Things to Avoid

4 ^[a]What is the source of quarrels and ^(A)conflicts among you? ^[b]Is the source not your pleasures that wage ^(B)war in ^[c]your body’s parts? ² You lust and do not have, so you ^(C)commit murder. And 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 ^[d]with the wrong motives, so that you may spend what you request ^[e]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 wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture ^(I)says to no purpose, “^[f]He ^[g]jealously desires ^(J)the Spirit whom 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. But ^[h](N)resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ^8 (O)Come close to God and He will come close to you. ^(P)Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and ^(Q)purify your hearts, you ^(R)[i]double-minded. ^9 (S)Be miserable, and mourn, and weep; let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into 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)brothers and sisters. The one who speaks against a brother or sister, or ^(W)judges his brother or sister, 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, ^[j]judging 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 [k]Yet you do not know ^[l]what your life will be like tomorrow. ^(AE)For you are just a vapor that appears for a little while, and then vanishes away. ^15 [m]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 ^[n]arrogance; ^(AG)all such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ So ^(AH)for one who knows the ^[o]right thing to do and does not do it, for him it is sin.

Misuse of Riches

5 ^(AI)Come now, ^(AJ)you rich people, ^(AK)weep and howl for your miseries which are coming upon you. ^2 (AL)Your riches have rotted and your garments have become moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver have corroded, and their corrosion will ^[p]serve as a testimony against you and will consume your flesh like fire. It is ^(AM)in the last days that you have stored up your treasure! ⁴ Behold, ^(AN)the pay of the laborers who mowed your fields, and which has been withheld by you, cries out against you; and ^(AO)the outcry of those who did the harvesting has reached the ears of ^(AP)the Lord ^[q]of armies. ⁵ You have ^[r](AQ)lived for pleasure on the earth and lived luxuriously; you have ^[s]fattened your hearts in ^(AR)a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and ^[t](AS)put to death ^(AT)the righteous person; he offers you no resistance.

Exhortation

⁷ Therefore be patient, ^(AU)brothers and sisters, ^(AV)until the coming of the Lord. ^(AW)The farmer waits for the precious produce of the soil, being patient about it, until ^[u]it gets ^(AX)the early and late rains. ^8 (AY)You too be patient; ^(AZ)strengthen your hearts, for ^(BA)the coming of the Lord is ^(BB)near. ^9 (BC)Do not ^[v]complain, ^(BD)brothers and sisters, against one another, so that you may not be judged; behold, ^(BE)the Judge is standing ^[w](BF)right at the ^[x]door. ¹⁰ As an example, ^(BG)brothers and sisters, of suffering and patience, take ^(BH)the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ We count those ^(BI)blessed who endured. You have heard of ^(BJ)the ^[y]endurance of Job and have seen ^(BK)the ^[z]outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that ^(BL)the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.

¹² But above all, ^(BM)my brothers and sisters, ^(BN)do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but ^[aa]your yes is to be yes, and your no, no, so that you do not fall under judgment.

¹³ Is anyone among you ^(BO)suffering? ^(BP)Then he must pray. Is anyone cheerful? He is to ^(BQ)sing praises. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? Then he must call for ^(BR)the elders of the church and they are to pray over him, ^[ab](BS)anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; ¹⁵ and the ^(BT)prayer of faith will ^[ac](BU)restore the one who is sick, and the Lord will ^(BV)raise him up, and if he has committed sins, ^[ad]they will be forgiven him. ¹⁶ Therefore, ^(BW)confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be ^(BX)healed. ^(BY)A ^[ae]prayer of a righteous person, when it is ^[af]brought about, can accomplish much. ¹⁷ Elijah was ^(BZ)a man with a nature like ours, and ^(CA)he prayed ^[ag]earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the earth for ^(CB)three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he ^(CC)prayed again, and ^(CD)the sky ^[ah]poured rain and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹ My brothers and sisters, ^(CE)if anyone among you strays from ^(CF)the truth and someone turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that the one who has turned a sinner from the error of his way will ^(CG)save his soul from death and ^(CH)cover a multitude of sins.

Correcting False Teaching

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 ^[a]son in the faith: ^(I)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and ^(J)Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ Just as I urged you ^[b]upon my departure for ^(K)Macedonia, to remain on at ^(L)Ephesus so that you would instruct certain people not to ^(M)teach strange doctrines, ⁴ nor to ^[c]pay attention to ^(N)myths and endless ^(O)genealogies, which give rise to useless ^(P)speculation rather than ^(Q)advance ^[d]the plan of God, which is by faith, so I urge you now. ⁵ But the goal of our ^[e](R)instruction is love ^(S)from a pure heart, from a ^(T)good conscience, and from a sincere ^(U)faith. ⁶ Some people have strayed from these things and 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)worldly, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers, ¹⁰ for the ^[f](AD)sexually immoral, ^(AE)homosexuals, ^[g](AF)slave traders, ^(AG)liars, ^(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.

Paul’s Testimony

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 previously 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. ¹⁶ Yet for this reason I ^(AY)found mercy, so that in me as the foremost sinner Jesus Christ might ^(AZ)demonstrate His perfect patience as an example for those ^[h]who would believe in Him for eternal life. ¹⁷ Now to the ^(BA)King ^[i]eternal, ^(BB)immortal, ^(BC)invisible, the ^(BD)only God, ^(BE)be honor and glory ^[j]forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸ This ^(BF)command I entrust to you, Timothy, ^(BG)my ^[k]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 ^[l](BK)their faith. ^20 [m]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 ^(BP)requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, ^2 (BQ)for kings and all who are in ^[n]authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and ^[o]dignity. ³ This is good and acceptable in the sight of ^(BR)God our Savior, ^4 (BS)who wants all people to be ^(BT)saved and to ^(BU)come to the ^[p]knowledge of the truth. ⁵ For there is ^(BV)one God, and ^(BW)one mediator also between God and mankind, the ^(BX)man Christ Jesus, ⁶ who ^(BY)gave Himself as a ransom for all, the ^(BZ)testimony ^[q]given at ^[r](CA)the proper time. ^7 (CB)For this I was appointed as a ^[s]preacher and ^(CC)an apostle (^(CD)I am telling the truth, I am not lying), as a teacher of ^(CE)the Gentiles in faith and truth.

Instructions for Believers

⁸ Therefore ^(CF)I want the men ^(CG)in every place to pray, ^(CH)lifting up ^(CI)holy hands, without anger and dispute. ⁹ Likewise, I want ^(CJ)women to adorn themselves with proper clothing, ^[t]modestly and discreetly, not with braided hair and gold or pearls or expensive apparel, ¹⁰ but rather by means of good works, as is proper for women making a claim to godliness. ^11 (CK)A woman must quietly receive instruction with entire submissiveness. ^12 (CL)But I do not allow a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man, but to remain quiet. ^13 (CM)For it was Adam who was first ^[u]created, and then Eve. ¹⁴ And it was not Adam who was deceived, but ^(CN)the woman was ^[v]deceived and ^[w]became a wrongdoer. ¹⁵ But ^[x]women will be ^[y]preserved through ^[z]childbirth—if they continue in ^(CO)faith, love, and sanctity, with moderation.