The Man of Lawlessness

2 Now concerning ^athe coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our ^bbeing gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,¹ 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or ^calarmed, either ^dby a spirit or a ^espoken word, or ^ea letter seeming to be from us, to the effect that ^fthe day of the Lord has come. 3 ^gLet no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, ^hunless the rebellion comes first, and ⁱthe man of lawlessness² is revealed, ^jthe son of destruction,³ 4 who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, ^kproclaiming himself to be God. 5 Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? 6 And you know what is restraining him now so that he may be revealed in his time. 7 For ^lthe mystery of lawlessness ^mis already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then ⁿthe lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus ^owill kill with ^pthe breath of his mouth and bring to nothing by ^qthe appearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan ^rwith all power and false signs and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for ^sthose who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore ^tGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe ^uwhat is false, 12 in order that all may be condemned ^vwho did not believe the truth but ^whad pleasure in unrighteousness.

Stand Firm

13 But ^xwe ought always to give thanks to God for you, ^ybrothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you ^zas the firstfruits^{4 a}to be saved, ^bthrough sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he called you through ^cour gospel, ^aso that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, ^dstand firm and hold to ^ethe traditions that you were taught by us, either ^fby our spoken word or by ^four letter.

16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, ^gwho loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good ^hhope through grace, 17 comfort your hearts and ⁱestablish them in every good work and word.

Pray for Us

3 Finally, brothers,^{1 j}pray for us, that ^kthe word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,² as happened among you, 2 and ^lthat we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For ^mnot all have faith. 3 But ⁿthe Lord is faithful. He will establish you and ^oguard you against ^pthe evil one.³ 4 And ^qwe have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we command. 5 May the Lord ^rdirect your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.

Warning Against Idleness

6 Now we command you, brothers, ^sin the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, ^tthat you keep away from any ^ubrother ^vwho is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. 7 For you yourselves know ^whow you ought to imitate us, because ^xwe were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but ^ywith toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 It was ^znot because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves ^aan example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: ^bIf anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you ^cwalk in idleness, not busy at work, but ^dbusybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living.⁴

13 As for you, brothers, ^edo not grow weary in doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and ^fhave nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 ^gDo not regard him as an enemy, but ^hwarn him as a brother.

Benediction

16 Now may ⁱthe Lord of peace himself ^jgive you peace at all times in every way. ^kThe Lord be with you all.

17 I, Paul, write ^lthis greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of genuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 ^mThe grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.

1 Timothy

Greeting

1 Paul, ^aan apostle of Christ Jesus ^bby command of ^cGod our Savior and of Christ Jesus ^dour hope,

2 To Timothy, ^emy true child in the faith:

^fGrace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

Warning Against False Teachers

3 ^gAs I urged you when I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not ^hto teach any different doctrine, 4 nor ⁱto devote themselves to myths and endless ^jgenealogies, which promote ^kspeculations rather than the stewardship¹ from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is love ^lthat issues from a pure heart and ^ma good conscience and ⁿa sincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by ^oswerving from these, have wandered away into ^pvain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, ^qwithout understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.

8 Now we know that ^rthe law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the ^slaw is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers,² liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to ^tsound³ doctrine, 11 in accordance with ^uthe gospel of the glory of ^vthe blessed God ^wwith which I have been entrusted.

Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners

12 I thank him ^xwho has given me strength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, ^yappointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, ^zpersecutor, and insolent opponent. But ^aI received mercy ^bbecause I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and ^cthe grace of our Lord overflowed for me with the ^dfaith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 The saying is ^etrustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that Christ Jesus ^fcame into the world to save sinners, ^gof whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an example to those who were to believe in him for eternal life. 17 To ^hthe King of the ages, ⁱimmortal, ^jinvisible, ^kthe only God, ^lbe honor and glory forever and ever.⁴ Amen.

18 This charge ^mI entrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with ⁿthe prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may ^owage the good warfare, 19 ^pholding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have ^qmade shipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are ^rHymenaeus and ^sAlexander, whom I ^thave handed over to Satan that they may learn not to ^ublaspheme.

Pray for All People

2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 ^vfor kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and ^wdignified in every way. 3 This is good, and ^xit is pleasing in the sight of ^yGod our Savior, 4 who desires ^zall people to be saved and ^ato come to ^bthe knowledge of the truth. 5 For ^cthere is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man¹ Christ Jesus, 6 ^dwho gave himself as a ransom for all, which is ^ethe testimony given ^fat the proper time. 7 ^gFor this I was appointed a preacher and an apostle (^hI am telling the truth, I am not lying), ⁱa teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

8 I desire then that ^jin every place the men should pray, ^klifting ^lholy hands without anger or quarreling; 9 likewise also ^mthat women should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and self-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 ⁿbut with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 Let a woman learn quietly ^owith all submissiveness. 12 ^pI do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 ^qFor Adam was formed first, ^rthen Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but ^sthe woman was deceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved through ^tchildbearing—if they continue in ^ufaith and love and holiness, with self-control.

Qualifications for Overseers

3 The saying is ^vtrustworthy: If anyone aspires to ^wthe office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore ^xan overseer¹ must be above reproach, ^ythe husband of one wife,^{2 z}sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, ^ahospitable, ^bable to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but ^cgentle, not quarrelsome, ^dnot a lover of money. 4 He must manage his own household well, with all dignity ^ekeeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for ^wGod’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may ^fbecome puffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by ^goutsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into ^ha snare of the devil.

Qualifications for Deacons

8 ⁱDeacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,^{3 j}not addicted to much wine, ^knot greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must ^lhold the mystery of the faith with ^ma clear conscience. 10 And ⁿlet them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 ^oTheir wives likewise⁴ must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, ^pfaithful in all things. 12 Let deacons each be ^qthe husband of one wife, ^qmanaging their children and their own households well. 13 For ^rthose who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great confidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.

The Mystery of Godliness

14 I hope to come to you soon, but I am writing these things to you so that, 15 if I delay, you may know how one ought to behave in the household of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we confess, is the mystery of godliness: