1 From: Paul, Jesus Christ’s missionary, sent out by God to tell men and women everywhere about the eternal life he has promised them through faith in Jesus Christ.

² To: Timothy, my dear son. May God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord shower you with his kindness, mercy, and peace.

³ How I thank God for you, Timothy. I pray for you every day, and many times during the long nights I beg my God to bless you richly. He is my fathers’ God and mine, and my only purpose in life is to please him.

⁴ How I long to see you again. How happy I would be, for I remember your tears as we left each other.

⁵ I know how much you trust the Lord, just as your mother Eunice and your grandmother Lois do; and I feel sure you are still trusting him as much as ever.

⁶ This being so, I want to remind you to stir into flame the strength and boldness^[a] that is in you, that entered into you when I laid my hands upon your head and blessed you. ⁷ For the Holy Spirit, God’s gift, does not want you to be afraid of people, but to be wise and strong, and to love them and enjoy being with them.

⁸ If you will stir up this inner power, you will never be afraid to tell others about our Lord or to let them know that I am your friend even though I am here in jail for Christ’s sake. You will be ready to suffer with me for the Lord, for he will give you strength in suffering.

⁹ It is he who saved us and chose us for his holy work not because we deserved it but because that was his plan long before the world began—to show his love and kindness to us through Christ. ¹⁰ And now he has made all of this plain to us by the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, who broke the power of death and showed us the way of everlasting life through trusting him. ¹¹ And God has chosen me to be his missionary, to preach to the Gentiles and teach them.

¹² That is why I am suffering here in jail, and I am certainly not ashamed of it, for I know the one in whom I trust, and I am sure that he is able to safely guard all that I have given him until the day of his return.

¹³ Hold tightly to the pattern of truth I taught you, especially concerning the faith and love Christ Jesus offers you.^{[b] 14} Guard well the splendid, God-given ability you received as a gift from the Holy Spirit who lives within you.

¹⁵ As you know, all the Christians who came here from Asia have deserted me; even Phygellus and Hermogenes are gone. ¹⁶ May the Lord bless Onesiphorus and all his family because he visited me and encouraged me often. His visits revived me like a breath of fresh air, and he was never ashamed of my being in jail. ¹⁷ In fact, when he came to Rome, he searched everywhere trying to find me, and finally did. ¹⁸ May the Lord give him a special blessing at the day of Christ’s return. And you know better than I can tell you how much he helped me at Ephesus.