^3:1But understand this, that in the last days difficult¹ times will come. ^3:2For people² will be lovers of themselves,³ lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ^3:3unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, ^3:4treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. ^3:5They will maintain the outward appearance⁴ of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these.⁵^3:6For some of these insinuate themselves⁶ into households and captivate weak women⁷ who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions. ^3:7Such women are always seeking instruction,⁸ yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ^3:8And just as Jannes and Jambres⁹ opposed Moses, so these people—who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith¹⁰—also oppose the truth. ^3:9But they will not go much further,¹¹ for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres.¹²

Continue in What You Have Learned

^3:10You, however,¹³ have followed my teaching, my¹⁴ way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, ^3:11as well as the persecutions and sufferings¹⁵ that happened to me in Antioch,¹⁶ in Iconium, and in Lystra.¹⁷ I endured these persecutions and the Lord delivered me from them all. ^3:12Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. ^3:13But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse,¹⁸ deceiving others and being deceived themselves.¹⁹^3:14You, however, must continue²⁰ in the things you have learned and are confident about. You know²¹ who taught you²²^3:15and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ^3:16Every scripture²³ is inspired by God²⁴ and useful for teaching, for reproof,²⁵ for correction, and for training in righteousness, ^3:17that the person dedicated to God²⁶ may be capable²⁷ and equipped for every good work.

Charge to Timothy Repeated

^4:1I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: ^4:2Preach the message,¹ be ready² whether it is convenient or not,³ reprove, rebuke, exhort⁴ with complete patience and instruction. ^4:3For there will be a time when people⁵ will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires,⁶ they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things.⁷^4:4And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths.⁸^4:5You, however, be self-controlled⁹ in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry. ^4:6For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for me to depart¹⁰ is at hand. ^4:7I have competed well;¹¹ I have finished the race; I have kept the faith! ^4:8Finally the crown of righteousness is reserved for me. The Lord, the righteous Judge, will award it to me in that day—and not to me only, but also to all who have set their affection on¹² his appearing.

Travel Plans and Concluding Greetings

^4:9Make every effort to come to me soon. ^4:10For Demas deserted me, since he loved¹³ the present age, and he went to Thessalonica.¹⁴ Crescens went to Galatia and Titus to Dalmatia. ^4:11Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is a great help¹⁵ to me in ministry.¹⁶^4:12Now I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.¹⁷^4:13When you come, bring with you the cloak I left in Troas with Carpas and the scrolls, especially the parchments. ^4:14Alexander the coppersmith did me a great deal of harm.¹⁸ The Lord will repay him in keeping with his deeds.¹⁹^4:15You be on guard against him²⁰ too, because he vehemently opposed our words. ^4:16At my first defense no one appeared in my support; instead they all deserted me—may they not be held accountable for it. ^4:17But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message²¹ would be fully proclaimed²² for all the Gentiles to hear. And so I was delivered from the lion’s mouth! ^4:18The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed and will bring me safely²³ into his heavenly kingdom. To him²⁴ be glory for ever and ever!²⁵ Amen.

^4:19Greetings to²⁶ Prisca and Aquila²⁷ and the family of Onesiphorus. ^4:20Erastus stayed in Corinth.²⁸ Trophimus I left ill in Miletus. ^4:21Make every effort to come before winter. Greetings to you from Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters.²⁹^4:22The Lord³⁰ be with your spirit. Grace be with you.³¹

