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,

Now we know [without any doubt] that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully and appropriately,

even though I was formerly a blasphemer [of our Lord] and a persecutor [of His church] and a shameful and outrageous and violent aggressor [toward believers]. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief.

who gave Himself as a ransom [a substitutionary sacrifice to atone] for all, the testimony given at the right and proper time.

And for this matter I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am telling the truth, I am not lying [when I say this]—a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

For Adam was formed first [by God from the earth], then Eve;

and it was not Adam who was deceived, but the woman who was led astray and fell into sin.

And great, we confess, is the mystery [the hidden truth] of godliness:He (Jesus Christ) who was revealed in human flesh,
Was justified and vindicated in the Spirit,
Seen by angels,
Preached among the nations,
Believed on in the world,
Taken up in glory.

Do not neglect the spiritual gift within you, [that special endowment] which was intentionally bestowed on you [by the Holy Spirit] through prophetic utterance when the elders laid their hands on you [at your ordination].