Timothy Charged to Oppose False Teachers

³ As I urged you when I went into Macedonia,^(A) stay there in Ephesus^(B) so that you may command certain people not to teach false doctrines^(C) any longer ⁴ or to devote themselves to myths^(D) and endless genealogies.^(E) Such things promote controversial speculations^(F) rather than advancing God’s work—which is by faith. ⁵ The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart^(G) and a good conscience^(H) and a sincere faith.^{(I) 6} Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. ⁷ They want to be teachers^(J) of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.^(K)

² Now the overseer is to be above reproach,^(A) faithful to his wife,^(B) temperate,^(C) self-controlled, respectable, hospitable,^(D) able to teach,^{(E) 3} not given to drunkenness,^(F) not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome,^(G) not a lover of money.^{(H) 4} He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him, and he must do so in a manner worthy of full^[a] respect.^{(I) 5} (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God’s church?)^{(J) 6} He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited^(K) and fall under the same judgment^(L) as the devil.

² Those who have believing masters should not show them disrespect just because they are fellow believers.^(A) Instead, they should serve them even better because their masters are dear to them as fellow believers and are devoted to the welfare^[a] of their slaves.

False Teachers and the Love of Money

These are the things you are to teach and insist on.^{(B) 3} If anyone teaches otherwise^(C) and does not agree to the sound instruction^(D) of our Lord Jesus Christ and to godly teaching, ⁴ they are conceited^(E) and understand nothing. They have an unhealthy interest in controversies and quarrels about words^(F) that result in envy, strife, malicious talk, evil suspicions ⁵ and constant friction between people of corrupt mind, who have been robbed of the truth^(G) and who think that godliness is a means to financial gain.