Read in Logos

Footnotes

1 Or perhaps, “dangerous,” “fierce.”
2 Grk “men”; but here ἄνθρωποι (anthrōpoi) is generic, referring to both men and women.
3 Or “self-centered.” The first two traits in 2 Tim 3:2 and the last two in 3:4 are Greek words beginning with the root “lovers of,” and so bracket the list at beginning and end.
4 Or “form.” Outward appearance. Paul’s contrast with power in 3:5b shows that he regards this “form” to be outward, one of appearance rather than reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:19–20; 1 Thess 1:5).
5 Grk “and avoid these,” with the word “people” implied.
6 Grk “For from these are those who sneak.”
7 Or “silly women.”
8 Grk “always learning,” continuing the description of the women from v. 6. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
9 Jannes and Jambres were the traditional names of two of Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses at the time of the Exodus.
10 Grk “disapproved concerning the faith.”
11 Grk “for they will not progress any more.”
12 Grk “as theirs came to be,” referring to the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres. The referent of “theirs” (Jannes and Jambres) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
13 There is a strong emphasis on the pronoun you in contrast to the people described in vv. 2–9.
14 The possessive “my” occurs only at the beginning of the list but is positioned in Greek to apply to each of the words in the series.
15 Grk “persecutions, sufferings,” as a continuation of the series from v. 10.
16 For location see ; ; ; .
17 In Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra. See Acts 13–14 for the account of these persecutions. For location see ; ;
18 Grk “will advance to the worse.”
19 Grk “deceiving and being deceived.”
20 Grk “but you, continue,” a command.
21 Grk “knowing,” giving the reasons for continuing as v. 14 calls for.
22 Grk “those from whom you learned.”
23 Or “All scripture.” There is very little difference in sense between every scripture (emphasizing the individual portions) and “all scripture” (emphasizing the composite whole). The former option is preferred, because it fits the normal use of the word “all/every” in Greek (πᾶς, pas) as well as Paul’s normal sense for the word “scripture” in the singular without the article, as here. So every scripture means “every individual portion of scripture.”
24 Inspired by God. Some have connected this adjective in a different way and translated it as “every inspired scripture is also useful.” But this violates the parallelism of the two adjectives in the sentence, and the arrangement of words makes clear that both should be taken as predicate adjectives: “every scripture is inspired … and useful.”
25 Or “rebuke,” “censure.” The Greek word implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.
26 Grk “the man of God,” but ἄνθρωπος (anthrōpos) is most likely used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.
27 This word is positioned for special emphasis; it carries the sense of “complete, competent, able to meet all demands.”
1 Or “the word.”
2 Or “be persistent.”
3 Grk “in season, out of season.”
4 Or “encourage.”
5 Grk “they”; the referent (the people in that future time) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6 Grk “in accord with.”
7 Grk “having an itching in regard to hearing,” “having itching ears.”
8 These myths were legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 1:4; 4:7; and Titus 1:14.
9 Or “sober,” “temperate.”
10 Grk “of my departure.”
11 The expression I have competed well (Grk “I have competed the good competition”) uses words that may refer to a race or to a boxing or wrestling match: “run the good race” or “fight the good fight.” The similar phrase in 1 Tim 1:18 uses a military picture and is more literally “war the good warfare.”
12 Grk “all who have loved.”
13 Grk “having loved.”
14 For location see ; ; ; .
15 Grk “useful.”
16 Or “in serving me.”
17 For location see ; ; ; .
18 Grk “showed me much evil.”
19 An allusion to Ps 28:4.
20 Grk “against whom,” as a continuation of the previous clause. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
21 Or “the preaching.”
22 Grk “might be completely fulfilled.”
23 Grk “save me.”
24 Grk “to whom.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
25 Grk “unto the ages of the ages,” an emphatic way of speaking about eternity in Greek.
26 Grk “greet.”
27 On Prisca and Aquila see also Acts 18:2, 18, 26; Rom 16:3–4; 1 Cor 16:19. In the NT “Priscilla” and “Prisca” are the same person. The author of Acts uses the full name Priscilla, while Paul uses the diminutive form Prisca.
28 For location see ; ; ; .
29 Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” as here (cf. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelphoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited).
30 The reading ὁ κύριος (ho kurios, “the Lord”) is well supported by א* F G 33 1739 1881 sa, but predictable expansions on the text have occurred at this point: A 104 614 read ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς (ho kurios Iēsous, “the Lord Jesus”), while א2 C D Ψ 𝔐 sy bo have ὁ κύριος Ἰησοῦς Χριστός (ho kurios Iēsous Christos, “the Lord Jesus Christ”). As B. M. Metzger notes, although in a late book such as 2 Timothy, one might expect the fuller title for the Lord, accidental omission of nomina sacra is rare ( ). The shorter reading is thus preferred on both external and internal grounds.
31 Most witnesses (א2 D Ψ 𝔐 lat sy) conclude this letter with ἀμήν (amēn, “amen”). Such a conclusion is routinely added by scribes to NT books because a few of these books originally had such an ending (cf. Rom 16:27; Gal 6:18; Jude 25). A majority of Greek witnesses have the concluding ἀμήν in every NT book except Acts, James, and 3 John (and even in these books, ἀμήν is found in some witnesses). It is thus a predictable variant. Further, there are several excellent witnesses of the Alexandrian and Western texts (א* A C F G 6 33 81 1739* 1881 sa) that lack the particle, rendering the omission the preferred reading.