2 Timothy 4:1–5

Charge to Timothy Repeated

4:1 I 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: 4:2 Preach the message,1 be ready2 whether it is convenient or not,3 reprove, rebuke, exhort4 with complete patience and instruction. 4:3 For 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 4:4 And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths.8 4:5 You, however, be self-controlled9 in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry.

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1	tn Or “the word.”
2	tn Or “be persistent.”
3	tn Grk “in season, out of season.”
4	tn Or “encourage.”
5	tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people in that future time) has been specified in the translation for clarity.
6	tn Grk “in accord with.”
7	tn Grk “having an itching in regard to hearing,” “having itching ears.”
8	sn 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	tn Or “sober,” “temperate.”