Pride Promotes Strife

4 Where do ^[a]wars and fights come from among you? Do they not come from your desires for pleasure ^(A)that war in your members? ² You lust and do not have. You murder and covet and cannot obtain. You fight and ^[b]war. ^[c]Yet you do not have because you do not ask. ^3 (B)You ask and do not receive, ^(C)because you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures. ^4 [d]Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that ^(D)friendship with the world is enmity with God? ^(E)Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, ^(F)“The Spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously”?

⁶ But He gives more grace. Therefore He says:

Humility Cures Worldliness

⁷ Therefore submit to God. ^(H)Resist the devil and he will flee from you. ^8 (I)Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. ^(J)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and ^(K)purify your hearts, you double-minded. ^9 (L)Lament and mourn and weep! Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom. ^10 (M)Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up.

Do Not Judge a Brother

^11 (N)Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother ^(O)and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. ¹² There is one ^[e]Lawgiver, ^(P)who is able to save and to destroy. ^(Q)Who^[f] are you to judge ^[g]another?

Do Not Boast About Tomorrow

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow ^[h]we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit”; ¹⁴ whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? ^(R)It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ Instead you ought to say, ^(S)“If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you boast in your arrogance. ^(T)All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore, ^(U)to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

Rich Oppressors Will Be Judged

5 Come now, you ^(V)rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you! ² Your ^(W)riches ^[i]are corrupted, and ^(X)your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be a witness against you and will eat your flesh like fire. ^(Y)You have heaped up treasure in the last days. ⁴ Indeed ^(Z)the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, cry out; and ^(AA)the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of ^[j]Sabaoth. ⁵ You have lived on the earth in pleasure and ^[k]luxury; you have ^[l]fattened your hearts ^[m]as in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned, you have murdered the just; he does not resist you.

Be Patient and Persevering

⁷ Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord ^[n]is at hand.

⁹ Do not ^[o]grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be ^[p]condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! ^10 (AB)My brethren, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord, as an example of suffering and ^(AC)patience. ¹¹ Indeed ^(AD)we count them blessed who ^(AE)endure. You have heard of ^(AF)the perseverance of Job and seen ^(AG)the end intended by the Lord—that ^(AH)the Lord is very compassionate and merciful.

¹² But above all, my brethren, ^(AI)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into ^[q]judgment.

Meeting Specific Needs^(AJ)

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? Let him ^(AK)pray. Is anyone cheerful? ^(AL)Let him sing psalms. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, ^(AM)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. ^(AN)And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ^16 [r]Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. ^(AO)The effective, ^[s]fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man ^(AP)with a nature like ours, and ^(AQ)he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ And he prayed ^(AR)again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

Bring Back the Erring One

¹⁹ Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone ^(AS)turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way ^(AT)will save ^[t]a soul from death and ^(AU)cover a multitude of sins.

Greeting

1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ, our hope,

² To Timothy, a ^(A)true son in the faith:

^(B)Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.

No Other Doctrine

³ As I urged you ^(C)when I went into Macedonia—remain in Ephesus that you may ^[a]charge some ^(D)that they teach no other doctrine, ^4 (E)nor give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than godly edification which is in faith. ⁵ Now ^(F)the purpose of the commandment is love ^(G)from a pure heart, from a good conscience, and from ^[b]sincere faith, ⁶ from which some, having strayed, have turned aside to ^(H)idle talk, ⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, understanding neither what they say nor the things which they affirm.

⁸ But we know that the law is ^(I)good if one uses it lawfully, ⁹ knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers, ¹⁰ for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is ^[c]contrary to sound doctrine, ¹¹ according to the glorious gospel of the ^(J)blessed God which was ^(K)committed to my trust.

Glory to God for His Grace^(L)

¹² And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord who has ^(M)enabled me, ^(N)because He counted me faithful, ^(O)putting me into the ministry, ¹³ although ^(P)I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an ^[d]insolent man; but I obtained mercy because ^(Q)I did it ignorantly in unbelief. ^14 (R)And the grace of our Lord was exceedingly abundant, ^(S)with faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ^15 (T)This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that ^(U)Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. ¹⁶ However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life. ¹⁷ Now to ^(V)the King eternal, ^(W)immortal, ^(X)invisible, to ^[e]God ^(Y)who alone is wise, ^(Z)be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

Fight the Good Fight

¹⁸ This ^[f]charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, ¹⁹ having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck, ²⁰ of whom are ^(AA)Hymenaeus and ^(AB)Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they may learn not to ^(AC)blaspheme.

Pray for All Men

2 Therefore I ^[g]exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, ^2 (AD)for kings and ^(AE)all who are in ^[h]authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and ^[i]reverence. ³ For this is ^(AF)good and acceptable in the sight ^(AG)of God our Savior, ^4 (AH)who desires all men to be saved ^(AI)and to come to the knowledge of the truth. ^5 (AJ)For there is one God and ^(AK)one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, ^6 (AL)who gave Himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time, ^7 (AM)for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle—I am speaking the truth ^[j]in Christ and not lying—^(AN)a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Men and Women in the Church

⁸ I desire therefore that the men pray ^(AO)everywhere, ^(AP)lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting; ⁹ in like manner also, that the ^(AQ)women adorn themselves in modest apparel, with propriety and ^[k]moderation, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly clothing, ^10 (AR)but, which is proper for women professing godliness, with good works. ¹¹ Let a woman learn in silence with all submission. ¹² And ^(AS)I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. ¹³ For Adam was formed first, then Eve. ¹⁴ And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression. ¹⁵ Nevertheless she will be saved in childbearing if they continue in faith, love, and holiness, with self-control.