A thoughtful guide for your walk of faith Read with context, practice with grace.
Pauline Letters · WORLD ENGLISH BIBLE

1 Timothy 1

Guidance for teaching, worship, leadership, care, money, and church order.

New Testament

1 Timothy 1

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

9as 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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

16However, 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.

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

18I 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,

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

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

READ IN CONTEXT

Before applying this chapter

Guidance for teaching, worship, leadership, care, money, and church order. Read 1 Timothy 1 within the complete 1 Timothy overview, and use the contextual Bible reading guide before forming a personal application. Chapter divisions aid navigation, but the literary unit may begin earlier or continue into the next chapter.

Observe first

Mark repeated words, changes of speaker, commands, promises, contrasts, questions, and the relationship between paragraphs.

Apply responsibly

Distinguish description from command and immediate audience from later readers before forming a personal application.

TEXT-DERIVED READING NOTES

What to notice in 1 Timothy 1

1 Timothy 1 contains 20 verses and about 411 words in this translation. These observations come from the chapter itself; they are prompts for close reading, not claims about its only possible meaning.

The opening movement

Verse 1 begins: “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ according to the commandment of God our Savior and the Lord Jesus Christ our hope,” Ask what situation, voice, image, or argument this opening establishes for everything that follows.

The closing movement

Verse 20 closes: “of whom are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I delivered to Satan that they might be taught not to blaspheme.” Compare the ending with the opening and note what changed, resolved, intensified, or remained open.

Vocabulary worth tracing

Recurring or prominent content words include christ, faith, good, according, mercy, might. Follow where each word appears and whether its meaning shifts with the speaker or setting.

COMMON QUESTIONS

About 1 Timothy 1

Which Bible translation is shown here?+

This page reproduces the World English Bible Protestant edition (WEBP), a modern-English translation dedicated to the public domain.

How should I cite a specific verse?+

Use the book, chapter, and verse—for example, 1 Timothy 1:1—and name the World English Bible if the wording matters. Each verse number above is a direct anchor link.

Does the chapter number define the complete literary unit?+

Not always. Chapter and verse numbers were added for navigation. Check the paragraphs, scenes, poetic stanzas, or argument before and after this chapter.

A SMALL NEXT STEP

You do not have to have everything figured out.

Begin with one honest question, one passage read carefully, and one faithful next step.

Start with prayer