我保羅奉上帝的旨意,按照在基督耶穌裡所應許的生命作基督耶穌的使徒, 寫信給我親愛的兒子提摩太。

願父上帝和我們的主基督耶穌的恩典、憐憫和平安臨到你!

勉勵忠心事奉

我日夜不停地為你禱告,對我效法祖先用清潔的良心事奉的上帝充滿了感恩。 每逢想起你流淚的情形,我就渴望見你,好使我的心充滿喜樂。 我記得你那真誠無偽的信心。你外祖母羅以和你母親友妮基首先有了這信心,我深信你也有。 因此我提醒你,要把上帝在我把手按在你身上時賜給你的恩賜充分發揮出來。 因為上帝賜給我們的不是懦弱的心,而是剛強、仁愛、自律的心。

所以,你不要羞於為我們的主做見證,也不要以我這為主被囚的人為恥,要靠著上帝的能力和我一同為福音受苦。 上帝拯救了我們,並呼召我們過聖潔的生活,不是因為我們的行為,而是出於祂的旨意和恩典。早在萬古以前,祂就在基督耶穌裡把這恩典賜給我們了, 10 如今藉著我們救主基督耶穌的降世顯明了出來。基督已經消滅了死亡,藉著福音將不朽的生命彰顯了出來。

11 我為了這福音受委派做傳道人、使徒和教師。 12 我因此而遭受這些苦難,但我不以為恥,因為我知道我所信的是誰,也深信祂能保守祂所託付我的[a],一直到那日[b] 13 你要以在基督耶穌裡的信心和愛心,把從我這裡聽到的正確教導當作典範遵守, 14 要靠著住在我們裡面的聖靈牢牢守住交託給你的美善之道。

15 你知道幾乎所有亞細亞的人都離棄了我,其中包括腓吉路和黑摩其尼。 16 願主憐憫阿尼色弗一家人,他常常鼓勵我,不以我被囚禁為恥。 17 他在羅馬的時候千方百計尋訪我的下落,直到找著我為止。 18 你很清楚,他從前在以弗所怎樣在各個方面服侍我。願主再來時格外地憐憫他。

Footnotes

  1. 1·12 祂所託付我的」又可翻譯為「我所信託祂的」。
  2. 1·12 那日」指保羅站在基督面前交帳的日子。

Salutation

From Paul,[a] an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, to further the promise[b] of life in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my dear child. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord!

Thanksgiving and Charge to Timothy

I am thankful to God, whom I have served with a clear conscience as my ancestors did,[c] when I remember you in my prayers as I do constantly night and day.[d] As I remember your tears, I long to see you,[e] so that I may be filled with joy. I recall[f] your sincere faith[g] that was alive first in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice, and I am sure[h] is in you.

Because of this I remind you to rekindle God’s gift that you possess[i] through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a Spirit[j] of fear but of power and love and self-control. So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord[k] or of me, a prisoner for his sake, but by[l] God’s power accept your share of suffering[m] for the gospel. He is the one who saved us[n] and called us with a holy calling, not based on[o] our works but on his own purpose and grace, granted to us in Christ Jesus before time began,[p] 10 but now made visible through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus. He[q] has broken the power of death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel! 11 For this gospel[r] I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher.[s] 12 Because of this, in fact, I suffer as I do.[t] But I am not ashamed, because I know the one in whom my faith is set[u] and I am convinced that he is able to protect what has been entrusted to me[v] until that day.[w] 13 Hold to the standard[x] of sound words that you heard from me and do so with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.[y] 14 Protect that good thing[z] entrusted to you, through the Holy Spirit who lives within us.

