¹⁷ Then the Lord said, “Shall I hide from Abraham^(A) what I am about to do?^{(B) 18} Abraham will surely become a great and powerful nation,^(C) and all nations on earth will be blessed through him.^{[a] 19} For I have chosen him^(D), so that he will direct his children^(E) and his household after him to keep the way of the Lord^(F) by doing what is right and just,^(G) so that the Lord will bring about for Abraham what he has promised him.”^(H)

⁴ Fathers,^[a] do not exasperate your children;^(A) instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.^(B)

Thanksgiving

³ I thank God,^(A) whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience,^(B) as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.^{(C) 4} Recalling your tears,^(D) I long to see you,^(E) so that I may be filled with joy. ⁵ I am reminded of your sincere faith,^(F) which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice^(G) and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.

A Final Charge to Timothy

¹⁰ You, however, know all about my teaching,^(A) my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, ¹¹ persecutions, sufferings—what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch,^(B) Iconium^(C) and Lystra,^(D) the persecutions I endured.^(E) Yet the Lord rescued^(F) me from all of them.^{(G) 12} In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,^{(H) 13} while evildoers and impostors will go from bad to worse,^(I) deceiving and being deceived.^{(J) 14} But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it,^{(K) 15} and how from infancy^(L) you have known the Holy Scriptures,^(M) which are able to make you wise^(N) for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

³ Likewise, teach the older women to be reverent in the way they live, not to be slanderers^(A) or addicted to much wine,^(B) but to teach what is good. ⁴ Then they can urge the younger women^(C) to love their husbands and children, ⁵ to be self-controlled^(D) and pure, to be busy at home,^(E) to be kind, and to be subject to their husbands,^(F) so that no one will malign the word of God.^(G)