The Man of Lawlessness
2 Now concerning the rcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ and sour being gathered together to him, we ask you, brothers,1 2 not to be quickly shaken in mind or talarmed, either by a spirit or a spoken word, or a letter useeming to be from us, to the effect that the vday of the Lord has come. 3 Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the wrebellion comes first, and the xman of lawlessness2 is revealed, the son of destruction,3 4 who opposes and yexalts himself against every zso-called god or object of worship, aso that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming 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 the mystery of lawlessness is balready at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. 8 And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will kill cwith the breath of his dmouth and bring to nothing by the eappearance of his coming. 9 The coming of the lawless one is by the activity of Satan with all power and false fsigns and wonders, 10 and with all wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved. 11 Therefore gGod sends them a strong delusion, so that they may believe what is false, 12 in order that hall may be condemned who idid not believe the truth but jhad pleasure in unrighteousness.
Stand Firm
13 But we ought always to give thanks to God for you, kbrothers beloved by the Lord, because God chose you as the lfirstfruits4 to be saved, through msanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth. 14 To this he ncalled you through our gospel, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 So then, brothers, ostand firm and hold to the ptraditions that you were taught by us, qeither by our spoken word or by our letter.
16 Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good rhope through grace, 17 scomfort your hearts and testablish them in every good work and word.
Pray for Us
3 Finally, brothers,1 upray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored,2 vas happened among you, 2 and that we may be wdelivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. 3 But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and xguard you against the evil one.3 4 And ywe have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do the things that we zcommand. 5 May the Lord adirect your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.
Warning Against Idleness
6 Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you bkeep away from any brother who is walking in cidleness and not in accord with the dtradition that you received from us. 7 For eyou yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, 8 nor did we eat anyone’s bread without paying for it, but with toil and flabor we worked night and day, gthat we might not be a burden to any of you. 9 hIt was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. 10 For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. 11 For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but ibusybodies. 12 Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work jquietly and to earn their own living.4
13 As for you, brothers, kdo not grow weary lin doing good. 14 If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. 15 mDo not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.
Benediction
16 Now may the Lord of peace himself ngive you peace at all times in every way. The Lord be with you all.
17 oI, Paul, write this greeting with my own hand. This is the sign of pgenuineness in every letter of mine; it is the way I write. 18 The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
1 Timothy
Greeting
1 Paul, an aapostle of Christ Jesus bby command of God our Savior and of Christ Jesus our chope,
2 To Timothy, dmy true child in the faith:
eGrace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
Warning Against False Teachers
3 fAs I urged you gwhen I was going to Macedonia, remain at Ephesus so that you may charge certain persons not to hteach any different doctrine, 4 nor to devote themselves to imyths and endless jgenealogies, which promote kspeculations rather than the lstewardship1 from God that is by faith. 5 The aim of our charge is mlove that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a nsincere faith. 6 Certain persons, by oswerving from these, have pwandered away into qvain discussion, 7 desiring to be teachers of the law, rwithout understanding either what they are saying or the things about which they make confident assertions.
8 Now we know that sthe law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, tfor the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for uthose who strike their fathers and mothers, for vmurderers, 10 the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, wenslavers,2 liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to xsound3 doctrine, 11 in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the yblessed God with which I have been zentrusted.
Christ Jesus Came to Save Sinners
12 aI thank him who has given me bstrength, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he judged me faithful, cappointing me to his service, 13 though formerly I was a blasphemer, dpersecutor, and insolent opponent. But I ereceived mercy because I had acted ignorantly in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed for me fwith the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 gThe saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance, that hChrist Jesus came into the world to save sinners, iof whom I am the foremost. 16 But I received jmercy for this reason, that in me, as the foremost, Jesus Christ might display his perfect patience as an kexample to those who were to lbelieve in him for eternal life. 17 To the King of the ages, mimmortal, ninvisible, the oonly God, be honor and glory forever and ever.4 Amen.
18 This charge I pentrust to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with qthe prophecies previously made about you, that by them you may wage the rgood swarfare, 19 tholding faith and a good conscience. By rejecting this, some have made ushipwreck of their faith, 20 among whom are vHymenaeus and wAlexander, whom I have xhanded over to Satan that they may learn not to yblaspheme.
Pray for All People
2 First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, 2 zfor kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and aquiet life, godly and dignified in every way. 3 This is good, and it is bpleasing in the sight of God our Savior, 4 cwho desires all people to be saved and to come to the dknowledge of the truth. 5 For ethere is one God, and fthere is one gmediator between God and men, the man1 Christ Jesus, 6 who gave himself as a hransom for iall, which is the testimony given jat the proper time. 7 For this I was kappointed a preacher and an lapostle m(I am telling the truth, I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.
8 I desire then that in every place the men should npray, lifting oholy hands without anger or pquarreling; 9 likewise also that qwomen should adorn themselves in respectable apparel, with modesty and rself-control, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly attire, 10 but with what is proper for women who profess godliness—with good works. 11 sLet a woman learn quietly twith all submissiveness. 12 I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. 13 For uAdam was formed first, vthen Eve; 14 and Adam was not deceived, but wthe woman was xdeceived and became a transgressor. 15 Yet she will be saved ythrough zchildbearing—if they continue in afaith and love and holiness, with self-control.
Qualifications for Overseers
3 bThe saying is trustworthy: cIf anyone aspires to the office of overseer, he desires a noble task. 2 Therefore an doverseer1 must be above reproach, ethe husband of one wife,2 sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, 3 not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. 4 He must fmanage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive, 5 for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, ghow will he care for God’s church? 6 He must not be a recent convert, or he may become hpuffed up with conceit and fall into the condemnation of the devil. 7 Moreover, he must be well thought of by outsiders, so that he may not fall into disgrace, into a isnare of the devil.
Qualifications for Deacons
8 jDeacons likewise must be dignified, not double-tongued,3 not addicted to much wine, not greedy for dishonest gain. 9 They must khold the mystery of the faith with a clear conscience. 10 And llet them also be tested first; then let them serve as deacons if they prove themselves blameless. 11 Their wives likewise4 must be dignified, not slanderers, but sober-minded, faithful in all things. 12 Let deacons each be mthe husband of one wife, managing their children and their own households well. 13 For those who serve well as deacons gain a good standing for themselves and also great nconfidence in the faith that is in Christ Jesus.
The Mystery of Godliness
14 oI 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 phousehold of God, which is the church of the living God, a pillar and buttress of the truth. 16 Great indeed, we qconfess, is the mystery of godliness:
He5 was rmanifested sin the flesh,
seen by uangels,
vproclaimed among the nations,
believed on in the world,
wtaken up in glory.
