A reading from the first letter of Paul to Timothy.

My advice is that, first of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone – petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving – and especially for rulers and those in authority, so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet.  To do this is right, and will please God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and reach full knowledge of the truth.  For there is only one God, and there is only one mediator between God and humanity, indeed, one of us, Christ Jesus, whose sacrifice ransomed us.  He is the evidence of this, sent at the appointed time, and I have been named a herald and apostle of it and – I am telling the truth and no lie – a teacher of the faith and the truth to the nations. In every place, then, I want the people to lift their hands up reverently in prayer, with no anger or argument.

The Word of God recorded in the first letter of Paul to Timothy.