From Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus by the appointment of God, our Savior, and Christ Jesus, our Hope.

To Timothy, my true Child in the Faith: May God, the Father, and Christ Jesus, our Lord, bless you, and be merciful to you, and give you peace.

They want to be Teachers of the Law, and yet do not understand either the words they use, or the subjects on which they speak so confidently.

by one who recognizes that laws were not made for good men, but for the lawless and disorderly, for irreligious and wicked people, for those who are irreverent and profane, for those who ill-treat their fathers or mothers, for murderers,

I am thankful to Christ Jesus, our Lord, who has been my strength, for showing that he thought me worthy of trust by appointing me to his ministry,

To the Immortal King, ever-living, invisible, the one God, be ascribed honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Hymenaeus and Alexander are instances--the men whom I delivered over to Satan, that they might be taught not to blaspheme.

First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings should be offered for every one,

This will be good and acceptable in the eyes of God, our Savior,

whose will is that every one should be saved, and attain to a full knowledge of the Truth.

who gave himself as a ransom on behalf of all men. This must be our testimony, as opportunities present themselves;

My desire, then, is that it should be the custom everywhere for the men to lead the prayers, with hands reverently uplifted, avoiding heated controversy.

but--as is proper for women who profess to be religious--with good actions.

I do not consent to a woman's becoming a teacher, or exercising authority over a man; she ought to be silent.

How true is that saying! When a man aspires to be a Presiding-Officer in the Church, he is ambitious for a noble task.

The Presiding-Officer should be a man of blameless character; a faithful husband; living a temperate, discreet, and well-ordered life; hospitable, and a skillful teacher,

he should be a man who rules his own household well, and whose children are kept under control and are well-behaved.

The Presiding-Officer should not be a recent convert, that he may not be blinded by pride and fall under the same condemnation as the Devil.

He should also be well spoken of by outsiders, that he may not incur censure and so fall into the snares of the Devil.

So, too, Assistant-Officers should be serious and straightforward men, not given to taking much drink or to questionable money-making,

They should be tested first, and only appointed to their Office if no objection is raised against them.

It should be the same with the women. They should be serious, not gossips, sober, and trustworthy in all respects.

Assistant-Officers should be faithful husbands, and men who rule their children and their households well.

but in case I should be delayed, I want you to know what your conduct ought to be in the Household of God, which is the Church of the Living God--the pillar and stay of the Truth.

Yes, and confessedly wonderful are the deep truths of our religion; for-- 'He was revealed in our nature, pronounced righteous in spirit, seen by angels, proclaimed among the Gentiles, believed on in the world, taken up into glory.'

But the Spirit distinctly says that in later times there will be some who will fall away from the Faith, and devote their attention to misleading spirits, and to the teaching of demons,

and they discourage marriage and enjoin abstinence from certain kinds of food; though God created these foods to be enjoyed thankfully by those who hold the Faith and have attained a full knowledge of the Truth.

Everything created by God is good, and there in nothing that need be rejected--provided only that it is received thankfully;

for it is consecrated by God's blessing and by prayer.

Put all this before the Brethren, and you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, sustained by the precepts of the Faith and of that Good Teaching by which you have guided your life.

Do not let any one look down on you because you are young, but, by your conversation, your conduct, your love, your faith, and your purity, be an example to those who hold the Faith.

Practice these things, devote yourself to them, so that your progress may be plain to every one.

Those are the points on which you should dwell, that there may be no call for your censure.

A widow, when her name is added to the list, should not be less than sixty years old; she should have been a faithful wife,

and be well spoken of for her kind actions. She should have brought up children, have shown hospitality to strangers, have washed the feet of her fellow Christians, have relieved those who were in distress, and devoted herself to every kind of good action.

And not only that, but they learn to be idle as they go about from house to house. Nor are they merely idle, but they also become gossips and busy-bodies, and talk of what they ought not.

Those Officers of the Church who fill their office well should be held deserving of especial consideration, particularly those whose work lies in preaching and teaching.

Do not receive a charge against an Officer of the Church, unless it is supported by two or three witnesses;

I charge you solemnly, before God and Christ Jesus and the Chosen Angels, to carry out these directions, unswayed by prejudice, never acting with partiality.

In the same way noble deeds become conspicuous, and those which are otherwise cannot be concealed.

All who are in the position of slaves should regard their masters as deserving of the greatest respect, so that the Name of God, and our Teaching, may not be maligned.

Those who have Christian masters should not think less of them because they are their Brothers, but on the contrary they should serve them all the better, because those who are to benefit by their good work are dear to them as their fellow Christians. Those are the things to insist upon in your teaching.

So, with food and shelter, we will be content.

Those who want to be rich fall into the snares of temptation, and become the prey of many foolish and harmful ambitions, which plunge people into Destruction and Ruin.

Love of money is a source of all kinds of evil; and in their eagerness to be rich some have wandered away from the Faith, and have been pierced to the heart by many a regret.

This will be brought about in his own time by the one ever-blessed Potentate, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords,

who alone is possessed of immortality and dwells in unapproachable light, whom no man has ever seen or ever can see--to whom be ascribed honour and power for ever. Amen.

Urge upon them to show kindness, to exhibit a wealth of good actions, to be open-handed and generous,

storing up for themselves what in the future will prove to be a good foundation, that they may gain the only true Life.