Greeting
1 Paul, aan apostle of Christ Jesus bby the will of God according to cthe promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus,
2 To Timothy, dmy beloved child:
eGrace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Guard the Deposit Entrusted to You
3 fI thank God gwhom I serve, as did my ancestors, hwith a clear conscience, as I remember you iconstantly in my prayers night and day. 4 jAs I remember your tears, kI long to see you, that I may be filled with joy. 5 I am reminded of lyour sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and myour mother Eunice and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. 6 For this reason I remind you nto fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, 7 for God gave us oa spirit not of fear but pof power and love and self-control.
8 Therefore qdo not be ashamed of rthe testimony about our Lord, nor of sme his prisoner, but tshare in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, 9 uwho saved us and vcalled us to1 a holy calling, wnot because of our works but because of vhis own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus xbefore the ages began,2 10 and which now has ybeen manifested through zthe appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, awho abolished death and bbrought life and cimmortality to light through the gospel, 11 dfor which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, 12 ewhich is why I suffer as I do. But fI am not ashamed, for gI know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until hthat day iwhat has been entrusted to me.3 13 jFollow kthe pattern of lthe sound4 words mthat you have heard from me, in nthe faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 14 By the Holy Spirit owho dwells within us, guard ithe good deposit entrusted to you.
15 You are aware that pall who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to qthe household of Onesiphorus, for he often rrefreshed me and was not ashamed of smy chains, 17 but when he arrived in Rome the searched for me earnestly and found me— 18 may the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on uthat day!—and you well know all the service he vrendered at Ephesus.
The Fool Says, There Is No God
To the choirmaster. Of David.
1 gThe hfool says in his heart, i“There is no God.”
They are jcorrupt, they do abominable deeds;
kthere is none who does good.
2 The Lord llooks down from heaven on the children of man,
to see if there are any who understand,1
who mseek after God.
3 They have all turned aside; together they have become ncorrupt;
there is none who does good,
not even one.
4 Have they no oknowledge, all the evildoers
who peat up my people as they eat bread
and qdo not call upon the Lord?
5 There they are in great terror,
for God is with rthe generation of the righteous.
6 You would shame the plans of the poor,
7 Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord trestores the fortunes of his people,
let Jacob rejoice, let Israel be glad.