15 You know that everyone in the province of Asia[aa] deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes. 16 May the Lord grant mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my imprisonment.[ab] 17 But when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me. 18 May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day![ac] And you know very well all the ways he served me in Ephesus.[ad]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Timothy 1:1 tn Grk “Paul.” The word “from” is not in the Greek text, but has been supplied to indicate the sender of the letter.
  2. 2 Timothy 1:1 tn Grk “for the promise…” or possibly “in accordance with the promise…”
  3. 2 Timothy 1:3 tn Grk “from my ancestors.”
  4. 2 Timothy 1:3 tn Or “as I do constantly. By night and day I long to see you…”
  5. 2 Timothy 1:4 tn Grk “longing to see you, remembering your tears” (as a continuation of the preceding clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  6. 2 Timothy 1:5 tn Grk “recalling” (as a continuation of the preceding clause). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  7. 2 Timothy 1:5 tn Grk “the sincere faith in you.”
  8. 2 Timothy 1:5 tn Or “convinced.”
  9. 2 Timothy 1:6 tn Grk “that is in you.”
  10. 2 Timothy 1:7 tn Or “a spirit,” denoting the human personality under the Spirit’s influence as in 1 Cor 4:21; Gal 6:1; 1 Pet 3:4. But the reference to the Holy Spirit at the end of this section (1:14) makes it likely that it begins this way also, so that the Holy Spirit is the referent.
  11. 2 Timothy 1:8 tn Grk “the testimony of our Lord.”
  12. 2 Timothy 1:8 tn Or “according to.”
  13. 2 Timothy 1:8 tn Grk “suffer hardship together,” implying “join with me in suffering.”
  14. 2 Timothy 1:9 tn More literally, “who saved us,” as a description of God in v. 8. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.
  15. 2 Timothy 1:9 tn Or “according to,” or “by.”
  16. 2 Timothy 1:9 tn Grk “before eternal times.”
  17. 2 Timothy 1:10 tn Grk “having broken…and having brought…” (describing Christ). Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here (and at the beginning of v. 11) in the translation.
  18. 2 Timothy 1:11 tn Grk “for which.”
  19. 2 Timothy 1:11 tc Most mss (א2 C D F G Ψ 1241 1505 1739 1881 M al latt sy co) have ἐθνῶν (ethnōn, “of the Gentiles”) after “teacher” (διδάσκαλος [didaskalos ]). The shorter reading has poorer external credentials (א* A I 1175), though codex 33 has a reading apparently generated from διδάσκαλος alone (διάκονος (diakonos, “servant”]). The “teacher” without adjunct is preferred both because ἐθνῶν probably represents a gloss added by scribes familiar with 1 Tim 2:7 and because there is no easy explanation for the omission of ἐθνῶν if it were original here.
  20. 2 Timothy 1:12 tn Grk “suffer these things.”
  21. 2 Timothy 1:12 tn Or “in whom I have believed.”
  22. 2 Timothy 1:12 sn What has been entrusted to me (Grk “my entrustment,” meaning either (1) “what I have entrusted to him” [his life, destiny, etc.] or (2) “what he has entrusted to me” [the truth of the gospel]). The parallel with v. 14 and use of similar words in the pastorals (1 Tim 6:20; 2 Tim 2:2) argue for the latter sense.
  23. 2 Timothy 1:12 sn That day is a reference to the day when Paul would stand before Christ to give account for his service (cf. 2 Tim 1:18; 1 Cor 3:13; 2 Cor 5:9-10).
  24. 2 Timothy 1:13 tn Or “pattern.”
  25. 2 Timothy 1:13 tn Grk “in faith and love in Christ Jesus.”sn With the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. This describes the manner in which Timothy must hold to the standard (similar to Paul’s call for him to give attention to his life and his teaching in 1 Tim 4:11-16).
  26. 2 Timothy 1:14 sn That good thing (Grk “the good deposit”) refers to the truth of the gospel committed to Timothy (cf. 1 Tim 6:20).
  27. 2 Timothy 1:15 tn Grk “Asia”; in the NT this always refers to the Roman province of Asia. The Roman province of Asia made up about one-third of modern Asia Minor and was on the western side of it. Asia lay to the west of the region of Phrygia and Galatia. The words “the province of” are supplied to indicate to the modern reader that this does not refer to the continent of Asia.
  28. 2 Timothy 1:16 tn Grk “my chain.”
  29. 2 Timothy 1:18 sn That day is a reference to the day when Onesiphorus (v. 16) stands before Christ to give account for his service (cf. v. 12; 1 Cor 3:13; 2 Cor 5:9-10).
  30. 2 Timothy 1:18 tn Grk “all the ways he served in Ephesus.”