4The Holy Spirit clearly says that in the last days some people will leave the faith. They will follow spirits that will fool them. They will believe things that demons will teach them.

²Teachings like those come from liars who pretend to be what they are not. Their sense of what is right and wrong has been burned as if with a hot iron. ³They do not allow people to get married. They order them not to eat certain foods. But God created those foods. So people who believe and know the truth should receive them and give thanks for them.

⁴Everything God created is good. You shouldn’t turn anything down. Instead, you should thank God for it. ⁵The word of God and prayer make it holy.

⁶Point these things out to the brothers and sisters. Then you will serve Christ Jesus well. You were brought up in the truths of the faith. You received good teaching. You followed it.

⁷Don’t have anything to do with godless stories and silly tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. ⁸Training the body has some value. But being godly has value in every way. It promises help for the life you are now living and the life to come.

⁹Here is a saying you can trust. You can accept it completely. ¹⁰We work hard for it. Here is the saying. We have put our hope in the living God. He is the Savior of all people. Most of all he is the Savior of those who believe.

¹¹Command those things. Teach them. ¹²Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young. Set an example for the believers in what you say and in how you live. Also set an example in how you love and in what you believe. Show the believers how to be pure.

¹³Until I come, spend your time reading Scripture out loud to one another. Spend your time preaching and teaching. ¹⁴Don’t fail to use the gift the Holy Spirit gave you. He gave it to you through a message from God. It was given when the elders placed their hands on you.

¹⁵Keep on doing those things. Give them your complete attention. Then everyone will see how you are coming along. ¹⁶Be careful of how you live and what you believe. Never give up. Then you will save yourself and those who hear you.

Advice About Widows, Elders and Slaves

5Don’t tell an older man off. Make an appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as if they were your brothers. ²Treat older women as if they were your mothers. Treat younger women as if they were your sisters. Be completely pure in the way you treat them.

³Take care of the widows who really need help. ⁴But suppose a widow has children or grandchildren. They should first learn to put their faith into practice. They should care for their own family. In that way they will pay back their parents and grandparents. That pleases God.

⁵The widow who really needs help and is left all alone puts her hope in God. Night and day she keeps on praying. Night and day she asks God for help. ⁶But the widow who lives for pleasure is dead even while she is still living.

⁷Give those directions to the people also. Then no one can be blamed. ⁸Everyone should provide for his own relatives. Most of all, everyone should take care of his own family. If he doesn’t, he has left the faith. He is worse than someone who doesn’t believe.

⁹No widow should be put on the list of widows unless she is more than 60 years old. She must also have been faithful to her husband. ¹⁰She must be well known for the good things she does. That includes bringing up children. It includes inviting guests into her home. It includes washing the feet of God’s people. It includes helping those who are in trouble. A widow should spend her time doing all kinds of good things.

¹¹Don’t put younger widows on that kind of list. They might want pleasure more than they want Christ. Then they would want to get married again. ¹²If they do that, they will be judged. They have broken their first promise.

¹³Besides, they get into the habit of having nothing to do. They go around from house to house. They waste time. They talk about others. They bother people. They say things they shouldn’t say.

¹⁴So here is the advice I give to younger widows. Get married. Have children. Take care of your own homes. Don’t give the enemy the chance to tell lies about you. ¹⁵In fact, some have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶Suppose a woman is a believer and has widows in her family. She should help them. She shouldn’t let the church pay the expenses. Then the church can help the widows who really need it.

¹⁷The elders who do the church’s work well are worth twice as much honor. That is true in a special way of elders who preach and teach. ¹⁸Scripture says, “Do not stop the ox from eating while it helps separate the grain from the straw.” Scripture also says, “Workers are worthy of their pay.”

¹⁹Don’t believe a charge against an elder unless two or three witnesses bring it. ²⁰Elders who sin should be corrected in front of the other believers. That will be a warning to the others.

²¹I command you to follow those directions. I command you in the sight of God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels. Treat everyone the same. Don’t favor one person over another.

²²Don’t be too quick to place your hands on others to set them apart to serve God. Don’t take part in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

²³Stop drinking only water. If your stomach is upset, drink a little wine. It can also help the other sicknesses you often have.

²⁴The sins of some people are easy to see. They are already being judged. Others will be judged later. ²⁵In the same way, good works are easy to see. But even good works that are hard to see can’t stay hidden.

6All who are forced to serve as slaves should consider their masters worthy of full respect. Then people will not speak evil things against God’s name and against what we teach.

²Some slaves have masters who are believers. They shouldn’t show less respect for their masters just because they are believers. Instead, they should serve them even better. That’s because those who benefit from their service are believers. They are loved by them.

Teach the slaves those things. Try hard to get them to do them.

Love for Money

³Suppose someone teaches ideas that are false. He doesn’t agree with the true teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. He doesn’t agree with godly teaching. ⁴People like that are proud. They don’t understand anything. They like to argue more than they should. They can’t agree about what words mean.

All of that results in wanting what others have. It causes fighting, harmful talk, and evil distrust. ⁵It stirs up trouble all the time among people whose minds are twisted by sin. The truth they once had has been taken away from them. They think they can get rich by being godly.

⁶You gain a lot when you live a godly life. But you must be happy with what you have. ⁷We didn’t bring anything into the world. We can’t take anything out of it. ⁸If we have food and clothing, we will be happy with that.

⁹People who want to get rich are tempted. They fall into a trap. They are tripped up by wanting many foolish and harmful things. Those who live like that are dragged down by what they do. They are destroyed and die.

¹⁰Love for money causes all kinds of evil. Some people want to get rich. They have wandered away from the faith. They have wounded themselves with many sorrows.

Paul Gives a Command to Timothy

¹¹But you are a man of God. Run away from all of those things. Try hard to do what is right and godly. Have faith, love and gentleness. Hold on to what you believe. ¹²Fight the good fight along with all other believers. Take hold of eternal life. You were chosen for it when you openly told others what you believe. Many witnesses heard you.

¹³God gives life to everything. Christ Jesus told the truth when he gave witness to Pontius Pilate. In the sight of God and Christ, I give you a command. ¹⁴Obey it until our Lord Jesus Christ appears. Obey it completely. Then no one can find fault with it or you.

¹⁵God will bring Jesus back at a time that pleases him. God is the blessed and only Ruler. He is the greatest King of all. He is the most powerful Lord of all. ¹⁶God is the only one who can’t die. He lives in light that no one can get close to. No one has seen him. No one can see him.

Give honor and power to him forever. Amen.

¹⁷Command people who are rich in this world not to be proud. Tell them not to put their hope in riches. Wealth is so uncertain. Command those who are rich to put their hope in God. He richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

¹⁸Command the rich to do what is good. Tell them to be rich in doing good things. They must give freely. They must be willing to share. ¹⁹In that way they will put riches away for themselves. It will provide a firm basis for the next life. Then they will take hold of the life that really is life.

²⁰Timothy, guard what God has trusted you with. Turn away from godless chatter. Stay away from opposing ideas that are falsely called knowledge. ²¹Some people believe them. By doing that they have wandered away from the faith.

May God’s grace be with you.

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