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Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A reading plan that walks through the entire New Testament in 24 weeks of daily readings.

Duration: 168 days

1 Timothy 5-6

Specific Regulations for Various Groups^[a]

Chapter 5

Different Age Groups.^[b] ¹Never speak harshly to an older man; rather, appeal to him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, ²older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with the greatest purity.

Widows.^[c] ³Give proper consideration to those widows who are truly in need. ⁴If a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to carry out their religious duty to their own family and repay their debt to their parents, for this is pleasing in the eyes of God.

⁵However, a widow who is truly in need and is alone in the world places all her trust in God and never ceases her prayers and supplications night and day. ⁶But the widow who is interested solely in pleasure is dead even while she lives.

⁷Insist upon these things, so that people may be beyond reproach. ⁸And whoever does not provide for relatives, especially for those who are living with him, has disowned the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

⁹A woman should not be enrolled as a widow if she is not at least sixty years old. In addition, she must have been married only once, ¹⁰and have a reputation for good works by bringing up her children, offering hospitality to strangers, washing the feet of the saints,^[d] helping those in distress, and being active in all kinds of good work.

¹¹However, refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions distract them from the service of Christ, they will want to marry again ¹²and will incur condemnation for having broken their original vow. ¹³In addition, they fall into the habit of being idle, as they go around from house to house, and also become gossips and busybodies, saying things that would better be left unsaid.

¹⁴Therefore, I think younger widows should marry again, bear children, and manage their households, so as not to give our enemies any occasion to revile us. ¹⁵Indeed, some have already turned away to follow Satan.

¹⁶If any woman believer has relatives who are widows, she must assist them herself. The Church should be free of such burdens and consequently able to assist those who are widows in the true sense.

¹⁷Presbyters.^[e] Presbyters who do their duty well should be considered deserving of a double honor,^[f] especially those who labor at preaching and teaching. ¹⁸For Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “A worker deserves his wages.”^[g]

¹⁹Never accept any accusation brought against a presbyter except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. ²⁰As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them publicly, so that the others may also be afraid.

²¹In the presence of God and Christ Jesus and the chosen angels,^[h] I charge you to follow these rules impartially and without being influenced by any favoritism. ²²Do not lay hands on others too hastily or you may find yourself regarded as an accomplice in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

²³Stop drinking nothing but water. Take a little wine for the sake of your stomach and your frequent ailments.

²⁴The sins of some people are so flagrant that they are publicly known before judgment, while the sins of others will only become known later on. ²⁵In the same manner, good works are often easily recognized, but even if they are not, they cannot remain hidden forever.

Chapter 6

Slaves.^[i] ¹All those who are under the yoke of slavery must regard their masters as worthy of complete respect, so that the name of God and our teaching may not be brought into disrepute. ²Those whose masters are believers must not despise them because they are brethren. On the contrary, they should serve them more, since those who receive the benefits of their services are believers and beloved brethren.

Final Charge^[j]

False Teaching about Wealth. These are the things you should teach and recommend. ³Whoever teaches something different and does not agree with the wholesome instruction of our Lord Jesus Christ and with the godly teaching ⁴is a conceited person who understands nothing and who has an unhealthy enthusiasm to engage in arguments and to dispute the meaning of words. From these come envy, dissension, slander, base suspicions, ⁵and unending disputes among people whose minds are corrupted and who are deprived of truth, supposing that godliness is a means of gain.

⁶Godliness produces great gain, but only to those who are content. ⁷For we brought nothing into this world, and we can take nothing out. ⁸If we have food and clothing, let us be content with these.

⁹However, those who want riches fall into temptations and are trapped into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. ¹⁰The love of money is the root of all evils, and in their desire for it some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many serious wounds.^[k]

¹¹Fight the Good Fight. But as for you, man of God,^[l] you must shun all this. Rather, pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, fortitude, and gentleness. ¹²Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your noble confession^[m] of faith in the presence of many witnesses.

¹³In the sight of God, who gave life to all things, and before Jesus Christ, who himself made that noble confession of faith in his testimony before Pontius Pilate, I charge you ¹⁴to obey the commands of God without fault or failure until the appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁵which he will make manifest at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only ruler of all, the King of kings and the Lord of lords. ¹⁶He alone is immortal and dwells in unapproachable light. No one has seen him or is able to do so. To him be honor and everlasting power. Amen.

¹⁷Right Use of Riches.^[n] Instruct those who are rich in this world’s goods that they should not be proud, nor should they trust in the uncertainty of riches but rather in God who richly provides us with everything we need for our enjoyment. ¹⁸Tell them to do good and to be rich in good works, to be generous in giving and ready to share. ¹⁹In this way, they will acquire the treasure of a good foundation for the future so that they will be able to grasp the life that is true life.

Conclusion^[o]

²⁰Admonition to Timothy. My brother Timothy, guard carefully what has been entrusted to you.^[p] Avoid the profane chatter and the contradictions of what is wrongly considered to be knowledge. ²¹By professing it some people have strayed far from the faith.

