¹oLet all who are under a yoke as bondservants1 regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, pso that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. ²Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are qbrothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.

False Teachers and True Contentment

rTeach and urge these things. ³If anyone steaches a different doctrine and does not agree with tthe sound2 words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching uthat accords with godliness, ⁴vhe is puffed up with conceit and wunderstands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for xcontroversy and for yquarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, ⁵and constant friction among people zwho are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, aimagining that godliness is a means of gain. ⁶But bgodliness cwith contentment is great gain, ⁷for dwe brought nothing into the world, and3 we cannot take anything out of the world. ⁸But eif we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. ⁹But fthose who desire to be rich fall into temptation, ginto a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that hplunge people into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰For the love of money is a root of iall kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.

Fight the Good Fight of Faith

¹¹But as for you, jO man of God, kflee these things. lPursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. ¹²mFight the good fight of the faith. nTake hold of the eternal life oto which you were called and about which you made pthe good confession in the presence of many witnesses. ¹³qI charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, rwho in his testimony before4 Pontius Pilate made pthe good confession, ¹⁴to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until sthe appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which he will display tat the proper time—he who is uthe blessed and only Sovereign, vthe King of kings and Lord of lords, ¹⁶wwho alone has immortality, xwho dwells in yunapproachable light, zwhom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.

¹⁷As for the rich in athis present age, charge them bnot to be haughty, nor cto set their hopes on dthe uncertainty of riches, but on God, ewho richly provides us with everything to enjoy. ¹⁸They are to do good, fto be rich in good works, to be generous and gready to share, ¹⁹thus hstoring up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may itake hold of jthat which is truly life.

²⁰O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. kAvoid the lirreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” ²¹for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.

mGrace be with you.5