1 Timothy 1:1-13 ▼

1 Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God our Saviour and Christ Jesus our hope:

2 To Timothy, my own true son in the faith. May grace, mercy and peace be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

3 When I was on my journey to Macedonia I begged you to remain on in Ephesus that you might remonstrate with certain persons because of their erroneous teaching

4 and the attention they bestow on mere fables and endless pedigrees, such as lead to controversy rather than to a true stewardship for God, which only exists where there is faith. And I make the same request now.

5 But the end sought to be secured by exhortation is the love which springs from a pure heart, a clear conscience and a sincere faith.

6 From these some have drifted away, and have wandered into empty words.

7 They are ambitious to be teachers of the Law, although they do not understand either their own words or what the things are about which they make such confident assertions.

8 Now we know that the Law is good, if a man uses it in the way it should be used,

9 and remembers that a law is not enacted to control a righteous man, but for the lawless and rebellious, the irreligious and sinful, the godless and profane--for those who strike their fathers or their mothers, for murderers,

10 fornicators, sodomites, slave-dealers, liars and false witnesses; and for whatever else is opposed to wholesome teaching

11 and is not in accordance with the Good News of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.

12 I am thankful to Him who made me strong--even Christ Jesus our Lord--because He has judged me to be faithful and has put me into His service,

13 though I was previously a blasphemer and a persecutor and had been insolent in outrage. Yet mercy was shown me, because I had acted ignorantly, not having as yet believed;