New Testament
The First Letter to Timothy
The First Letter to Timothy is the fifteenth of the 27 books of the New Testament: 6 chapters and 113 verses.
About 1 Timothy
About 1 Timothy · Pastoral letter
First Timothy is written as Paul's instruction to his young delegate overseeing the church at Ephesus: how to silence speculative teachers, how to order public prayer, what to require of bishops and deacons, how to treat elders, widows, and wealth. With the other pastoral letters it bears Paul's name while many scholars see a later disciple applying his mind to a more settled church — a question the Church leaves open. It was written to make sound teaching and sound structure protect each other, so that the church of the living God remains the pillar and the foundation of truth.
| Testament | New Testament — book 15 of 27, 61 of 73 in the Bible |
|---|---|
| Canon | Protocanonical (in every Christian canon) |
| Chapters | 6 |
| Verses | 113, as Bless numbers them |
| Latin | Clementine Vulgate, every chapter |
| Bp. Challoner | Summaries of all 6 chapters · 8 notes |
| Catechism | 29 paragraphs cite it |
Chapter by chapter
All 6 chapters, in brief.
Bishop Richard Challoner’s summary of each chapter, from his revision of the Douay-Rheims (1749–52). Open a chapter for the full text.
1 Timothy 1
20 versesHe puts Timothy in mind of his charge and blesses God for the mercy he himself had received.
1 Timothy 2
15 versesPrayers are to be said for all men, because God wills the salvation of all. Women are not to teach.
1 Timothy 3
16 versesWhat sort of men are to be admitted into the clergy. The church is the pillar of truth.
1 Timothy 4
16 versesHe warns him against heretics, and exhorts him to the exercise of piety.
1 Timothy 5
25 versesHe gives him lessons concerning widows, and how he is to behave to his clergy.
1 Timothy 6
21 versesDuties of servants. The danger of covetousness. Lessons for the rich.
Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summaries
In the comments
What the saints said.
4 quotations from 3 saints linked to passages of 1 Timothy in Bless. Each names the work it comes from.
St. Charles Borromeo · on 1 Timothy 4:12
On this theme
Be sure that you first preach by the way you live. If you do not, people will notice that you say one thing but live otherwise.
Address to his clergy, 1584
St. Charles Borromeo · on 1 Timothy 4:16
On this theme
Are you in charge of a parish? If so, do not neglect the parish of your own soul.
Address at his last synod, 1584
St. Polycarp · on 1 Timothy 6:7
On this theme
The love of money is the beginning of all troubles. Knowing therefore that we brought nothing into the world and can carry nothing out, let us arm ourselves with the armor of righteousness.
Letter to the Philippians, 4, c. 110
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton · on 1 Timothy 6:8
Attributed
Live simply, so that all may simply live.
Popular saying, source unconfirmed
Coming up
Read at Mass.
From October 29, 2026 to October 28, 2027, 1 Timothy is read at the principal Mass on 8 days in the US calendar. The next 8 readings:
| Date | Celebration | Reading | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wednesday after Epiphany | Alleluia | 1 Timothy 3:16 | |
| computed | Friday of the Twenty-third Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | 1 Timothy 1:1-2, 12-14 |
| computed | Saturday of the Twenty-Third Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | 1 Timothy 1:15-17 |
| computed | St. John Chrysostom, Bishop and Doctor of the Church | First Reading | 1 Timothy 2:1-8 |
| computed | Our Lady of Sorrows | First Reading | 1 Timothy 3:14-16 |
| computed | Sts. Cornelius, Pope, and St. Cyprian, Bishop, Martyrs | First Reading | 1 Timothy 4:12-16 |
| computed | Friday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | 1 Timothy 6:2c-12 |
| computed | Saturday of the Twenty-fourth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | 1 Timothy 6:13-16 |
| computed | St. John Neumann, Bishop | Alleluia | 1 Timothy 3:16 |
| computed | Twenty-fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Second Reading | 1 Timothy 1:12-17 |
| computed | Twenty-fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Second Reading | 1 Timothy 2:1-8 |
| computed | Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time | Second Reading | 1 Timothy 6:11-16 |
No more readings are listed here; the liturgical calendar has every date through December 31, 2028.
Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.