2 Timothy 4
New King James Version
Preach the Word
4 I (A)charge you [a]therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, (B)who will judge the living and the dead [b]at His appearing and His kingdom: 2 Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. (C)Convince, (D)rebuke, (E)exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. 3 (F)For the time will come when they will not endure (G)sound doctrine, (H)but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; 4 and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and (I)be turned aside to fables. 5 But you be watchful in all things, (J)endure afflictions, do the work of (K)an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Paul’s Valedictory
6 For (L)I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of (M)my departure is at hand. 7 (N)I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Finally, there is laid up for me (O)the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous (P)Judge, will give to me (Q)on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.
The Abandoned Apostle
9 Be diligent to come to me quickly; 10 for (R)Demas has forsaken me, (S)having loved this present world, and has departed for Thessalonica—Crescens for Galatia, Titus for Dalmatia. 11 Only Luke is with me. Get (T)Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry. 12 And (U)Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. 13 Bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas when you come—and the books, especially the parchments.
14 (V)Alexander the coppersmith did me much harm. May the Lord repay him according to his works. 15 You also must beware of him, for he has greatly resisted our words.
16 At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. (W)May it not be charged against them.
The Lord Is Faithful
17 (X)But the Lord stood with me and strengthened me, (Y)so that the message might be preached fully through me, and that all the Gentiles might hear. Also I was delivered (Z)out of the mouth of the lion. 18 (AA)And the Lord will deliver me from every evil work and preserve me for His heavenly kingdom. (AB)To Him be glory forever and ever. Amen!
Come Before Winter
19 Greet (AC)Prisca and Aquila, and the household of (AD)Onesiphorus. 20 (AE)Erastus stayed in Corinth, but (AF)Trophimus I have left in Miletus sick.
21 Do your utmost to come before winter.
Eubulus greets you, as well as Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the brethren.
Farewell
22 The Lord [c]Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.
Footnotes
- 2 Timothy 4:1 NU omits therefore
- 2 Timothy 4:1 NU and by
- 2 Timothy 4:22 NU omits Jesus Christ
2 Timothy 4
Young's Literal Translation
4 I do fully testify, then, before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who is about to judge living and dead at his manifestation and his reign --
2 preach the word; be earnest in season, out of season, convict, rebuke, exhort, in all long-suffering and teaching,
3 for there shall be a season when the sound teaching they will not suffer, but according to their own desires to themselves they shall heap up teachers -- itching in the hearing,
4 and indeed, from the truth the hearing they shall turn away, and to the fables they shall be turned aside.
5 And thou -- watch in all things; suffer evil; do the work of one proclaiming good news; of thy ministration make full assurance,
6 for I am already being poured out, and the time of my release hath arrived;
7 the good strife I have striven, the course I have finished, the faith I have kept,
8 henceforth there is laid up for me the crown of the righteousness that the Lord -- the Righteous Judge -- shall give to me in that day, and not only to me, but also to all those loving his manifestation.
9 Be diligent to come unto me quickly,
10 for Demas forsook me, having loved the present age, and went on to Thessalonica, Crescens to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia,
11 Lukas only is with me; Markus having taken, bring with thyself, for he is profitable to me for ministration;
12 and Tychicus I sent to Ephesus;
13 the cloak that I left in Troas with Carpus, coming, bring thou and the books -- especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil; may the Lord repay to him according to his works,
15 of whom also do thou beware, for greatly hath he stood against our words;
16 in my first defence no one stood with me, but all forsook me, (may it not be reckoned to them!)
17 and the Lord stood by me, and did strengthen me, that through me the preaching might be fully assured, and all the nations might hear, and I was freed out of the mouth of a lion,
18 and the Lord shall free me from every evil work, and shall save [me] -- to his heavenly kingdom; to whom [is] the glory to the ages of the ages! Amen.
19 Salute Prisca and Aquilas, and Onesiphorus' household;
20 Erastus did remain in Corinth, and Trophimus I left in Miletus infirm;
21 be diligent to come before winter. Salute thee doth Eubulus, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.
22 The Lord Jesus Christ [is] with thy spirit; the grace [is] with you! Amen.
2 Timothy 4
EasyEnglish Bible
Timothy must continue to do his work for God
4 Timothy, I tell you this seriously, as God and Christ Jesus see everything that we do. When Christ Jesus comes to rule as king, he will judge everyone. He will judge the people who are alive and also those who have already died. When he appears, he will decide what should happen to them all. So I tell you this now: 2 Tell God's message to people. Always be ready to speak God's message clearly to people, whether they want to listen to you or not. Warn people when they are doing something wrong. Tell them to stop doing wrong things, and explain to them what they ought to do. But be very patient while you teach them what is true.
