the gospel^u concerning the glory of the blessed God,^v which was entrusted to me.^w

PAUL’S TESTIMONY

¹²I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened^x me, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry—¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer,^y a persecutor,^z and an arrogant man.^aa But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief, ¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵This saying is trustworthy^ab and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world^ac to save sinners”^ad—and I am the worst of them.^{ae 16}But I received mercy^af for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience^ag as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life.^{ah 17}Now to the King^ai eternal,^aj immortal,^ak invisible, the only^B God,^al be honor^am and glory^an forever and ever. Amen.^ao

ENGAGE IN BATTLE

¹⁸Timothy, my son, I am giving you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies^ap previously made about you, so that by recalling them you may fight the good fight, ¹⁹having faith^aq and a good conscience,^ar which some^as have rejected and have shipwrecked their faith. ²⁰Among them are Hymenaeus^at and Alexander,^au whom I have delivered to Satan,^av so that they may be taught not to blaspheme.