1 Timothy 4:12-16
J.B. Phillips New Testament
A little personal advice
12-16 Don’t let people look down on you because you are young; see that they look up to you because you are an example to them in your speech and behaviour, in your love and faith and sincerity. Concentrate until my arrival on your reading and on your preaching and teaching. Never forget that you received the gift of proclaiming God’s Word when the assembled elders laid their hands on you. Give your whole attention, all your energies, to these things, so that your progress is plain for all to see. Keep a critical eye both upon your own life and on the teaching you give, and if you continue to follow the line I have indicated you will not only save your own soul but the souls of many of your hearers as well.
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1 Timothy 4:12-14
New King James Version
Take Heed to Your Ministry
12 Let no one [a]despise your youth, but be an (A)example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, [b]in spirit, in faith, in purity. 13 Till I come, give attention to reading, to exhortation, to [c]doctrine. 14 (B)Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy (C)with the laying on of the hands of the eldership.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Timothy 4:12 look down on your youthfulness
- 1 Timothy 4:12 NU omits in spirit
- 1 Timothy 4:13 teaching
1 Timothy 4:12-14
English Standard Version
12 (A)Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers (B)an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching. 14 (C)Do not neglect the gift you have, which was given you (D)by prophecy when the council of elders (E)laid their hands on you.
Read full chapterThe New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.

