1 Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, 2 influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron. 3 They will prohibit marriage and require abstinence from certain foods that God has created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creation of God is good, and nothing that is received with thanksgiving should be rejected, 5 because it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6 By pointing out these things to the brothers, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished by the words of faith and sound instruction that you have followed. 7 But reject irreverent, silly myths. Instead, train yourself for godliness. 8 For physical exercise is of limited value, but godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for the present life and for the one to come. 9 This is a trustworthy saying, worthy of full acceptance. 10 To this end we labor and strive, because we have set our hope on the living God, who is the Savior of everyone, and especially of those who believe. 11 Command and teach these things. 12 Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity. 13 Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching. 14 Do not neglect the gift that is in you, which was given you through the prophecy spoken over you at the laying on of the hands of the elders. 15 Be diligent in these matters and absorbed in them, so that your progress will be evident to all. 16 Pay close attention to your life and to your teaching. Persevere in these things, for by so doing you will save both yourself and those who hear you.
1 Timothy · Berean Standard Bible
1 Timothy 4 Berean Standard Bible
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (16)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 2 Timothy 3:1–9; 2 Peter 2:1; 2 Corinthians 11:13–15; Jude 18; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12
- 2 Ephesians 4:19; Romans 16:18; Acts 20:30; Romans 1:28; Matthew 24:24
- 3 Hebrews 13:4; 1 Timothy 4:4; Romans 14:6; Colossians 2:16; 1 Corinthians 10:30–31
- 4 Romans 14:20; 1 Corinthians 10:25; Romans 14:14; 1 Corinthians 10:23; Acts 21:25
- 5 1 Timothy 4:3; Luke 4:4; 1 Corinthians 7:14; Titus 1:15; Luke 11:41
- 6 Titus 2:7–10; Colossians 3:16; 2 Peter 3:1–2; Colossians 4:7; Matthew 13:52
- 7 2 Timothy 2:16; Titus 2:12; 1 Timothy 1:4; 2 Peter 1:5–8; Titus 3:9
- 8 Matthew 6:33; 1 Timothy 6:6; Psalm 37:3–4; Proverbs 19:23; Proverbs 22:4
- 9 1 Timothy 1:15
- 10 1 Timothy 2:4; 1 John 2:2; John 1:29; 1 John 4:14; 1 Timothy 2:6
- 11 1 Timothy 6:2; 2 Timothy 4:2; Titus 2:15; 1 Timothy 5:7; Titus 3:8
- 12 Titus 2:7; 2 Timothy 2:22; 2 Timothy 2:15; 1 Peter 5:3; 2 Peter 1:5–8
- 13 Acts 6:4; Titus 2:15; 2 Timothy 4:2; 1 Timothy 4:16; Acts 17:11
- 14 2 Timothy 1:6; 1 Peter 4:9–11; 1 Timothy 1:18; Acts 6:6; 1 Timothy 5:22
- 15 Matthew 5:16; Psalm 143:5; Philippians 2:15–16; Psalm 104:34; Psalm 119:48
- 16 Titus 1:9; Titus 2:7; 2 John 8–9; 1 Corinthians 3:10–11; Ezekiel 33:7–9
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
As those who adhere to the faith are fixed on a safe anchor, so those who fall from the faith can nowhere rest; but after many wanderings to and fro, they are borne at last into the very gulf of perdition.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 13 (1889)
Thou hast taught me, good Father, that "unto the pure all things are pure;" but "it is evil for that man who eateth with offence;" "and that every creature of Thine is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be received with, thanksgiving;" and that "meat commendeth us not to God;" and that no man should "judge us in …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
… neither condemn the men as sinners, nor abhor the flesh as strange food; for the Apostle knows some of this sort, when he says: forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from meats, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by them that believe.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
In the First Epistle to Timothy do we not read: "These things command and teach?" What these things are, has been told previously.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
And that the Holy Ghost subsists, and lives, and speaks, and foretells, I have often said in what goes before, and Paul writes it plainly to Timothy: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in later times some shall depart from the faith,--which we see in the divisions not only of former times but also of our own; so motley …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)