Timothy Charged to Guard His Trust

Paul, (A)an apostle of (B)Christ Jesus [a](C)by the will of God, according to the promise of (D)life in Christ Jesus,

To (E)Timothy, my beloved [b](F)son: (G)Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

(H)I thank God, whom I (I)serve with a (J)clear conscience [c]the way my forefathers did, (K)as I constantly remember you in my [d]prayers night and day, (L)longing to see you, (M)even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy. [e]For I am mindful of the (N)sincere faith within you, which first dwelled in your grandmother Lois and (O)your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well. For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh (P)the gift of God which is in you through (Q)the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a (R)spirit of [f]timidity, but of power and love and [g]discipline.

Therefore (S)do not be ashamed of the (T)testimony of our Lord or of me (U)His prisoner, but join with me in (V)suffering for the (W)gospel according to the power of God, who (X)saved us and (Y)called us with a holy (Z)calling, (AA)not according to our works, but according to His own (AB)purpose and grace, which was granted to us in (AC)Christ Jesus from (AD)all eternity, 10 but has (AE)now been revealed by the (AF)appearing of our Savior (AG)Christ Jesus, who (AH)abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, 11 (AI)for which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also suffer these things; but (AJ)I am not ashamed, for I know (AK)whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to (AL)protect what I have entrusted to Him [h]until (AM)that day. 13 (AN)Hold on to the (AO)example of (AP)sound words (AQ)which you have heard from me, in the (AR)faith and love which are in (AS)Christ Jesus. 14 Protect, through the Holy Spirit who (AT)dwells in us, the [i](AU)treasure which has been entrusted to you.

15 You are aware of the fact that all who are in [j](AV)Asia (AW)turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 The Lord grant mercy to (AX)the household of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and (AY)was not ashamed of my [k](AZ)chains; 17 but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me— 18 the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on (BA)that day—and you know very well what services he rendered at (BB)Ephesus.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Timothy 1:1 Lit through
  2. 2 Timothy 1:2 Or child
  3. 2 Timothy 1:3 Lit from my forefathers
  4. 2 Timothy 1:3 Or petitions
  5. 2 Timothy 1:5 Lit Receiving remembrance of
  6. 2 Timothy 1:7 Or cowardice
  7. 2 Timothy 1:7 Or sound judgment
  8. 2 Timothy 1:12 Or for
  9. 2 Timothy 1:14 Lit good deposit
  10. 2 Timothy 1:15 I.e., the province of Asia
  11. 2 Timothy 1:16 Lit chain

The Second Epistle of Paul to Timothy

3 He commendeth Timothy’s faith, 6 and exhorteth him to go on faithfully in the charge committed unto him: 8 and that neither for his bonds, 15 nor the revolting of others, he faint. 11 He triumpheth of his Apostleship. 14 He willeth him to have care of the thing committed unto him, 16 and praiseth Onesiphorus.

Paul an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, [a]according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father, and from Jesus Christ our Lord.

[b]I thank God, (A)whom I serve from mine [c]elders with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day.

Desiring to see thee, mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy:

When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and in thy mother Eunice, and am assured that it dwelleth in thee also.

[d]Wherefore, I put thee in remembrance that thou [e]stir up the gift of God which is in thee, by the putting on of mine hands.

For God hath not given to us the Spirit of [f]fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

[g]Be not therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, neither of me [h]his prisoner: but be partaker of the afflictions of the [i]Gospel according to the [j]power of God,

[k]Who hath saved us, and called us with an (B)holy calling, not according to our (C)works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was [l]given to us through Christ Jesus [m]before the (D)world was,

10 But is now made manifest by that appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality unto [n]light through the Gospel.

11 (E)[o]Whereunto I am appointed a preacher, and Apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.

12 [p]For the which cause I also suffer these things, [q]but I am not ashamed: for I know whom I have believed, and I am persuaded that he is able to keep that which I have committed to him against that day.

13 [r]Keep the true pattern of the wholesome words, which thou hast heard of me in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

14 [s]That worthy thing, which was committed to thee, keep [t]through the holy Ghost, which dwelleth in us.

15 [u]This thou knowest, that all they which are in Asia, be turned from me: of which sort are Phygellus and Hermogenes.

