◀ All Reading Plans / Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks / 2 Timothy 3:1–4:22 (EasyEnglish Bible)

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Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

A reading plan that walks through the entire New Testament in 24 weeks of daily readings.

Duration: 168 days

2 Timothy 3-4

People will turn away from God in the last days

3 Let me tell you this. During the last days of this world, there will be times of great trouble. ²People will love only themselves, and they will want lots of money for themselves. They will be proud and they will say how great they are. They will insult other people. They will not obey their parents. They will not thank anyone who helps them. They will not respect anything that is good. ³They will not be kind to other people, but they will like to quarrel. They will tell lies to hurt other people. They will be unable to control themselves properly. They will be cruel and they will hate anything that is good. ⁴People will turn against their friends. They will do foolish things. They will boast that they are very important. They will not love God, but instead they will only want to enjoy themselves. ⁵Those people will seem to be serving God. But really they refuse to accept God's power to help them. You must stay away from people like that.

⁶Among those people, there are some men who find a way into people's homes. They get power over silly women who feel very guilty about their sins. Those women want to do wrong things and they cannot stop themselves. ⁷They are always trying to learn new things, but they can never really understand God's true message. ⁸These are people who speak against God's true message, in the same way that Jannes and Jambres spoke against Moses.^[a] Their minds have become confused. The way that they serve God is false. ⁹But they will not continue to do many more bad things. Everyone will see clearly that they are fools. That is what happened to Jannes and Jambres.

Timothy must copy Paul's example

¹⁰But you, Timothy, have heard my message and you know it well. You also know the way in which I have lived. You know my purpose in life. You know how I trust God. You know how patient I have been. You know my love for God and for other people. You know that I have been strong during troubles. ¹¹You also know what happened to me in the cities called Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. People caused me to have a lot of trouble and pain in those places. But I was patient and brave in those bad troubles! And the Lord kept me safe in all those dangerous times.^[b]

¹²It is not only me. Every Christian who wants to live in a way that pleases God will have trouble from other people. ¹³Bad people like that will become even worse. Some of them will teach a false message and people will believe their lies. Those false teachers even believe their own lies!

It is important for us to know the Bible

¹⁴But you must continue to believe the things that you have learned. You know that those things are true. You know the teachers who taught you those things. ¹⁵Even when you were a child, you already knew the message of the Bible. The Bible has taught you how you can be truly wise. You understand that God saves you because you believe in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶Everything that is written in the Bible comes from God's Spirit. It helps us in many ways. The Bible teaches us what is true. It warns us when we are doing wrong things. It shows us what is right. It teaches us how to live good lives.^[c] ¹⁷As a result, people who want to serve God can know how to live properly. They will be people who are ready to do all kinds of good things.

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: ²Tell 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.

³Do 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. ⁴People will refuse to listen to God's true message. Instead, they will want to listen to silly stories that are false. ⁵But 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.

⁶As 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.^[d] ⁷I 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. ⁸So 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.^[e]

Paul's last words to Timothy

⁹Timothy, please come to see me as soon as you can. ¹⁰Demas has left me and he has gone to Thessalonica city. He wanted to enjoy the things of this world too much.^[f] Crescens has gone to Galatia region.^[g] Titus has gone to Dalmatia region.^[h]

¹¹Only Luke is with me now.^[i] Bring Mark with you when you come. He can help me very much with the work for God. ¹²I have sent Tychicus to Ephesus.^[j]

¹³I left a coat with Carpus in Troas.^[k] 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.

¹⁴Alexander, 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. ¹⁵You must also be careful that he does not cause trouble for you. He argued very strongly against our message.

¹⁶I 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. ¹⁷But 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. ¹⁸The 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!

¹⁹Say ‘hello’ for me to Priscilla and Aquila, and to the family of Onesiphorus.^[l]^[m] ²⁰Erastus remained at Corinth city.^[n] I left Trophimus at Miletus city because he was ill.^[o]

²¹Please try to come before the winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus and Claudia say ‘hello’ to you. All the other believers here also say ‘hello’.

²²I 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

3:8 The Bible does not tell us about Jannes and Jambres. They may have been Egyptian men many years ago. They did magic for the king of Egypt. See Exodus 7:11-12,22; 8:7,18-19; 9:11.
3:11 See Acts 13:50; 14:1-6,19-20. Timothy's home was in Lystra. See Acts 16:1-5.
3:16 When Paul wrote this letter to Timothy, people had only the first part of the Bible, that we call the Old Testament. That part describes what happened before Jesus came to the earth.
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).

EasyEnglish Bible (EASY)