2 Timothy 4 - Titus 2

Common English Bible

Timothy’s commission and Paul’s departure

4 I’m giving you this commission in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is coming to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearance and his kingdom. ² Preach the word. Be ready to do it whether it is convenient or inconvenient. Correct, confront, and encourage with patience and instruction. ³ There will come a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching. They will collect teachers who say what they want to hear because they are self-centered. ⁴ They will turn their back on the truth and turn to myths. ⁵ But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances. Endure suffering, do the work of a preacher of the good news, and carry out your service fully.

⁶ I’m already being poured out like a sacrifice to God, and the time of my death is near. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, finished the race, and kept the faith. ⁸ At last the champion’s wreath that is awarded for righteousness^[a] is waiting for me. The Lord, who is the righteous^[b] judge, is going to give it to me on that day. He’s giving it not only to me but also to all those who have set their heart on waiting for his appearance.

Final instructions

⁹ Do your best to come to me quickly. ¹⁰ Demas has fallen in love with the present world and has deserted me and has gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus has gone to Dalmatia. ¹¹ Only Luke is with me. Get Mark, and bring him with you. He has been a big help to me in the ministry. ¹² I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring along the coat I left with Carpus in Troas. Also bring the scrolls and especially the parchments. ¹⁴ Alexander, the craftsman who works with metal, has really hurt me. The Lord will pay him back for what he has done. ¹⁵ But watch out for him, because he opposes our teaching.

¹⁶ No one took my side at my first court hearing. Everyone deserted me. I hope that God doesn’t hold it against them! ¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and gave me strength, so that the entire message would be preached through me and so all the nations could hear it. I was also rescued from the lion’s mouth! ¹⁸ The Lord will rescue me from every evil action and will save me for his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and always. Amen.

Final greetings

¹⁹ Say hello to Prisca and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus in Miletus because of his illness. ²¹ Try hard to come to me before winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brothers and sisters say hello.

²² The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you all.

Greeting

1 From Paul, a slave of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I’m sent to bring about the faith of God’s chosen people and a knowledge of the truth that agrees with godliness.

² Their faith and this knowledge are based on the hope of eternal life that God, who doesn’t lie, promised before time began. ³ God revealed his message at the appropriate time through preaching, and I was trusted with preaching this message by the command of God our savior.

⁴ To Titus, my true child in a common faith.

Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our savior.

Appointing elders

⁵ The reason I left you behind in Crete was to organize whatever needs to be done and to appoint elders in each city, as I told you. ⁶ Elders should be without fault. They should be faithful to their spouse,^[c] and have faithful children who can’t be accused of self-indulgence or rebelliousness. ⁷ This is because supervisors^[d] should be without fault as God’s managers: they shouldn’t be stubborn, irritable, addicted to alcohol, a bully, or greedy. ⁸ Instead, they should show hospitality, love what is good, and be reasonable, ethical, godly, and self-controlled. ⁹ They must pay attention to the reliable message as it has been taught to them so that they can encourage people with healthy instruction and refute those who speak against it.

Correcting rebellious people

¹⁰ In fact, there are many who are rebellious people, loudmouths, and deceivers, especially some of those who are Jewish believers.^{[e] 11} They must be silenced because they upset entire households. They teach what they shouldn’t to make money dishonestly. ¹² Someone who is one of their own prophets said, “People from Crete are always liars, wild animals, and lazy gluttons.” ¹³ This statement is true. Because of this, correct them firmly, so that they can be healthy in their faith. ¹⁴ They shouldn’t pay attention to Jewish myths and commands from people who reject the truth. ¹⁵ Everything is clean to those who are clean, but nothing is clean to those who are corrupt and without faith. Instead, their mind and conscience are corrupted. ¹⁶ They claim to know God, but they deny God by the things that they do. They are detestable, disobedient, and disqualified to do anything good.

Teaching all people how to be godly

2 But you should talk in a way that is consistent with sound teaching. ² Tell the older men to be sober, dignified, sensible, and healthy in respect to their faith, love, and patience.

³ Likewise, tell the older women to be reverent in their behavior, teaching what is good, rather than being gossips or addicted to heavy drinking. ⁴ That way they can mentor young women to love their husbands and children, ⁵ and to be sensible, morally pure, working at home, kind and submissive to their own husbands, so that God’s word won’t be ridiculed. ⁶ Likewise, encourage the younger men to be sensible ⁷ in every way. Offer yourself as a role model of good actions. Show integrity, seriousness, ⁸ and a sound message that is above criticism when you teach, so that any opponent will be ashamed because they won’t find anything bad to say about us.

⁹ Tell slaves to submit to their own masters and please them in everything they do. They shouldn’t talk back ¹⁰ or steal. Instead, they should show that they are completely reliable in everything so that they might make the teaching about God our savior attractive in every way.

¹¹ The grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all people. ¹² It educates us so that we can live sensible, ethical, and godly lives right now by rejecting ungodly lives and the desires of this world. ¹³ At the same time we wait for the blessed hope and the glorious appearance of our great God and savior Jesus Christ. ¹⁴ He gave himself for us in order to rescue us from every kind of lawless behavior, and cleanse a special people for himself who are eager to do good actions.

¹⁵ Talk about these things. Encourage and correct with complete authority. Don’t let anyone disrespect you.