Farewell. Grace be with all of you.^[q]

Footnotes

1 Timothy 5:1 Paul sets forth the attitude that Timothy should have toward various groups in his Church: the old and the young, widows, presbyters, and slaves. With reference to slavery, one should note that the New Testament does not attack the institution directly but attacks the principle of slavery. For Christian slaves are freedmen of the Lord and their owners are slaves of the Lord (1 Cor 7:21-23). In Christ Jesus there is no distinction between slave and free; all are baptized in one Spirit and form one body (see 1 Cor 12:13; Gal 3:28; Col 3:11). Ultimately, the principle of Christian love prevented Christians from regarding other human beings as slaves.
1 Timothy 5:1 The apostle must have an attitude of respect and closeness for the different categories of the faithful.
1 Timothy 5:3 In reading this passage, the circumstances of the period and concrete conditions in the community must be taken into account. Different types of widows are discussed. Some have a family; in their case, the accent is placed upon a true exchange on the family level. Other widows are all alone; they can serve the Church and are taken into her care.
When he speaks of young widows, the author cannot resist injecting a caricatural trait; he refuses to let them engage in the exclusive service of Christ and the Church out of fear that later events in their existence may take away their initial enthusiasm. It seems that some communities had the bad experience of premature vows. (1 Corinthians 7:9, 40 exhibited much less distrust in such cases.) It is interesting to note the existence of organized groups of widows in the community.
1 Timothy 5:10 Washing the feet of the saints, i.e., the faithful, was a ritual of hospitality (see Lk 7:44; Jn 13:1ff). It was necessary because the roads were dusty and the footwear consisted of sandals.
1 Timothy 5:17 Presbyters do not seem to be on the same level as the bishops (i.e., “overseers”) mentioned earlier (1 Tim 3:1-7), although they preside at the Liturgy and explain the Scriptures. This fact seems to pave the way for the monarchical episcopate that developed in the Church during the second and third centuries. The poverty required of his ministers by Christ does not prevent the Gospel workers from earning a living by their labor, even though Paul himself has always refused to accept any assistance. But anyone who has the desire to serve the Church must have shown to be a serious Christian. The responsibility for the community must not be conferred lightly on anyone.
Paul then places his full attention on his favorite disciple (v. 23).
1 Timothy 5:17 Double honor: i.e., respect and an honorarium for their labor.
1 Timothy 5:18 Both citations (Deut 25:4 and Lk 10:7) are called “Scripture.” This shows that whatever portions of the New Testament were available at the time were already regarded as equal to the Old Testament in authority.
1 Timothy 5:21 The chosen angels: in contrast to the fallen angels (see 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 6).
1 Timothy 6:1 Paul speaks on more than one occasion of the lot of slaves (see 1 Cor 7:21-24; Gal 3:28; Eph 6:5-9; Col 3:22-25; Tit 2:9-10; Philem 10-17; 1 Pet 2:18-20). What he speaks of here is not about the social institution of the time but about fidelity and relationships within a de facto institution.
1 Timothy 6:2 The final instruction to Timothy concerns combating false teaching about wealth, fighting the good fight of the faith, and amassing true riches in place of earthly wealth. In order to understand the kind of disastrous teaching we are dealing with here, it suffices to examine the portrait of a false teacher. He is a man who gives in to every snare, chasing after reputation, emotional satisfaction, and money without paying any real attention to the faith. The true teacher, on the other hand, knows how to embrace suffering and live according to the truth. He is a man who professes the faith and fights for it while totally enveloped by the mystery of Christ that is evoked in the beautiful final hymn in 1 Tim 6:14-16.
1 Timothy 6:10 Money in itself is neither good nor bad. It is the love of money that is evil, and indeed the root of all types of evil. Therefore, it is not wrong for believers to be well off—so long as they do not take pride in their riches but use them “to do good.”
1 Timothy 6:11 Man of God: a well-known title that had been applied to Moses and the Prophets in the Old Testament (see Deut 33:1; 1 Sam 2:27). It highlights the spiritual power possessed by leaders of the Church.
1 Timothy 6:12 Confession: perhaps the profession of faith that Timothy made when consecrated to the ministry.
1 Timothy 6:17 This passage calls for Christians to cast off the quest for riches that permeated their society and to change their attitude toward them.
1 Timothy 6:20 Once again one of the major themes of the Letter is highlighted in this Conclusion: guard the deposit of faith that has been entrusted to you.
1 Timothy 6:20 What has been entrusted to you: literally, “the deposit,” that is, sacred doctrine, the authentic Gospel (see 1 Tim 1:10-11; 2 Tim 1:13-14). Wrongly considered to be knowledge: the ensemble of doctrines that were taught by heretics and that on many points foreshadowed the Gnosticism of the second century.
1 Timothy 6:21 All of you: the plural indicates that this Letter was intended to be read to the whole community.

New Catholic Bible (NCB)