1 TIMOTHY 6 [†] o Let all who are under a yoke as bondservants [1] regard their own masters as worthy of all honor, p so that the name of God and the teaching may not be reviled. 2[†]Those who have believing masters must not be disrespectful on the ground that they are q brothers; rather they must serve all the better since those who benefit by their good service are believers and beloved.
r Teach and urge these things. 3[†]If anyone s teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with t the sound [2] words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching u that accords with godliness, 4 v he is puffed up with conceit and w understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for x controversy and for y quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, 5[†]and constant friction among people z who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, a imagining that godliness is a means of gain. 6[†]But b godliness c with contentment is great gain, 7for d we brought nothing into the world, and [3] we cannot take anything out of the world. 8But e if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. 9[†]But f those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, g into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that h plunge people into ruin and destruction. 10For the love of money is a root of i all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs.
11[†]But as for you, j O man of God, k flee these things. l Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. 12 m Fight the good fight of the faith. n Take hold of the eternal life o to which you were called and about which you made p the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 13[†] q I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, r who in his testimony before [4] Pontius Pilate made p the good confession, 14to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until s the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15[†]which he will display t at the proper time—he who is u the blessed and only Sovereign, v the King of kings and Lord of lords, 16 w who alone has immortality, x who dwells in y unapproachable light, z whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.
17[†]As for the rich in a this present age, charge them b not to be haughty, nor c to set their hopes on d the uncertainty of riches, but on God, e who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18[†]They are to do good, f to be rich in good works, to be generous and g ready to share, 19thus h storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may i take hold of j that which is truly life.
20[†]O Timothy, guard the deposit entrusted to you. k Avoid the l irreverent babble and contradictions of what is falsely called “knowledge,” 21for by professing it some have swerved from the faith.