1 Timothy 4

World English Bible 119 include this book

1 But the Spirit says expressly that in later times some will fall away from the faith, paying attention to seducing spirits and doctrines of demons,

2 through the hypocrisy of men who speak lies, branded in their own conscience as with a hot iron,

3 forbidding marriage and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth.

4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving.

5 For it is sanctified through the word of God and prayer.

6 If you instruct the brothers of these things, you will be a good servant of Christ Jesus, nourished in the words of the faith and of the good doctrine which you have followed.

7 But refuse profane and old wives’ fables. Exercise yourself toward godliness.

8 For bodily exercise has some value, but godliness has value in all things, having the promise of the life which is now and of that which is to come.

9 This saying is faithful and worthy of all acceptance.

10 For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we have set our trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

11 Command and teach these things.

12 Let no man despise your youth; but be an example to those who believe, in word, in your way of life, in love, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.

13 Until I come, pay attention to reading, to exhortation, and to teaching.

14 Don’t neglect the gift that is in you, which was given to you by prophecy with the laying on of the hands of the elders.

15 Be diligent in these things. Give yourself wholly to them, that your progress may be revealed to all.

16 Pay attention to yourself and to your teaching. Continue in these things, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you.

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1 place named in this book — no place is named in this chapter, so the whole book is shown.

Where this was written

Ephesus disputed Addressed to Timothy at Ephesus; the place of writing is not stated.

When this was written

Traditions differ. Each position is shown rather than one asserted as settled.

Traditional: 62 AD–67 AD Paul
Ascribed to Paul in the text and by early tradition.
Critical: 80 AD–110 AD Written in Paul's name
Vocabulary, style and the church structures assumed differ markedly from the undisputed letters; many critical scholars read these as written by followers in Paul's name, a recognised ancient practice.

Who ruled Rome

Emperors reigning while this book is dated. Where the traditions differ, they often fall under different rulers.

Critical

Titus 79 AD–81 AD
Commanded the army that destroyed the Jerusalem temple before becoming emperor.
Domitian 81 AD–96 AD
An autocratic reign under which Revelation is traditionally placed, on the testimony of Irenaeus.
Nerva 96 AD–98 AD
A brief reign that eased the pressures of Domitian's last years.
Trajan 98 AD–117 AD
His correspondence with Pliny the Younger is the earliest surviving statement of official Roman policy toward Christians.

Traditional

Nero 54 AD–68 AD
The fire of Rome in 64 was followed by the first state persecution of Christians. Paul and Peter are traditionally martyred in this reign.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (62 AD–110 AD).

1070 BC–350 AD The kingdom of Kush Africa
A Nubian power on the upper Nile that ruled Egypt itself as its twenty-fifth dynasty.
500 BC–500 AD The Nazca lines South America
Vast figures drawn on the Peruvian desert, visible only from the surrounding hills.
206 BC–220 AD The Han dynasty China
Four centuries of Chinese rule contemporary with the whole of Roman expansion.
150 BC–100 AD Roman concrete and the aqueducts Rome
Hydraulic concrete let Rome build harbours, domes and aqueducts that still stand.
100 BC–550 AD Teotihuacan Mesoamerica
A city of perhaps a hundred thousand people in the valley of Mexico, with monumental pyramids.
43 AD–84 AD Rome conquers Britain Britain
Claudius invaded and the province was gradually extended to the Scottish lowlands.
66 AD–73 AD First Jewish–Roman war Levant
Revolt against Rome ending in the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70 — the decisive rupture in Second Temple Judaism.
27 BC–100 AD Roman road and sea network matures Rome
Consolidated roads, harbours and suppressed piracy made long-distance travel unusually safe, a precondition for the rapid spread of early Christian communities.

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