New Testament Plan

¹Finally, brothers and sisters, pray for us, so that the word of the Lord may spread rapidly and be glorified everywhere, just as it is among you,

²and that we may be rescued from wicked and evil people; for not all have faith.

³But the Lord is faithful; he will strengthen you and guard you from the evil one.

⁴And we have confidence in the Lord concerning you, that you are doing and will go on doing the things that we command.

⁵May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

⁶Now we command you, beloved, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from believers who are living in idleness and not according to the tradition that they received from us.

⁷For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us; we were not idle when we were with you,

⁸and we did not eat anyone’s bread without paying for it; but with toil and labor we worked night and day, so that we might not burden any of you.

⁹This was not because we do not have that right, but in order to give you an example to imitate.

¹⁰For even when we were with you, we gave you this command: Anyone unwilling to work should not eat.

¹¹For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work.

¹²Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.

¹³Brothers and sisters, do not be weary in doing what is right.

¹⁴Take note of those who do not obey what we say in this letter; have nothing to do with them, so that they may be ashamed.

¹⁵Do not regard them as enemies, but warn them as believers.

¹⁶Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in all ways. The Lord be with all of you.

¹⁷I, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the mark in every letter of mine; it is the way I write.

¹⁸The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our hope,

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

³I urge you, as I did when I was on my way to Macedonia, to remain in Ephesus so that you may instruct certain people not to teach any different doctrine,

⁴and not to occupy themselves with myths and endless genealogies that promote speculations rather than the divine training that is known by faith.

⁵But the aim of such instruction is love that comes from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith.

⁶Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk,

⁷desiring to be teachers of the law, without understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make assertions.

⁸Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it legitimately.

⁹This means understanding that the law is laid down not for the innocent but for the lawless and disobedient, for the godless and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their father or mother, for murderers,

¹⁰fornicators, sodomites, slave traders, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to the sound teaching

¹¹that conforms to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which he entrusted to me.

¹²I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because he judged me faithful and appointed me to his service,

¹³even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and a man of violence. But I received mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief,

¹⁴and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵The saying is sure and worthy of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners — of whom I am the foremost.

¹⁶But for that very reason I received mercy, so that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display the utmost patience, making me an example to those who would come to believe in him for eternal life.

¹⁷To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸I am giving you these instructions, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies made earlier about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight,

¹⁹having faith and a good conscience. By rejecting conscience, certain persons have suffered shipwreck in the faith;

²⁰among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have turned over to Satan, so that they may learn not to blaspheme.

¹First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone,

²for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity.

³This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,

⁴who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

⁵For there is one God; there is also one mediator between God and humankind, Christ Jesus, himself human,

⁶who gave himself a ransom for all — this was attested at the right time.

⁷For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument;

⁹also that the women should dress themselves modestly and decently in suitable clothing, not with their hair braided, or with gold, pearls, or expensive clothes,

¹⁰but with good works, as is proper for women who profess reverence for God.

¹¹Let a woman learn in silence with full submission.

¹²I permit no woman to teach or to have authority over a man; she is to keep silent.

¹³For Adam was formed first, then Eve;

¹⁴and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

¹⁵Yet she will be saved through childbearing, provided they continue in faith and love and holiness, with modesty.