16 The Lord give mercy unto the house of Onesiphorus: for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain,

17 But when he was at Rome, he sought me out very diligently, and found me.

18 The Lord grant unto him, that he may find mercy with the Lord at that day, and in how many things he hath ministered unto me at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Timothy 1:1 Sent of God to preach that life which he promised in Christ Jesus.
  2. 2 Timothy 1:3 The chiefest mark that he shooteth at in this Epistle, is to confirm Timothy to continue constantly and manfully even to the end, setting first before him the great good will he beareth him, and then reckoning up the excellent gifts which God would as it were have to be by inheritance in Timothy, and his ancestors, which might so much the more make him bound to God.
  3. 2 Timothy 1:3 From Abraham, Isaac and Jacob: for he speaketh not of Pharisaism, but of Christianism.
  4. 2 Timothy 1:6 He warneth us to set the invincible power of the Spirit, which God hath given us, against those storms which may and do come upon us.
  5. 2 Timothy 1:6 The gift of God is as it were a certain lively flame kindled in our hearts, which the flesh and the devil go about to put out: and therefore we on the contrary side must labor as much as we can to foster and keep it burning.
  6. 2 Timothy 1:7 To pierce us through, and terrify us, as men whom the Lord will destroy.
  7. 2 Timothy 1:8 He proveth that the ignominy or shame of the cross is not only not to be ashamed of, but also that it is glorious and most honorable: first, because the Gospel wherefore the godly are afflicted, is the testimony of Christ: and secondly, because at length the great virtue and power of God appeareth in them.
  8. 2 Timothy 1:8 For his sake.
  9. 2 Timothy 1:8 The Gospel after a sort is said to be afflicted in them that preach it.
  10. 2 Timothy 1:8 Through the power of God.
  11. 2 Timothy 1:9 He showeth with how great benefits God hath bound us to maintain boldly and constantly his glory which is joined with our salvation, and reckoneth up the causes of our salvation, to wit, that free and eternal purpose of God to save us in Christ which was to come, whereby it should come to pass, that we should at length be freely called of God by the preaching of the Gospel, to Christ the destroyer of death and author of immortality.
  12. 2 Timothy 1:9 He sayeth that that grace was given us from everlasting, unto which we were predestinate from everlasting. So that the doctrine of foreseen faith and foreseen works, is clean contrary to the doctrine which preached and teacheth the grace of God.
  13. 2 Timothy 1:9 Before that course of years, which hath run on ever since the beginning of the world.
  14. 2 Timothy 1:10 Hath caused life and immortality to appear.
  15. 2 Timothy 1:11 That is, the Gospel which the Apostle preached.
  16. 2 Timothy 1:12 He confirmeth his Apostleship by a strange argument, to wit, because the world could not abide it, and therefore it persecuted him that preached it.
  17. 2 Timothy 1:12 By setting his own example before us, he showeth us how it may be, that we shall not be ashamed of the cross of Christ, to wit, if we be sure that God both can and will keep the salvation which he hath as it were laid up in store by himself for us against that day.
  18. 2 Timothy 1:13 He showeth wherein he ought to be most constant, to wit, both in the doctrine itself, the abridgment whereof is faith and charity, and next in the manner of teaching it, a lively pattern and shape whereof Timothy knew in the Apostle.
  19. 2 Timothy 1:14 An amplification, taken of the dignity of so great a benefit committed of the ministers.
  20. 2 Timothy 1:14 The taking away of an objection. It is a hard thing to do it, but the Spirit of God is mighty, who hath inwardly endued us with his virtue.
  21. 2 Timothy 1:15 He preventeth an offense which arose by the means of certain that fell from God and the religion, and uttereth also their names, that they might be known of all men. But he setteth against them the singular faith of one man, that one only good example might counterpoise and weigh down all evil examples.

Paul, an apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,

To Timothy, [my] beloved child: Grace (favor and spiritual blessing), mercy, and [heart] peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord!

I thank God Whom I worship with a pure conscience, [a]in the spirit of my fathers, when without ceasing I remember you night and day in my prayers,

And when, as I recall your tears, I yearn to see you so that I may be filled with joy.

I am calling up memories of your sincere and unqualified faith (the [b]leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), [a faith] that first lived permanently in [the heart of] your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am [fully] persuaded, [dwells] in you also.

That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [[c]with those of the elders at your ordination].

For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm and well-balanced mind and discipline and self-control.

Do not blush or be ashamed then, to testify to and for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for His sake, but [[d]with me] take your share of the suffering [to which the preaching] of the Gospel [may expose you, and do it] in the power of God.

[For it is He] Who delivered and saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy and leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of and to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].

10 [It is that purpose and grace] which He now has made known and has fully disclosed and made real [to us] through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, Who annulled death and made it of no effect and brought life and immortality (immunity from eternal death) to light through the Gospel.

11 For [the proclaiming of] this [Gospel] I was appointed a herald (preacher) and an apostle (special messenger) and a teacher of the Gentiles.

12 And this is why I am suffering as I do. Still I am not ashamed, for I know (perceive, have knowledge of, and am acquainted with) Him Whom I have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on), and I am [positively] persuaded that He is able to guard and keep that which has been entrusted to me and which [e]I have committed [to Him] until that day.

13 Hold fast and follow the pattern of wholesome and sound teaching which you have heard from me, in [all] the faith and love which are [for us] in Christ Jesus.

14 Guard and keep [with the greatest care] the precious and excellently adapted [Truth] which has been entrusted [to you], by the [help of the] Holy Spirit Who makes His home in us.

15 You already know that all who are in Asia turned away and forsook me, Phygelus and Hermogenes among them.

16 May the Lord grant [His] mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, for he often showed me kindness and ministered to my needs [comforting and reviving and bracing me like fresh air]! He was not ashamed of my chains and imprisonment [for Christ’s sake].

17 No, rather when he reached Rome, he searched diligently and eagerly for me and found me.

18 May the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord on that [great] day! And you know how many things he did for me and what a help he was at Ephesus [you know better than I can tell you].

Footnotes

  1. 2 Timothy 1:3 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
  2. 2 Timothy 1:5 Alexander Souter, Pocket Lexicon of the Greek New Testament.
  3. 2 Timothy 1:6 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
  4. 2 Timothy 1:8 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
  5. 2 Timothy 1:12 Alternate translation.