1 Timothy 1
1Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the command of God our Savior and Christ Jesus our hope, 2to Timothy, my true-born child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3Just as I urged you to stay in Ephesus when I was traveling to Macedonia, I do so now, so that you may command certain people not to teach foreign doctrines 4nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies. These things produce empty speculations rather than the household management of God, which operates by faith. 5The goal of this command is love that flows from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a faith that is not a performance. 6Some people, having missed the mark in these things, have wandered off into empty talk. 7They want to be teachers of the Law, yet they understand neither what they are saying nor the things about which they make such confident assertions.
8Now we know that the Law is good if one uses it lawfully. 9This requires understanding that law is not laid down for a just person, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, 10for the sexually immoral, for men who bed men, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else stands against healthy teaching. 11This teaching is in accordance with the good news of the glory of the blessed God, with which I was entrusted.
12I am grateful to Christ Jesus our Lord, who has empowered me, because he considered me trustworthy, appointing me to his service, 13even though I was formerly a slanderer, a persecutor, and an insolent aggressor. But I was shown mercy because I acted in the ignorance of unbelief, 14and the grace of our Lord overflowed with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—of whom I am the foremost. 16But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the foremost, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his total patience as a prototype for those who were going to believe in him for eternal life. 17Now to the King of the ages, the incorruptible, invisible, only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18This command I entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophecies previously made about you, so that by them you may fight the good campaign, 19holding on to faith and a good conscience. By rejecting their conscience, some have shipwrecked their faith. 20Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan so that they may be disciplined not to blaspheme.