1 Timothy 1 (WEB)

1 Timothy 1

¹ Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope,

² to Timothy, my true child in faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³ As I urged you when I was going into Macedonia, stay at Ephesus that you might command certain men not to teach a different doctrine,

⁴ and not to pay attention to myths and endless genealogies, which cause disputes rather than God’s stewardship, which is in faith.

⁵ But the goal of this command is love from a pure heart, a good conscience, and sincere faith,

⁶ from which things some, having missed the mark, have turned away to vain talking,

⁷ desiring to be teachers of the law, though they understand neither what they say nor about what they strongly affirm.

⁸ But we know that the law is good if a person uses it lawfully,

⁹ as knowing this, that law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

¹⁰ for the sexually immoral, for homosexuals, for slave-traders, for liars, for perjurers, and for any other thing contrary to the sound doctrine,

¹¹ according to the Good News of the glory of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

¹² I thank him who enabled me, Christ Jesus our Lord, because he counted me faithful, appointing me to service,

¹³ although I used to be a blasphemer, a persecutor, and insolent. However, I obtained mercy because I did it ignorantly in unbelief.

¹⁴ The grace of our Lord abounded exceedingly with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁵ The saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.

¹⁶ However, for this cause I obtained mercy, that in me first, Jesus Christ might display all his patience for an example of those who were going to believe in him for eternal life.

¹⁷ Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁸ I commit this instruction to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which were given to you before, that by them you may wage the good warfare,

¹⁹ holding faith and a good conscience, which some having thrust away made a shipwreck concerning the faith,

²⁰ of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme.

Around 1 Timothy 1

Context

Context for this book is being written. A note appears here only once it names its sources.

AI explanation

1 Timothy 1 · Written by an AI model · Not reviewed by a theological reader

This explanation was written by an AI model to help you get started. It names no sources and can contain mistakes. Scripture comes first, and context with sources is shown separately on this page.

What this chapter says

Paul writes to Timothy, whom he calls his true child in faith, and gives him a task. Stay at Ephesus and command certain men not to teach a different doctrine or to give their attention to myths and endless genealogies. The goal of the command, Paul says, is love from a pure heart, a good conscience and sincere faith. Some have missed the mark and want to be teachers of the law without understanding it.

Paul says the law is good if it is used lawfully, and he lists those it is aimed at, including murderers, liars, the sexually immoral and slave-traders. Then his voice softens, and he tells his own story. He had been a blasphemer and a persecutor, yet he obtained mercy. His own words are, “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.” The chapter closes with praise to the King eternal and a charge to Timothy to hold to faith and a good conscience.

Background

1 Timothy is one of the letters to church leaders, usually called the pastoral letters. Tradition links it to Paul at the end of his life, while many scholars think it was written by a later follower in his name. Either way, it speaks to a church in Ephesus troubled by false teachers. The meaning of some of the Greek terms in the list of sins is debated, and translations differ. See Acts 19 and Acts 20 for Paul in Ephesus.

About this explanation

Written by Claude Sonnet 5.5, an AI model, on 18 October 2026. It draws on the WEB text and general knowledge and was not checked against sources by a person. Every quotation from Scripture is checked automatically against the WEB text.

Report a mistake

CommunityVoices, not sources

Readers share what this chapter means to them in the app.

See what readers say about 1 Timothy 1