New Testament Plan

¹Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled.

²Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved. False Teachers and True Contentment Teach and urge these things.

³If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness,

⁴he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions,

⁵and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.

⁶But godliness with contentment is great gain,

⁷for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world.

⁸But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content.

⁹But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction.

¹⁰For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

¹¹But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

¹²Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession,

¹⁴to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ,

¹⁵which he will display at the proper time — he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

¹⁶who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

¹⁷As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy.

¹⁸They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share,

¹⁹thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

²⁰O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. Avoid the irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,”

²¹for by professing it some have swerved from the faith. Grace be with you.

¹Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,

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

³I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors, with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.

⁴As I remember your tears, I long to see you, that I may be filled with joy.

⁵I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well.

⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands,

⁷for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

⁸Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me his prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God,

⁹who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,

¹⁰and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

¹¹for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher,

¹²which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me.

¹³Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you.

¹⁵You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.

¹⁶May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains,

¹⁷but when he arrived in Rome he searched for me earnestly and found me —

¹⁸may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day! — and you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus.

¹You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus,

²and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

³Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

⁴No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him.

⁵An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

⁶It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.

⁷Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.

⁸Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,

⁹for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!

¹⁰Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

¹¹The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;

¹²if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;

¹³if we are faithless, he remains faithful — for he cannot deny himself.

¹⁴Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.

¹⁵Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

¹⁶But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,

¹⁷and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,

¹⁸who have swerved from the truth, saying that the resurrection has already happened. They are upsetting the faith of some.

¹⁹But God's firm foundation stands, bearing this seal: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Let everyone who names the name of the Lord depart from iniquity.”

²⁰Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.

²¹Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

²²So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart.

²³Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels.

²⁴And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,

²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,

²⁶and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.