Things to Avoid

4 ^[a]What is the source of quarrels and ^(A)conflicts among you? ^[b]Is not the source your pleasures that wage ^(B)war in your members? ² You lust and do not have; so you ^(C)commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain; so you fight and quarrel. You do not have because you do not ask. ³ You ask and ^(D)do not receive, because you ask ^[c]with wrong motives, so that you may spend it ^[d]on your pleasures. ⁴ You ^(E)adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with ^(F)the world is ^(G)hostility toward God? ^(H)Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture ^(I)speaks to no purpose: “^[e]He ^[f]jealously desires ^(J)the Spirit which He has made to dwell in us”? ⁶ But ^(K)He gives a greater grace. Therefore it says, “^(L)God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble.” ^7 (M)Submit therefore to God. ^(N)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ^8 (O)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. ^(P)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and ^(Q)purify your hearts, you ^(R)double-minded. ^9 (S)Be miserable and mourn and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (T)Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you.

^11 (U)Do not speak against one another, ^(V)brethren. He who speaks against a brother or ^(W)judges his brother, speaks against ^(X)the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not ^(Y)a doer of the law but a judge of it. ¹² There is only one ^(Z)Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is ^(AA)able to save and to destroy; but ^(AB)who are you who judge your neighbor?

^13 (AC)Come now, you who say, “^(AD)Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ^14 [g]Yet you do not know ^[h]what your life will be like tomorrow. ^(AE)You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. ^15 [i]Instead, you ought to say, “^(AF)If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” ¹⁶ But as it is, you boast in your ^[j]arrogance; ^(AG)all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ Therefore, ^(AH)to one who knows the ^[k]right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Misuse of Riches

5 ^(A)Come now, ^(B)you rich, ^(C)weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. ^2 (D)Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver have rusted; and their rust will be a witness against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is ^(E)in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! ⁴ Behold, ^(F)the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and ^(G)the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of ^(H)the Lord of ^[a]Sabaoth. ⁵ You have ^(I)lived luxuriously on the earth and led a life of wanton pleasure; you have ^[b]fattened your hearts in ^(J)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^[c](K)put to death ^(L)the righteous man; he does not resist you.

Exhortation

⁷ Therefore be patient, ^(M)brethren, ^(N)until the coming of the Lord. ^(O)The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until ^[d]it gets ^(P)the early and late rains. ^8 (Q)You too be patient; ^(R)strengthen your hearts, for ^(S)the coming of the Lord is ^(T)near. ^9 (U)Do not ^[e]complain, ^(V)brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged; behold, ^(W)the Judge is standing ^[f](X)right at the ^[g]door. ¹⁰ As an example, ^(Y)brethren, of suffering and patience, take ^(Z)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ We count those ^(AA)blessed who endured. You have heard of ^(AB)the ^[h]endurance of Job and have seen ^(AC)the ^[i]outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that ^(AD)the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

¹² But above all, ^(AE)my brethren, ^(AF)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but ^[j]your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you may not fall under judgment.

¹³ Is anyone among you ^(AG)suffering? ^(AH)Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to ^(AI)sing praises. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for ^(AJ)the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, ^[k](AK)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; ¹⁵ and the ^(AL)prayer ^[l]offered in faith will ^[m](AM)restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will ^(AN)raise him up, and if he has committed sins, ^[n]they will be forgiven him. ¹⁶ Therefore, ^(AO)confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be ^(AP)healed. ^(AQ)The effective ^[o]prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much. ¹⁷ Elijah was ^(AR)a man with a nature like ours, and ^(AS)he prayed ^[p]earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for ^(AT)three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he ^(AU)prayed again, and ^(AV)the ^[q]sky ^[r]poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹ My brethren, ^(AW)if any among you strays from ^(AX)the truth and one turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that ^[s]he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will ^(AY)save his soul from death and will ^(AZ)cover a multitude of sins.

