1 PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, and Lord Jesus Christ, which is our hope;
2 Unto Timothy, my own son in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,
4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
5 Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:
6 From which some having swerved have turned aside unto vain jangling;
7 Desiring to be teachers of the law; understanding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirm.
8 But we know that the law is good, if a man use it lawfully;
9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.
12 And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry;
13 Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecutor, and injurious: but I obtained mercy, because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.
14 And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.
15 This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.
16 Howbeit for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might shew forth all longsuffering, for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on him to life everlasting.
17 Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.
18 This charge I commit unto thee, son Timothy, according to the prophecies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest war a good warfare;
19 Holding faith, and a good conscience; which some having put away concerning faith have made shipwreck:
20 Of whom is Hymenæus and Alexander; whom I have delivered unto Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme.

1Paul an Apostle of Iesus Christ by the commaundement of God our Sauiour, & Lord Iesus Christ which is our hope,

2Unto Timothie my own sonne in the Faith: Grace, mercie, and peace from God our Father, and Iesus Christ our Lord.

3As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

4Neither giue heed to fables, and endlesse genealogies, which minister questions, rather then edifying which is in faith: so doe.

5Now the end of the commandement is charity, out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith vnfained.

6From which some hauing swarued, haue turned aside vnto vaine iangling,

7Desiring to bee teachers of the Law, vnderstāding neither what they say, nor whereof they affirme.

8But we know that the Law is good, if a man vse it lawfully.

9Knowing this, that the Law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawlesse and disobedient, for the vngodly, and for sinners, for vnholy, and profane, for murderers of fathers, and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

10For whoremongers, for them that defile themselues with mankinde, for men-stealers, for liars, for periured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,

11According to the glorious Gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

12And I thanke Christ Iesus our Lord, who hath enabled mee: for that he counted me faithfull, putting me into the Ministerie,

13Who was before a blasphemer, and a persecuter, and iniurious. But I obtained mercie, because I did it ignorantly, in vnbeliefe.

14And the grace of our Lord was exceeding abundant, with faith, & loue, which is in Christ Iesus.

15This is a faithfull saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Iesus came into the world to saue sinners, of whom I am chiefe.

16Howbeit, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Iesus Christ might shew foorth all long suffering, for a paterne to them which should hereafter beleeue on him to life euerlasting.

17Now vnto þe king eternal, immortall, inuisible, the onely wise God, be honour and glory for euer & euer. Amen.

18This charge I commit vnto thee, sonne Timothie, according to the prophesies which went before on thee, that thou by them mightest warre a good warfare,

19Holding faith, and a good conscience, which some hauing put away, concerning faith, haue made shipwracke.

20Of whom is Hymeneus and Alexander, whome I haue deliuered vnto Satan, that they may learne not to blaspheme.

 

1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by command of God our savior and of Christ Jesus our hope, 2 to Timothy, my true child in faith: grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I repeat the request I made of you when I was on my way to Macedonia, that you stay in Ephesus to instruct certain people not to teach false doctrines 4 or to concern themselves with myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the plan of God that is to be received by faith. 5 The aim of this instruction is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and a sincere faith. 6 Some people have deviated from these and turned to meaningless talk, 7 wanting to be teachers of the law, but without understanding either what they are saying or what they assert with such assurance. 8 We know that the law is good, provided that one uses it as law, 9 with the understanding that law is meant not for a righteous person but for the lawless and unruly, the godless and sinful, the unholy and profane, those who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers, 10 the unchaste, practicing homosexuals, kidnapers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is opposed to sound teaching, 11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. 12 I am grateful to him who has strengthened me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he considered me trustworthy in appointing me to the ministry. 13 I was once a blasphemer and a persecutor and an arrogant man, but I have been mercifully treated because I acted out of ignorance in my unbelief. 14 Indeed, the grace of our Lord has been abundant, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 This saying is trustworthy and deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Of these I am the foremost. 16 But for that reason I was mercifully treated, so that in me, as the foremost, Christ Jesus might display all his patience as an example for those who would come to believe in him for everlasting life. 17 To the king of ages, incorruptible, invisible, the only God, honor and glory forever and ever. Amen. 18 I entrust this charge to you, Timothy, my child, in accordance with the prophetic words once spoken about you. Through them may you fight a good fight 19 by having faith and a good conscience. Some, by rejecting conscience, have made a shipwreck of their faith, 20 among them Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

The pastoral epistles are personal as opposed to letters to churches. 1 Timothy, one of three pastoral epistles (2 Tim. and Titus) was probably written in free time between Paul’s first and second Roman imprisonment, about AD 63. This letter is on church etiquette, how to run the loose assembly and to stop false doctrine.
v 1. Paul was under orders from the Lord, not his own ambitions. Christ is our only hope for reaching glory, Col. 1:27.
v 2.  Acts 16 1-3 states that Timothy’s father was a Greek Gentile. Paul probably led Timothy to the Lord at Lystra on his first missionary journey, Acts 13:19,20. 1 Tim 1:2 and 1 Cor. 4:17 show him a convert, spiritual son of Paul. The salutation contains the usual grace and peace (shalom) from God, but mercy has been added in 1&2 Tim. and Titus.
v 3. Paul liked to have Timothy with him, but left him in Ephesus to admonish leaders who had begun teaching incorrect doctrine. The apostolic period was drawing to a close, and it was urgent that the Church be grounded in correct doctrine.
v 4. Which of the weird Jewish fables we don’t know. Some placed high stress on genealogies, trying to find hidden meanings, as people try to find the meaning of 666. Much teaching time can be wasted on things which may not harm, but do not edify.
v 5-7. Whereas Paul’s object was love springing from purity of heart conscience and faith, some had wandered off into purposeless teaching. They were ambitious doctors of Mosaic ritual, but like the Pharisees, lacked understanding, Mt. 22:15-22.
v 8-11. Paul defended the law if it were not used for salvation. It is a system of penalties, for sins of which Paul lists only some prominent ones. It covered anything not in the wholesome teachings of Paul. The men stealers or kidnappers referred here  especially to slave dealers, and liars included those under oath as a well as those not.
v 12,13. Paul as Saul certainly didn’t blaspheme God, but he had, ruthlessly,  against Christ. Christ had mercy on his ignorant unbelief and gave him this ministry.
v 14,15. Paul finds the overflowing grace of God to him to be remarkable, in view  of his past, but he recognizes the potential of the old nature when he says I am, not I was, chief of sinners. Christ seeking for sinners is seen also Lk. 19:10 and Mk. 2:17, the Gospel in a nut shell. å
v 16. Paul concludes that Christ showed mercy and used him for a pattern to show that no matter what his sin of blaspheming Christ and persecuting believers etc., all could be saved who believed on Him. As we sing “Why should He love me so?” all we believers should realize we are to be a like pattern.
v 17. As Paul is reminded of this great grace and mercy of God, he breaks out into a doxology glorifying God, right in the midst of his letter. Then he goes on with a charge to Timothy.
v 18. The duty entrusted to Timothy was not just of Paul’s choosing, but had been designated by the Holy Spirit  through some who still had the gift of prophecy. Inspired and aided by them, he should go forth with the confidence of one trained to battle.
v 19. True faith is centered in Christ, and holding to that, he could have a clear conscience. Some had thrown off the restraint which the Holy Spirit had on their lives, & as a result were beginning to deny the faith. Theological error rooted in moral failure.
v 20. The two men guilty of this error were apparently excommunicated from the church, and God permitted Satanic trials. This was for remedy, not for punishment.