1 Timothy 1:3–11

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