✧Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope, ✧2to Timothy, my true child in faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. ✧3As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine, ✧4and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith. ✧5But the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith, ✧6from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned away to vain talking, ✧7desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say nor about what they strongly affirm. ✧8But we know that the law is good if a person uses it lawfully, ✧9as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, ✧10for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine, ✧11according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust. ✧12I thank him who enabled me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service, ✧13although I used to be a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ✧14The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. ✧15The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. ✧16However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life. ✧17Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. ✧18I commit this instruction to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which were given to you before, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ✧19holding faith and a good conscience, which some having thrust away made a shipwreck concerning the faith, ✧20of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme.
World English Bible (WEB). World English Bible (Protestant edition). Public domain.