As I urged you when I was on my way to Macedonia, stay on at Ephesus so that you may instruct certain individuals not to teach any different doctrines,

Some have strayed from these and turned away to empty discussion.

I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, appointing me to the ministry [i.e., to His service], because He considered me trustworthy,

This charge I commit unto thee, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to thee, that by them thou mayest war the good warfare;

First of all, then, I urge you to offer to God petitions, prayers, intercessions, and expressions of thanks for all people,

for they who duly discharge that office, prepare their way to a higher degree, and may promote the christian faith with the greater freedom.

These things write I to thee, hoping to come to thee shortly;

but if I tarry, in order that you may know how it behooves you to deport yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.

Forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received with thanksgiving of them which believe and know the truth.

And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not.

For some have already turned away to follow Satan.

With God as my witness, as well as the Messiah Jesus and the chosen angels, I solemnly call on you to carry out these instructions without prejudice, doing nothing on the basis of partiality.

Do not be in a hurry to lay hands on anyone [i.e., to appoint them to office. See 4:14], and do not participate in the sins of other people. [Note: If Timothy failed to carefully determine the qualifications of a prospective elder before appointing him, it would make him partially responsible for any wrongdoing by that elder]. Keep yourself pure [i.e., of involvement in anyone's sins].

The sins of some men are evident to the world, leading the way to your estimate of their characters, but the sins of others lag behind.

and constant disagreement among people whose minds are depraved and deprived of the truth, who imagine that godliness is a way to material gain.

I urge you to keep his Command free from stain or reproach, until the Appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ.