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Encouragement to Be Faithful

Timothy, I thank God for you—the God I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. Night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. I long to see you again, for I remember your tears as we parted. And I will be filled with joy when we are together again.

I remember your genuine faith, for you share the faith that first filled your grandmother Lois and your mother, Eunice. And I know that same faith continues strong in you. This is why I remind you to fan into flames the spiritual gift God gave you when I laid my hands on you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline.

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Thanksgiving and Charge to Timothy

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

Because of this I remind you to rekindle God’s gift that you possess[g] through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a Spirit[h] of fear but of power and love and self-control.

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Timothy 1:3 tn Grk “from my ancestors.”
  2. 2 Timothy 1:3 tn Or “as I do constantly. By night and day I long to see you…”
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 2 Timothy 1:5 tn Grk “the sincere faith in you.”
  6. 2 Timothy 1:5 tn Or “convinced.”
  7. 2 Timothy 1:6 tn Grk “that is in you.”
  8. 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.