Misleadings in Doctrine and Living

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus according to the commandment of God our Savior, and of Christ Jesus, who is our hope,

² To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ As I urged you ^[a]upon my departure for Macedonia, ^[b]remain on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to teach strange doctrines, ⁴ nor to ^[c]pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which give rise to mere speculation rather than furthering ^[d]the administration of God which is by faith. ⁵ But the goal of our ^[e]instruction is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to fruitless discussion, ⁷ wanting to be teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

⁸ But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers ^10 [f]and ^[g]immoral men ^[h]and homosexuals ^[i]and kidnappers ^[j]and liars ^[k]and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, ¹¹ according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.

¹² I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, ¹³ even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; ¹⁴ and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all. ¹⁶ Yet for this reason I found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those ^[l]who would believe in Him for eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the King ^[m]eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory ^[n]forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸ This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my ^[o]son, in accordance with the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you fight the good fight, ¹⁹ keeping faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to ^[p]their faith. ^20 [q]Among these are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan, so that they will be taught not to blaspheme.