2 Timothy 2
EasyEnglish Bible
A good soldier for Christ
2 Timothy, you are like my own child. Let God make you strong. He is kind, so trust him to help you, because you belong to Christ Jesus. 2 You have heard the message that I have taught. Many other people also heard it and they agree that it is true. Now you must tell the same message to other people who will be able to teach it to even more people. They should be people that you can trust as honest people and who can teach well.
3 Be patient through the troubles that we Christians have. Be brave and strong, like a good soldier for Christ Jesus. 4 Any soldier who fights in a war does not become busy with other things. He only wants to fight well to make his captain happy. 5 It is the same with an athlete who runs a race.[a] He cannot win the race unless he obeys the rules. 6 A farmer works hard to grow plants for food. So he should be the first person to receive some of that food. 7 Think carefully about what I am saying to you. The Lord will help you to understand all these things.
8 Jesus Christ is a descendant of King David.[b] God caused him to become alive again after his death. Remember that! These facts are part of the good news that I tell people. 9 And I have many troubles because I tell that good news to people. They have even put me in a prison, like someone who has done something bad. But nobody can keep God's message in a prison!
10 So I continue to be patient and brave during all these troubles. I do that so that I can help the people that God has chosen to belong to him. I want God to save them too, because of what Christ Jesus has done for them. As a result, they will live with God for ever, in the beautiful place where he lives.
11 We all know that this is true:
‘If we have died with Christ in this world,
we will also live with him in the future world.[c]
12 If we continue to be strong during troubles here,
we will also rule with him there in heaven.
But if we say that we do not know Christ,
he will also say that he does not know us.
13 Even if we no longer trust him,
he will still be someone that people can trust.
He will always remain true to his nature.’[d]
A good worker for God
14 Continue to tell these things to God's people there, so that they remember them. Use God's authority and warn them not to quarrel about words. To quarrel about little things does not help anyone. Instead, it destroys those people who listen.
15 Always try very much to serve God in a way that makes him happy. Then he will accept you as a good worker that he can trust. You must teach God's true message correctly. Then you will have no reason to be ashamed of your work. 16 But stay away from people who talk about silly things that are not important to God. A message like that causes people to live more and more in a way that does not please God. 17 It causes people to become sick in their spirits. More and more people become sick as a result. Hymenaeus and Philetus are two of the people who teach that kind of false message. 18 They no longer teach God's true message. They say that God will not raise dead people any more, because he has already given life to dead people. In this way they have confused the minds of some people, so that they no longer believe in Christ.
19 But the group of true believers remains strong, like the foundation under a building. God has written his message there. It says, ‘The Lord knows who his own people are.’[e] It also says, ‘Everyone who says that he belongs to the Lord must stop doing bad things.’
20 In a big house, there are different kinds of dishes. There are some dishes that people have made from gold or from silver. They see those dishes as valuable things. There are also dishes that people have made from wood or from clay. Those dishes are not special things and they may get dirty. 21 It is like that with people who serve God as their Master. People who keep themselves clean from those bad things will be like valuable dishes. Their master can use them for a special purpose. They will be ready for him to use them for every kind of good work.
22 Be careful not to do the kind of bad things that young people often want to do. Instead, always try to do what is right and fair. Continue to trust God. Love other people and live in peace with them. Join with people who are clean inside and who pray to the Lord.
23 Do not join with people who want to argue about silly things that do not mean anything. You know that silly things like that only cause people to quarrel. 24 As the Lord's servant, you must not quarrel. Instead, you must be kind to everyone. You must be able to teach them well. And you must be patient when people cause you to have trouble. 25 When people speak against God's true message, teach them carefully. Help them to understand what is right. Maybe God will change how they think so that they believe the true message. 26 Their minds will start to think clearly. It is the Devil who has made them believe wrong things. He has made them do what he wants. Now they can get free from his power.
Footnotes
- 2:5 An athlete is a strong person who runs in games and races.
- 2:8 David was a great king of Israel's people, about 1,000 years before Christ came to the earth. See 1 Samuel 16:1-13; 2 Samuel 7:8-9; 8:15.