3 Do this, because a time will come when people will not listen to God's true message. Instead, they will want to hear all kinds of new messages that will make them happy. So they will find many teachers for themselves who will tell them what they want to hear. 4 People will refuse to listen to God's true message. Instead, they will want to listen to silly stories that are false. 5 But you yourself must continue to think seriously and clearly. Be patient and brave when troubles come. Continue to tell the good news about Christ to people. Do all the work that God has given you to do as his servant.
6 As for me, it is nearly time for me to die. My death will be like a drink offering that they pour out to God. My life as God's servant will end.[a] 7 I have worked to serve Christ well. I have finished everything that God wanted me to do. I am like a runner who has run to the end of the race. I have continued to believe God's true message. 8 So now a gift is waiting for me. The Lord will make me completely right with him. That will be like a crown which the Lord will give me on that great day when he judges people. He is the judge who is fair and right. He will not only give that gift to me. He will give it to all those people who love him. They will be happy to see him when he comes again.[b]
Paul's last words to Timothy
9 Timothy, please come to see me as soon as you can. 10 Demas has left me and he has gone to Thessalonica city. He wanted to enjoy the things of this world too much.[c] Crescens has gone to Galatia region.[d] Titus has gone to Dalmatia region.[e]
11 Only Luke is with me now.[f] Bring Mark with you when you come. He can help me very much with the work for God. 12 I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.[g]
13 I left a coat with Carpus in Troas.[h] Bring it when you come. Also bring the books for me. If you cannot bring all of them, then be sure to bring my special papers.
14 Alexander, the man who makes things from metal, caused a lot of trouble for me. The Lord will punish him because of the wrong things that he did. 15 You must also be careful that he does not cause trouble for you. He argued very strongly against our message.
16 I had to explain to a judge that I had not done anything wrong. The first time I did that, nobody helped me. All my friends stayed away. I pray that God will forgive them for that. 17 But the Lord was there to help me. He made me strong so that I could tell his message clearly. Gentile people from many countries could hear what I said. So the Lord saved me from the danger of death. 18 The Lord will continue to save me from every bad thing. And he will bring me safely to heaven, where he rules. He is great and we should praise him for ever! Amen! This is true!
19 Say ‘hello’ for me to Priscilla and Aquila, and to the family of Onesiphorus.[i][j] 20 Erastus remained at Corinth city.[k] I left Trophimus at Miletus city because he was ill.[l]
21 Please try to come before the winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus and Claudia say ‘hello’ to you. All the other believers here also say ‘hello’.
22 I pray that the Lord will continue to make you strong in your spirit. I pray that he will be kind to all of you.
Footnotes
- 4:6 When the Israelites worshipped God, they offered gifts to him. These gifts included wine. They poured out the wine as a drink offering to God. See Numbers 15:5-10; 28:7. Paul is saying that he himself is like the drink offering. His life on earth will soon end. He has lived to serve God, and now he is ready to die for God.
- 4:8 At that time, people often gave a crown to somebody who had won a race. So Paul is using the crown as a picture of what God will give his people. God will give a gift to everyone who really belongs to Christ. That gift is that we will be completely right and happy as we will live with him for ever.
- 4:10 Paul writes about a man called Demas in Colossians 4:14 and Philemon 24. We do not know if this Demas was the same person. Thessalonica was a city in the north part of the country that we call Greece.
- 4:10 We do not know who Crescens was. Galatia was the east part of the country that we call Turkey.
- 4:10 Titus was a man who had worked with Paul to teach the Christian message. See Galatians 2:1; 2 Corinthians 2:13; 7:6; Titus 1:4-5. Dalmatia was where the country called Albania is now, north and west from Greece.
- 4:11 Luke had travelled and worked with Paul. He wrote the books in the Bible called Luke and Acts. See Acts 16:10-13; Colossians 4:14; Philemon 24.
- 4:12 Paul may have sent Tychicus to Ephesus to help with Timothy's work there.
- 4:13 Troas was a city on the west coast of the country that we call Turkey.
- 4:19 Priscilla and her husband, Aquila, had met Paul at Corinth city. See Acts 18:1-3. Then they went with Paul to Ephesus and they stayed there for some time. See Acts 18:18-26 and 1 Corinthians 16:19. Later they went to Rome. See Romans 16:3-4. They must have been in Ephesus again when Paul wrote this letter.
- 4:19 Paul writes about Onesiphorus in 2 Timothy 1:16.
- 4:20 The Bible includes the name ‘Erastus’ in Acts 19:22 and Romans 16:23. We do not know whether this Erastus was the same person. Corinth was a city in the south part of the country that we call Greece.
- 4:20 See Acts 20:4-5; 21:29, which include the name ‘Trophimus’. We do not know whether this Trophimus was the same person. Miletus was an important city on the coast, south from Ephesus (in the country now called Turkey).
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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