1የእግዚአብሔር ስምና ትምህርቱም እንዳይሰደቡ፣ በባርነት ቀንበር ሥር ያሉ ሁሉ፣ ጌቶቻቸው ሙሉ ክብር እንደሚገባቸው አድርገው ይቍጠሩ። 2የሚያምኑ ጌቶች ያሏቸውም፣ ወንድሞች ስለ ሆኑ የሚገባቸውን ክብር አይንፈጓቸው፤ ይልቁንም በአገልግሎታቸው የሚጠቀሙ አማኞችና ወዳጆቻቸው ስለ ሆኑ የበለጠ ሊያገለግሏቸው ይገባል። እነዚህን ነገሮች አስተምር፤ ምከርም።
የገንዘብ ፍቅር
3ማንም የሐሰት ትምህርት ቢያስተምር፣ ከጌታችን ከኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ጤናማ ቃልና እውነተኛ መንፈሳዊነትን ከሚያጐለብት ትምህርት ጋር የማይስማማ ቢሆን፣ 4ያ ሰው በትዕቢት ተወጥሯል፤ አንዳችም አያስተውልም። ስለ ቃላት ለመከራከርና ለመጣላት ክፉ ጕጕት አለው፤ እነዚህም ቅናትን፣ ጥልን፣ ስድብን፣ መጥፎ ጥርጣሬን ያስከትላሉ፤ 5እውነትን በተቀሙና መንፈሳዊው ነገር ትርፍ ማግኛ በሚመስላቸው፣ አእምሮ በጐደላቸው ሰዎችም መካከል የማያባራ ንትርክ ያመጣሉ።
6ነገር ግን እውነተኛ መንፈሳዊነት ባለን ነገር ከመርካት ጋር ትልቅ ትርፍ ነው። 7ምክንያቱም ወደ ዓለም ያመጣነው ምንም ነገር የለም፤ ምንም ነገር ይዘን መሄድም አንችልም። 8ነገር ግን ምግብና ልብስ ካለን፣ ያ ይበቃናል። 9ባለጠጋ ለመሆን የሚፈልጉ ግን ወደ ፈተናና ወደ ወጥመድ፣ እንዲሁም ሰዎችን ወደ መፍረስና ወደ ጥፋት ወደሚያዘቅጠው ወደ ብዙ ከንቱና ክፉ ምኞት ይወድቃሉ። 10ምክንያቱም የገንዘብ ፍቅር የክፋት ሁሉ ሥር ነው። አንዳንዶች ባለጠጋ ለመሆን ካላቸው ጕጕት የተነሣ ከእምነት መንገድ ስተው ሄደዋል፤ ራሳቸውንም በብዙ ሥቃይ ወግተዋል።
ጳውሎስ ለጢሞቴዎስ የሰጠው ዐደራ
11የእግዚአብሔር ሰው ሆይ፤ አንተ ግን ከዚህ ሁሉ ሽሽ፤ ጽድቅን፣ እውነተኛ መንፈሳዊ ሕይወትን፣ እምነትን፣ ፍቅርን፣ ትዕግሥትንና ገርነትን ተከታተል። 12መልካሙን የእምነት ገድል ተጋደል፤ በብዙ ምስክሮች ፊት በመልካም መታመን የመሰከርህለትንና የተጠራህበትን የዘላለም ሕይወት አጥብቀህ ያዝ። 13ለሁሉም ሕይወትን በሚሰጥ በእግዚአብሔር ዘንድ እንዲሁም በጳንጥዮስ ጲላጦስ ፊት እውነትን በመሰከረ በክርስቶስ ኢየሱስ ፊት ዐደራ የምልህ፣ 14ጌታችን ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ እስኪገለጥ ድረስ ይህን ትእዛዝ ያለ ዕድፍና ያለ ነቀፋ ሆነህ እንድትጠብቅ ነው፤ 15ያም መገለጥ፣ የተባረከውና ብቻውን ገዥ የሆነው የነገሥታት ንጉሥ፣ የጌቶችም ጌታ እግዚአብሔር በራሱ ጊዜ የሚያሳየው ነው፤ 16እርሱ ብቻ ኢመዋቲ ነው፤ ሊቀረብ በማይቻል ብርሃን ውስጥ ይኖራል፤ እርሱን ያየ ማንም የለም፤ ሊያየውም የሚችል የለም። ለእርሱ ክብርና ኀይል ከዘላለም እስከ ዘላለም ይሁን፤ አሜን።
17በዚህ ዓለም ባለጠጎች የሆኑት እንዳይታበዩ፣ ደስም እንዲለን ሁሉን ነገር አትረፍርፎ በሚሰጠን በእግዚአብሔር እንጂ አስተማማኝነት በሌለው በሀብት ላይ ተስፋ እንዳያደርጉ እዘዛቸው። 18መልካም እንዲሠሩ፣ ቸሮችና ለማካፈል ፈቃደኞች የሆኑ እንዲሆኑ እዘዛቸው። 19በዚህ ዐይነት እውነተኛ የሆነውን ሕይወት ያገኙ ዘንድ፣ ለሚመጣው ዘመን ጽኑ መሠረት የሚሆን ሀብት ለራሳቸው ያከማቻሉ።
20ጢሞቴዎስ ሆይ፤ በዐደራ የተቀበልኸውን ሁሉ ጠብቅ፤ እግዚአብሔርን ከማያስከብር ከከንቱ ልፍለፋና ለተቃውሞ በውሸት ዕውቀት ከተባለ ፍልስፍና ራቅ፤ 21የዚህ ዐይነት ዕውቀት አለን ሲሉ የነበሩ አንዳንዶች ይህን በማድረጋቸው ከእምነት መንገድ ስተው ሄደዋል።
ጸጋ ከእናንተ ጋር ይሁን።
1All who are forced to serve as slaves should consider their masters worthy of full respect. Then people will not speak evil things against God’s name and against what we teach. 2Some slaves have masters who are believers. They shouldn’t show their masters disrespect just because they are also believers. Instead, they should serve them even better. That’s because their masters are loved by them as believers. These masters are committed to caring for their slaves.
People Who Teach Lies or Love Money
