Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the authority of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope
to Timothy, beloved son in the faith. Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and from Christ Jesus our Lord
Now I asked you to remain at Ephesus, while I went into Macedonia, so that you would speak strongly against certain ones who have been teaching a different way
against those who have been paying attention to fables and endless genealogies. These things present questions as if they were greater than the edification that is of God, which is in faith
Now the goal of instruction is charity from a pure heart, and a good conscience, and an unfeigned faith
Certain persons, wandering away from these things, have been turned aside to empty babbling
desiring to be teachers of the law, but understanding neither the things that they themselves are saying, nor what they are affirming about these things
But we know that the law is good, if one makes use of it properly
Knowing this, that the law was not set in place for the just, but for the unjust and the insubordinate, for the impious and sinners, for the wicked and the defiled, for those who commit patricide, matricide, or homicide
for fornicators, for males who sleep with males, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine
which is in accord with the Gospel of the glory of the blessed God, the Gospel which has been entrusted to me
I give thanks to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he has considered me faithful, placing me in the ministry
though previously I was a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and contemptuous. But then I obtained the mercy of God. For I had been acting ignorantly, in unbelief
And so the grace of our Lord has abounded greatly, with the faith and love that is in Christ Jesus
It is a faithful saying, and worthy of acceptance by everyone, that Christ Jesus came into this world to bring salvation to sinners, among whom I am first
But it was for this reason that I obtained mercy, so that in me as first, Christ Jesus would display all patience, for the instruction of those who would believe in him unto eternal life
So then, to the King of ages, to the immortal, invisible, solitary God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen
This precept I commend to you, my son Timothy, in accord with the prophets who preceded you: that you serve among them like a soldier in a good war
holding to faith and good conscience, against those who, by rejecting these things, have made a shipwreck of the faith
Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme