1 Timothy — The Tyndale New Testament (1534)

The epistle known today as 1 Timothy in Tyndale's revised New Testament of 1534, translated from the Greek and opened, as in the print, by Tyndale's prologue to the epistle. It is printed here from the copy in the British Library as keyed by the Text Creation Partnership, in the spelling of 1534; the margin notes are given as footnotes, and the crosses ✚ and ⊢ mark where the lessons read in church begin and end.

¶ The Prologe vpō the fyrst epistle of S. Paule to Timothe.

THis pistle wryteth S. Paule to be an ensample vnto all bisshops / what they shuld teache / & how they shuld gouerne the congregacion of Christ in all [A] degrees / that it shuld be no nede to gouerne Christes flocke with the doctrine of their awgood meaninges.

In the fyrst Chapter / he commaundeth that the bysshope shall maynteme the ryght fayth & loue / and resist false preachers which make the lawe & workes equall with Christ and his Gospell. And he maketh a shorte conclusion of all Christen learninge / wherto the lawe serueth & what the ende therof is / also what the gospell is / & setteth him selfe for a cōfortable ensample vnto all synners & troubled consciences.

In the seconde he commaundeth to praye for all degrees / and chargeth that the wemen shall not preache ner were costlye apparell / but tobe obedyent vnto the men.

In the thyrde he descrybeth ⟨illegible⟩ what maner persons the bysshope or preste and their wyues shuld be / and also the deacones and their wyues: and commendeth it / if anye man desyer to be a bysshope after that maner.

In the fourth he prophisieth and sheweth before of the false bysshopes and spirituall offycers that shuld aryse amonge the christē people / and be / do and preache cleane contrary to the fore descrybed ensample / and shuld departe from the fayth in Christ and forbyd to mary & to eate certen meates / teachynge to put trust therin / bothe of iustifienge and forgeuenes of synnes and also of deseruinge of eternall lyfe.

In the fyueth he teacheth how a bysshope shuld vse him selfe towarde younge and olde & concernynge widowes what is to be done / and which shuld be founde of the commen cost: and teacheth also how men shuld honoure the verteous bysshopes and prestes / and how to rebuke the euell.

In the sixte he exhorteth the Bisshope to cleaue to the gospell of Christ and true doctrine / and to auoyde vayne questions and superfluous disputynges which gender stryfe and quenche the truthe / and by which also the false prophetes get them auctorite and seke to satisfie their insaciable couetousnes.

The text

Chapter 1

¶ The fyrst Chapter.

1 PAul an Apostle of Iesus Christ / by the cōmaundement of God oure savioure / & [A] Lorde Iesus Christ /¹ which is oure hope.

2 vnto Timothe his naturall² sonne in the fayth. Grace / mercy and peace from God oure father & Lorde Iesus Christ oure Lorde.

3 As I besought the to abyde styll in Ephesus when I departed into Macedonia / even so do / that thou cōmaunde some that they teache no nother wise:

4 nether geve hede to fables & genealogies which are endlesse / & brede doutes more then godly edyfyinge which is by fayth:

5 for y[ᵉ] ende of the cōmaundemēt is³ love that cōmeth of a pure herte & of a good conscience / & of fayth vnfayned:

6 frō the which thinges some have erred / & have turned vnto vayne iangelinge /

7 because they wolde be doctours the scripture / and yet vnderstonde not what they speake / nether wherof they affirme.

8 ✚ We knowe yᵗ the lawe is good / yf a man [B]⁴ vse it lawfully /

9 vnderstondinge this / how yᵗ the lawe is not geven vnto a righteous man / bu vnto the vnrighteous & disobediēt / to the vngodly & to synners / to vnholy and vnclean / to murtherers of fathers & murtherers of mothers / to manslears

10 and whormongers: to them that defile them selves with mankynde: to menstealers: to lyars and to periured / & so forth yf ther be eny other thinge that is cōtrary to holsome doctrine /

11 accordinge to the gospell of the glory of the blessed God / which gospell is committed vnto me.

12 And I thanke Christ Iesus oure Lorde [C] which hath made me stronge: for he counted me true / & put me in office /

13 when before I was a blasphemar / & a persecuter / & a tyraūt. But I obtayned mercy / because I dyd it ignoraūtly thorow vnbelefe.

14 Neverthelater the grace of oure Lorde was more aboundaunt with fayth and love which is in Christ Iesu. ⊢

15 ✚ This is a true sayinge & by all meanes⁵ worthy to be receaved / that Christ Iesus came into the world to save synners / of whom I am chefe.

16 Notwith stondinge for this cause was mercy gevē vnto me that Iesus Christ shuld fyrst shewe on me all longe pacience / vnto the ensample of them which shall in tyme⁶ to come beleve on him vnto eternall lyfe.

17 So then vnto god / kynge everlastinge / immortall / invisible / and [D] wyse only / be honoure and prayse for ever and ever Amen.

18 This commaundement commit I vnto the sonne Timotheus / accordynge to the prophisies which in tyme past were prophisied of the / yᵗ thou in them shuldest fyght a good fyght /

19 havinge fayth & good consciēce which some have put awaye frō them / & as cōcerninge fayth have made shipwracke.

20 Of whose nombre is Himeneus and Alexander which⁷ I have delivered vnto Satan / yᵗ they myght be taught not to blaspheme

Notes to Chapter 1

Chapter 2

The .ii. Chapter. ✚

1 IExhorte therfore / that above all thynges / prayers / supplicacions intercessions / and [A] gevynge of thankes behad for all men:

2 for kynges / and for all that are in auctorite / that we maye live a quyet and a peasable life / in all godlines and honestie.

3 For that is good and accepted in the sight of god oure savioure /

4 which⁸ will have all men saved / and to come vnto the knowledge of y[ᵉ] trueth.

5 Forther [B] is one god / & one (mediator) bit wene god & man / which is yᵉ man Christ Iesus

6 which gave him silfe a raunsome for all men / that it shuld be testified at his tyme /

7 where vnto I am ordayned a preacher and an apostle: I tell the trueth in Christ and lye not / beynge the teacher of the gentyls in fayth and veritie. ⊢

8 I wyll therfore that the men praye every⁹ where / liftynge vp pure hondes without wrath / or dowtinge.

9 Lykwyse also the wemen [C]¹⁰ that they araye them selves in comlye aparell with sham fastnes & discrete behaveour / not with broyded heare / other golde / or pearles / or costly araye:

10 but with suche as becōmeth wemen that professe the worshippynge of God thorow good workes.

11 Let the woman learne¹¹ in silence with all subieccion.

12 I suffre not a woman to teache / nether to have auctoricie over a man: but for to be in silence.

13 For Adam was fyrst formed / and then Eve.

14 Also Adam was not deceaved / but the woman was deceaved / and was in transgression.

15 Notwithstondynge thorow bearinge of chyldrē they shal be saved / so they continue in fayth / love and holynes with discrecion.

Notes to Chapter 2

Chapter 3

The .iii. Chapter.

1 THis is a true sayinge. Yf a mā covet yᵉ¹² office of a bysshope / he desyreth a good [A] worke.

2 Ye and a bisshope must be fautlesse / the husband of one wyfe / sober / discrete / honestly aparelled / harberous / apt to teache /

3 not dronkē / no fighter / not gevē to filthy lucre: but gentle / abhorrynge fightynge / abhorrynge coveteousnes /

4 and one that rueleth his awne housse honestly / havynge chyldren vnder obedience / with all honeste.

5 For yf a man cannot rule his owne housse / how shall he care for the congregacion of God.

6 He maye not [B] be a yonge skoler / lest he swell and faule into the iudgement of the evyll speaker.

7 He must also be well reported of amonge them which are with outforth / lest he fall into rebuke and snare of the evyll speaker.

8 Lykwyse must the deacons be honest / not¹³ double tonged / not gevē vnto moche drynkinge / nether vnto filthy lucre:

9 but havynge the mistery of the fayth in pure consciēce.

10 And let them fyrst be proved / and then let them minister / yf they be founde fautlesse.

11 [C] Even so must their wynes be honest / not¹⁴ evyll speakers: but sober and faythfull in all thinges.

12 Let the deacons be the husbandes of one wyfe / and suche as rule their chyldren well / and their awne housholdes.

13 For they that minister well / get them selves good degre and greate libertie in the fayth / which is in Christ Iesu.

14 These thinges write I vnto the / trustinge to come shortly vnto the:

15 but and yf I tarie [D] longe / yᵗ then thou mayst yet have knowledge how thou oughtest to behave thy silfe in the housse of God / which is the congregacion of the livinge God / the pillar and grounde of trueth.

16 And with out naye great is that mistery of godlines: God was shewed▪ in the flesshe / was iustified in the sprete / was sene of angels / was preached vnto the gentyls / was be leved on in erth and receaved vp in glory.

Notes to Chapter 3

Chapter 4

¶ The .iiii. Chapter.

1 THe sprete speaketh evydently that in the latter tymes some shall departe¹⁵ from the fayth / and shall geve hede [A] vnto spretes of erroure / and dyvelysshe doctrine

2 of them which speake falce thorow ypocri sye / and have their consciences marked with an hote yron /

3 forbyddinge to mary / and commaundinge¹⁶ to abstayne from meates which God hath created to be receaved with gevynge thankes / of them which beleve and knowe yᵉ trueth.

4 For all the creatures of God are good and nothynge to be refused / yf it be receaved with thankes gevynge.

5 For it is sanctyfyed by the worde of God and prayer.

6 [B] Yf thou shalt put the brethren in remembraunce of these thynges / thou shalt be a good minister of Iesu Christ / which hast bene norisshed vp in the wordes of the fayth¹⁷ and good doctryne / which doctryne thou hast [C] continually followed.

7 But cast awaye vngostly and olde wyves fables. Eyercyse thy silfe vnto godlines.

8 For bodely exercise proffiteth lyttll: But godlines is good vnto all thynges / as a thynge which hath promyses of the lyfe that is now / and of the lyfe to come.

9 This is a sure sayinge and of all parties worthy to be receaved.

10 For therfore we laboure and suffre rebuke / because we beleve in the livynge god / which is the savioure of all men: but specially of those that beleve.

11 Suche thynges commannde and teache.

12 Let no man despyse thy youth: but be vnto them that beleve / an insample / in worde in conversacion / in love / in sprete / in fayth and in purenes.

13 Till I come / geve attendaunce to redynge / [D] to exhortacion and to doctryne.

14 Despyse not the gyfte that is in yᵉ / which was geven the thorow prophesye and with layinge on of yᵉ hondes of an elder.

15 These thynges exercyse / and geve thy silfe vnto them / that it maye be sene how thou profetest in all thinges.

16 Take hede vnto thy silfe and vnto learnynge / and¹⁸ continue therin. For if thou shalt so do / thou shalt save thy silfe & them that heare the.

Notes to Chapter 4

Chapter 5

¶ The .v. Chapter.

1 REbuke not an elder: but exhorte him [A] as a father / and the yonger mē as brethren /

2 the elder wemen as mothers / yᵉ yonger as sisters / with all purenes.

3 Honoure widdowes which are true wyddowes.

4 Yf eny¹⁹ wyddowe have chyldren or neves / let them learne fyrst to rule their awne houses godly / and to recompence their elders. For that is good and acceptable before God.

5 She that is a very wyddowe and frendlesse / putteth her trust in god / and continueth in supplicacion and prayer nyght and daye.

6 But she that liveth in pleasure / is deed even yet alive.

7 And these thynges commaunde / that they maye be without faut /

8 Yf ther be eny that provideth not for his awne / and namly for them of his housholde / the same denyeth the fayth / and [B] is worsse then an infydell.

9 Let no wyddowe be chosen vnder threscore²⁰ yere olde / and soche a one as was the wyfe of one man /

10 and well reported of in good workes: yf she have noresshed children / yf she have bene liberall to straūgers / yf she have wesshed the saynctes fete / yf she have ministred vnto them which were in adversite / yf she were continually gevē vnto all maner good workes.

11 The yonger widdowes refuse. For when they have begone to wexe wantone / to the dishonoure of Christ / then will they mary /

12 havynge²¹ damnaciō / because they have brokē their fyrst fayth.

13 And also they learne to goo from housse to housse ydle / ye not ydle only / but also tryflynge and busybodyes / speakynge [C] thynges which are not comly.

14 I will therfore that y[ᵉ] yonger wemē mary and beare childrē / and gyde the housse / and geve none occasiō to yᵉ adversary to speake evill

15 For many of them are all redy turned bake / and are gone after Satan.

16 And yf eny man or woman that beleveth have widdowes / let thē minister vnto them / & let not the congregacion be charged: that yt maye have fufficient for them that are widdowes in dede.

17 The elders yᵗ rule wel / are worthy of double honoure / most specially they which laboure in yᵗ worde & in teachinge.

18 For the scripture sayth: Thou shalt not mousell the mouth of²² the oxe that treadeth out the corne. And the labourer is worthy of his rewarde.

19 Agaynst an elder receave none accusacion: but vnder two or thre witnesses.

20 Them that synne / rebuke [D] openly / that other maye feare.

21 I testifie before god and the lorde Iesus Christ / and the electe angels / that thou observe these thynges with out hasty iudgement / and do nothynge parcially.

22 Laye hondes sodēly on no man nether be partaker of other mēs synnes: kepe thy silfe pure.

23 Drynke no lenger water / but vse a lytell wyne / for thy stommakes sake and thyne often diseases.

24 Some mennes synnes are open before honde and goo before vnto iudgement: some mennes synnes folowe after.

25 Lykwyse also good workes are manyfest before honde & they that are other wyse / cānot be hid.

Notes to Chapter 5

Chapter 6

The .vi. Chapter

1 LEt as many servauntes as are vnder y[ᵉ]²³ yoke / counte their masters worthy of all [A] honour / that the name of god and his doctryne be not evyll spoken of.

2 Se that they which have belevynge / masters / despyse them not because they are brethren: but so moche the rather do service / for as moche as they are belevynge and beloved and partakers of the benefite. These thynges teache and exhorte.

3 Yf eny man teache other wise / and is not contēt with y[ᵉ] wholsome wordes of oure lorde Iesu christ / and with the doctryne of godlines /

4 he is pufte vp & knoweth nothynge: but wasteth his [B] braynes aboute questions & stryfe of wordes / wherof sprynge envie / stryfe / raylinges / evyll surmysinges

5 and vayne disputacions of men with corrupte myndes and destitute of the trueth / which thynke that lucre is godlines. From soche seperate thy silfe.

6 Godlines is²⁴ great ryches / yf a man be content with that he hath.

7 For we brought nothynge into the worlde / and it is a playne case that we can cary nothynge out.

8 When we have fode & rayment / let vs ther with be contēt.

9 They that wilbe ryche / fauls into temptaciō and snares / and into many folysshe and noysome lustes / which droune mē²⁵ in perdicion & destruccion.

10 For coveteousnes is the rote of all evyll / which whill some lusted after / they erred frō the fayth / & tanglyd them selves with many sorowes.

11 But thou [C] which arte the man of god / flye soche thynge²⁶ Folowe rightewesnes / godlines / love / pacience and meknes.

12 Fyght yᵉ good fyght of fayth. Laye honde on eternall lyfe / where vnto thou arte called / and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.

