1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by order of God our Savior and of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope,
2 to Timothy, a genuine son in the faith: grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 When I was setting out for Macedonia, I begged you to stay on at Ephesus so that you could instruct certain people not to teach anything different,
4 and not to occupy themselves with myths and genealogies without end, which bring on speculation rather than the edification of God that is in faith.
5 The aim of this instruction is love that comes from a clean heart, from a good conscience and from faith without pretense.
6 Some have missed the mark on these things and wandered off into idle talk,
7 wishing to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither the things they say nor the matters they speak about so confidently.
8 We know that the law is good, provided one uses it as law is meant to be used,
9 recognizing that the law is not laid down for a righteous man but for the lawless and the unruly, for the godless and sinners, for the unholy and the profane, for those who strike their fathers and their mothers, for murderers,
10 for the sexually immoral, for men who lie with men, for slave traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for whatever else stands against sound teaching,
11 in keeping with the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted.
12 I am grateful to the one who gave me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, for he counted me faithful and placed me in the ministry,
13 even though before I was a blasphemer, a persecutor and an insolent man. Yet I found mercy, because what I did, I did ignorantly in unbelief;
14 and the grace of our Lord abounded far beyond, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
15 Faithful is this word, and worthy of being welcomed by all: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and of these I am first.
16 But this is why mercy was shown to me: so that in me first Jesus Christ might put all his patience on display, as a model for those who would later believe in him to eternal life.
17 To the King of the ages, incorruptible, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.
18 Timothy, my son, I entrust this instruction to you, in line with the prophecies once made about you, so that by them you may wage the good warfare,
19 keeping hold of faith and a good conscience. Some have pushed conscience aside and their faith has been wrecked;
20 among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan, so that they may learn by discipline not to blaspheme.