^6:11But you, as a person dedicated to God,¹⁴ keep away from all that.¹⁵ Instead pursue righteousness, godliness, faithfulness, love, endurance, and gentleness. ^6:12Compete well¹⁶ for the faith and lay hold of that eternal life you were called for and made your good confession¹⁷ for¹⁸ in the presence of many witnesses. ^6:13I charge you¹⁹ before God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who made his good confession²⁰ before Pontius Pilate, ^6:14to obey²¹ this command²² without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ ^6:15—whose appearing²³ the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, will reveal at the right time. ^6:16He alone possesses immortality and lives in unapproachable light, whom no human has ever seen or is able to see. To him be honor and eternal power! Amen.

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1 Timothy 6:11: But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

Footnotes

14 Grk “O man of God.”
15 Grk “flee these things.”
16 This phrase literally means “compete in the good competition of the faith,” using words that may refer to a race or to a boxing or wrestling match: “run the good race” or “fight the good fight.” The similar phrase in 1 Tim 1:18 uses a military picture and is more literally “war the good warfare.”
17 At some point in Timothy’s life, he publicly acknowledged Jesus as the resurrected Lord, perhaps either at his baptism or his ordination as a minister of the gospel. With this reminder of the historical moment of his good confession, Timothy is encouraged to remain steadfast in his faith and to finish his life as a minister in the same way it began (see G. W. Knight, Pastoral Epistles [], ).
18 Grk “confessed the good confession.”
19 Most witnesses, some of them important (א2 A D H 1881 𝔐 lat sy bo), have σοι (soi, “you”) after παραγγέλλω (parangellō, “I charge [you]”), a predictable variant because the personal pronoun is demanded by the sense of the passage (and was added in the translation because of English requirements). Hence, the omission is the harder reading, and the addition of σοι is one of clarification. Further, the shorter reading is found in several important witnesses, such as א* F G Ψ 6 33 1739 . Thus, both internally and externally the shorter reading is preferred. places σοι in brackets, indicating some doubts as to its authenticity. Grk “I charge.”
20 Grk “testified the good confession.” Jesus’ good confession was his affirmative answer to Pilate’s question “Are you the king of the Jews?” (see Matt 27:11, Mark 15:2, Luke 23:3, John 18:33–37).
21 The Greek word τηρέω (tēreō, traditionally translated “keep”) in this context connotes preservation of and devotion to an object as well as obedience.
22 Grk “the command.” The command refers to the duties laid upon Timothy for his ministry in Ephesus (1 Tim 1:3–20; 6:2c–5).
23 Grk “which.” All of 1 Tim 6:15 is a relative clause which refers back to “appearing” in v. 14. The phrase “whose appearing” was supplied to clarify this connection.

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you to keep this command without spot or blame until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which God will bring about in his own time—God, the blessed and only Ruler, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see. To him be honor and might forever. Amen.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

But you, man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of eternal life to which you were called and about which you have made a good confession in the presence of many witnesses. In the presence of God, who gives life to all, and of Christ Jesus, who gave a good confession before Pontius Pilate, I charge you to keep this command without fault or failure until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ. God will bring this about in his own time. He is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who alone is immortal and who lives in unapproachable light, whom no one has seen or can see, to him be honor and eternal power. Amen.

NLTNew Living Translation

But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness. Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have declared so well before many witnesses. And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate, that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again. For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords. He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

But you, O man of God, flee from these things, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patient endurance, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith; take hold of the eternal life to which you were called, and confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I command you, in the sight of God who gives life to all things and Christ Jesus who testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate, that you observe the commandment without fault, irreproachable until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will make known in his own time, the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of those who reign as kings and Lord of those who rule as lords, the one who alone possesses immortality, who lives in unapproachable light, whom no human being has seen nor is able to see, to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.

KJV 1900King James Version

But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses. I give thee charge in the sight of God, who quickeneth all things, and before Christ Jesus, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed a good confession; That thou keep this commandment without spot, unrebukeable, until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ: Which in his times he shall shew, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of lords; Who only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen, nor can see: to whom be honour and power everlasting. Amen.

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