13 I geve the charge in the sight of God / which²⁷ quickneth all thingꝭ / and before Iesu Christ which vnder Pōcius Pilate witnessed a good witnessinge /

14 y[ᵗ] thou kepe the cōmaundemēt / & be with out spotte and vnrebukeable / vntyll the apperynge of oure lorde Iesus Christ⟨illegible⟩

15 which aperynge (when the tyme ys come) he shall shewe that is blessed and myghty only /²⁸ kynge of kynges and lorde of lordes /

16 which only hath immortalite / and dwelleth in light that no man can attayne / whom never man sawe /²⁹ nether can se: vnto whom be honoure and rule everlastynge. Amen.

17 Charge them that are ryche in this worlde / [D]³⁰ that they be not excedynge wyse / & that they trust not in the vncertayne ryches / bnt in the livynge god / which geveth vs aboundantly all thynges to enioye them /

18 and that they do³¹ good and be ryche in good workes / and redy to geve and to distribute /

19 layinge vp in store for them selves a good foundaciō agaynst the tyme to come yᵗ they maye obteyne eternall lyfe

20 O Timothe save that which is gevē y[ᵉ] to kepe / & avoyde vngostly vanities of voyces & opposiciōs of sciēce falsly so called /

21 which sciēce whyll some professed / they have erred as concernynge the fayth. Grace be with the Amen.

Sent from Laodicea / which is the chefest cite of Phrigia Pacaciana.

Notes to Chapter 6

Colophon

Transcribed from The newe Testament dylygently corrected and compared with the Greke by Willyam Tindale (Antwerp: Marten Emperowr, November 1534; STC 2826), British Library copy, as keyed by the Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP Phase I, text A68940): keyed by Apex CoVantage from the ProQuest page images in 2005, then sampled and proofread by Judith Siefring. The TCP transcription was released into the public domain under CC0 1.0. The printed text is in the public domain.

Spelling, capitals, punctuation (including the virgule /), abbreviation marks (the macron, as in thē, and ꝭ) and the signs ¶ ✚ ⊢ ❧ are kept as printed. The only changes are these: long s (ſ) is set as s; superscript letters are set as ᵉ ᵗ ᵒ (yᵉ = the, yᵗ = that); ▪ marks a stop the transcribers could not identify; a word divided at the end of a line, with or without a printed hyphen, is joined into one word; a letter supplied from another text, as explained below, is set in square brackets; page breaks and catchwords are removed. Woodcuts and decorated initials are not reproduced, but woodcut captions are given. The margin notes are given as numbered footnotes. Printed headings are kept, including their misprints, as italic lines under the library's chapter headings. The letters [A] to [G] are the section letters printed in the margin, by which the 1534 margin references (for example "Esaie vij. c.") and the table of lessons find a passage.

The 1534 print has no verse numbers. They are supplied here from the eBible.org Tyndale New Testament (1534), a public-domain, verse-numbered electronic text of the same edition. A word-by-word alignment showed that about 97 per cent of the two texts' words are identical across the New Testament, and the remainder differ in spelling and abbreviation, with a few slips of keying in one text or the other. The paragraphs of the print give way to one paragraph per verse.

Words that the transcribers could not read are marked ⟨illegible⟩ (6 places on this page, 4 of them in the margin notes).

In the verse text of this book, 7 places that the transcribers could not read in the printed book have been supplied from the eBible.org Tyndale New Testament (1534), a later electronic transcription of Tyndale's New Testament whose transcriber is not named. Each supplied letter is set in square brackets, as in y[ᵉ] or fal[c]e, so that it can be told from a letter the transcribers read in the print. A place was supplied only where the verse alignment was exact on both sides, the eBible reading agreed letter for letter with every legible letter, and no macron could have stood in the gap. Where the small superscript letter after y was supplied, the eBible text is the only evidence for that letter.

This is an archival transcription of Tyndale's printed English, not a Good Works Translation: nothing here has been translated or modernised by the library.

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