- 2:11 ‘We have died with Christ’ means that we belong to Christ and we know that he died on our behalf. When he died on the cross to save us from our sins, it is like we also died with him. God has forgiven us for our sins and we have become like new people. Our old lives have finished and we have started to live new lives.
- 2:13 These words may be part of a song that the Christians knew.
- 2:19 See Numbers 16:5.
2 Timothy 2
Complete Jewish Bible
2 So then, you, my son, be empowered by the grace that comes from the Messiah Yeshua. 2 And the things you heard from me, which were supported by many witnesses, these things commit to faithful people, such as will be competent to teach others also. 3 Accept your share in suffering disgrace as a good soldier of the Messiah Yeshua. 4 No soldier on duty gets involved with civilian affairs, since he has to please his commanding officer. 5 Also an athlete can’t win a contest unless he competes according to the rules. 6 The farmer who has done the hard work should be the first to receive a share of the harvest. 7 Think about what I am saying, for the Lord will enable you to understand everything.
8 Remember Yeshua the Messiah, who was raised from the dead, who was a descendant of David. This is the Good News I proclaim, 9 and for which I am suffering to the point of being bound in chains — but the Word of God is not bound in chains! 10 Why do I persevere through it all? For the sake of those who have been chosen, so that they too may obtain the deliverance that comes through the Messiah Yeshua, with eternal glory. 11 Here is a statement you can trust:
If we have died with him,
we will also live with him.
12 If we persevere,
we will also rule with him
If we disown him,
he will also disown us.
13 If we are faithless,
he remains faithful,
for he cannot disown himself.
14 Keep reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before the Lord not to engage in word-battles. They accomplish nothing useful and are a catastrophe for the hearers! 15 Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. 16 But keep away from godless babbling, for those who engage in it will only become more ungodly, 17 and their teaching will eat away at people like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among these; 18 they have missed the mark, as far as the truth is concerned, by saying that our resurrection has already taken place; and they are overturning some people’s faith. 19 Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, stamped with these words:
“The Lord knows his own,”[a]
and,
“Let everyone who claims he belongs to the Lord
stand apart from wrongdoing.”[b]
20 In a large house there are dishes and pots not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. That is, some are meant for honorable use and some for dishonorable. 21 If a person keeps himself free of defilement by the latter, he will be a vessel set aside for honorable use by the master of the house and ready for every kind of good work. 22 So, flee the passions of youth; and, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart, pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love and peace. 23 But stay away from stupid and ignorant controversies — you know that they lead to fights, 24 and a slave of the Lord shouldn’t fight. On the contrary, he should be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and not resentful when mistreated. 25 Also he should be gentle as he corrects his opponents. For God may perhaps grant them the opportunity to turn from their sins, acquire full knowledge of the truth, 26 come to their senses and escape the trap of the Adversary, after having been captured alive by him to do his will.
Footnotes
- 2 Timothy 2:19 Numbers 16:5; Nahum 1:7
- 2 Timothy 2:19 Numbers 16:26
2 Timothy 2
King James Version
2 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier.
5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned, except he strive lawfully.
6 The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.
7 Consider what I say; and the Lord give thee understanding in all things.
8 Remember that Jesus Christ of the seed of David was raised from the dead according to my gospel:
9 Wherein I suffer trouble, as an evil doer, even unto bonds; but the word of God is not bound.
10 Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sakes, that they may also obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11 It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him:
12 If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:
13 If we believe not, yet he abideth faithful: he cannot deny himself.
14 Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them before the Lord that they strive not about words to no profit, but to the subverting of the hearers.
15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
16 But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.
17 And their word will eat as doth a canker: of whom is Hymenaeus and Philetus;
18 Who concerning the truth have erred, saying that the resurrection is past already; and overthrow the faith of some.
19 Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.
20 But in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some to dishonour.
21 If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honour, sanctified, and meet for the master's use, and prepared unto every good work.
22 Flee also youthful lusts: but follow righteousness, faith, charity, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
23 But foolish and unlearned questions avoid, knowing that they do gender strifes.
24 And the servant of the Lord must not strive; but be gentle unto all men, apt to teach, patient,
25 In meekness instructing those that oppose themselves; if God peradventure will give them repentance to the acknowledging of the truth;
26 And that they may recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, who are taken captive by him at his will.
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