These are the things you are to teach. Try hard to get the believers to do them. 3Suppose someone teaches something different than I have taught. Suppose that person doesn’t agree with the true teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ. Suppose they don’t agree with godly teaching. 4Then that person is proud and doesn’t understand anything. They like to argue more than they should. They can’t agree about what words mean. All of this results in wanting what others have. It causes fighting, harmful talk, and evil distrust. 5It stirs up trouble all the time among people whose minds are twisted by sin. The truth they once had has been taken away from them. They think they can get rich by being godly.
6You gain a lot when you live a godly life. But you must be happy with what you have. 7We didn’t bring anything into the world. We can’t take anything out of it. 8If we have food and clothing, we will be happy with that. 9People who want to get rich are tempted. They fall into a trap. They are tripped up by wanting many foolish and harmful things. Those who live like that are dragged down by what they do. They are destroyed and die. 10Love for money causes all kinds of evil. Some people want to get rich. They have wandered away from the faith. They have wounded themselves with many sorrows.
Paul Gives a Final Command to Timothy
11But you are a man of God. Run away from all these things. Try hard to do what is right and godly. Have faith, love and gentleness. Hold on to what you believe. 12Fight the good fight along with all other believers. Take hold of eternal life. You were chosen for it when you openly told others what you believe. Many witnesses heard you. 13God gives life to everything. Christ Jesus told the truth when he was a witness in front of Pontius Pilate. In the sight of God and Christ, I give you a command. 14Obey it until our Lord Jesus Christ appears. Obey it completely. Then no one can find fault with it or you. 15God will bring Jesus back at a time that pleases him. God is the blessed and only Ruler. He is the greatest King of all. He is the most powerful Lord of all. 16God is the only one who can’t die. He lives in light that no one can get close to. No one has seen him. No one can see him. Honor and power belong to him forever. Amen.
17Command people who are rich in this world not to be proud. Tell them not to put their hope in riches. Wealth is so uncertain. Command those who are rich to put their hope in God. He richly provides us with everything to enjoy. 18Command the rich to do what is good. Tell them to be rich in doing good things. They must give freely. They must be willing to share. 19In this way, they will store up true riches for themselves. It will provide a firm basis for the next life. Then they will take hold of the life that really is life.
20Timothy, guard what God has trusted you with. Turn away from godless chatter. Stay away from opposing ideas that are falsely called knowledge. 21Some people believe them. By doing that they have turned away from the faith.
May God’s grace be with you all.