Misleadings in Doctrine and Living

1 Paul, ^(A)an apostle of ^(B)Christ Jesus ^(C)according to the commandment of ^(D)God our Savior, and of ^(E)Christ Jesus, who is our ^(F)hope,

² To ^(G)Timothy, ^(H)my true child in the faith: ^(I)Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and ^(J)Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ As I urged you ^[a]upon my departure for ^(K)Macedonia, ^[b]remain on at ^(L)Ephesus so that you may instruct certain men not to ^(M)teach strange doctrines, ⁴ nor to ^[c]pay attention to ^(N)myths and endless ^(O)genealogies, which give rise to mere ^(P)speculation rather than ^(Q)furthering ^[d]the administration of God which is by faith. ⁵ But the goal of our ^[e](R)instruction is love ^(S)from a pure heart and a ^(T)good conscience and a sincere ^(U)faith. ⁶ For some men, straying from these things, have turned aside to ^(V)fruitless discussion, ^7 (W)wanting to be ^(X)teachers of the Law, even though they do not understand either what they are saying or the matters about which they make confident assertions.

⁸ But we know that ^(Y)the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ realizing the fact that ^(Z)law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and ^(AA)rebellious, for the ^(AB)ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and ^(AC)profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers ^10 [f]and ^[g](AD)immoral men ^[h]and ^(AE)homosexuals ^[i]and ^(AF)kidnappers ^[j]and ^(AG)liars ^[k]and ^(AH)perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to ^(AI)sound teaching, ¹¹ according to ^(AJ)the glorious gospel of ^(AK)the blessed God, with which I have been ^(AL)entrusted.

¹² I thank ^(AM)Christ Jesus our Lord, who has ^(AN)strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, ^(AO)putting me into service, ¹³ even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a ^(AP)persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was ^(AQ)shown mercy because ^(AR)I acted ignorantly in unbelief; ¹⁴ and the ^(AS)grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the ^(AT)faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. ^15 (AU)It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that ^(AV)Christ Jesus came into the world to ^(AW)save sinners, among whom ^(AX)I am foremost of all. ¹⁶ Yet for this reason I ^(AY)found mercy, so that in me as the foremost, Jesus Christ might ^(AZ)demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those ^[l]who would believe in Him for eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the ^(BA)King ^[m]eternal, ^(BB)immortal, ^(BC)invisible, the ^(BD)only God, ^(BE)be honor and glory ^[n]forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸ This ^(BF)command I entrust to you, Timothy, ^(BG)my ^[o]son, in accordance with the ^(BH)prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you ^(BI)fight the good fight, ¹⁹ keeping ^(BJ)faith and a good conscience, which some have rejected and suffered shipwreck in regard to ^[p](BK)their faith. ^20 [q]Among these are ^(BL)Hymenaeus and ^(BM)Alexander, whom I have ^(BN)handed over to Satan, so that they will be ^(BO)taught not to blaspheme.

A Call to Prayer

2 First of all, then, I urge that ^(A)entreaties and prayers, petitions and thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, ^2 (B)for kings and all who are in ^[a]authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and ^[b]dignity. ³ This is good and acceptable in the sight of ^(C)God our Savior, ^4 (D)who desires all men to be ^(E)saved and to ^(F)come to the ^[c]knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is ^(G)one God, and ^(H)one mediator also between God and men, the ^(I)man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who ^(J)gave Himself as a ransom for all, the ^(K)testimony ^[d]given at ^[e](L)the proper time. ^7 (M)For this I was appointed a ^[f]preacher and ^(N)an apostle (^(O)I am telling the truth, I am not lying) as a teacher of ^(P)the Gentiles in faith and truth.

⁸ Therefore ^(Q)I want the men ^(R)in every place to pray, ^(S)lifting up ^(T)holy hands, without wrath and dissension.

Women Instructed

⁹ Likewise, I want ^(U)women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, ^[g]modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or costly garments, ¹⁰ but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. ^11 (V)A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. ^12 (W)But I do not allow a woman to teach or exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. ^13 (X)For it was Adam who was first ^[h]created, and then Eve. ¹⁴ And it was not Adam who was deceived, but ^(Y)the woman being deceived, ^[i]fell into transgression. ¹⁵ But women will be ^[j]preserved through the bearing of children if they continue in ^(Z)faith and love and sanctity with ^[k]self-restraint.