BibleWare/BibWare.bin/bibtrans/weymouth.exe/2TI.WNT

Text File | 1993-06-07 | 12KB | 226 lines

1:1 Paul, an Apostle of Christ Jesus, by the will of God, for
 proclaiming the promise of the Life which is in Christ Jesus:
1:2 To Timothy my dearly-loved child. May grace, mercy and peace
 be granted to you from God the Father and Christ Jesus our
 Lord.
1:3 I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience--as my
 forefathers did--that night and day I unceasingly remember you
 in my prayers,
1:4 being always mindful of your tears, and longing to see you
 that I may be filled with joy.
1:5 For I recall the sincere faith which is in your heart--a
 faith which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and then in
 your mother Eunice, and, I am fully convinced, now dwells in
 you also.
1:6 For this reason let me remind you to rekindle God's gift
 which is yours through the laying on of my hands.
1:7 For the Spirit which God has given us is not a spirit of
 cowardice, but one of power and of love and of /1 sound
 judgement.
1:8 Do not be ashamed then to bear witness for our Lord and for
 me His prisoner; but rather share suffering with me in the
 service of the Good News, /2 strengthened by the power of God.
1:9 For He saved us and called us with a holy call, not in
 accordance with our desserts, but in accordance with His own
 purpose and the free grace which He bestowed on us in Christ
 Jesus before the commencement of the Ages,
1:10 but which has now been plainly revealed through /3 the
 Appearing of our Saviour, Christ Jesus. He has put an end to
 death and has brought Life and

/1 Immortality to light through the Good News,
1:11 /2 of which I have been appointed a preacher, Apostle and
 /3 teacher, to the Gentiles.
1:12 That indeed is the reason why I suffer as I do. But I am
 not ashamed, for I know in whom my trust reposes, and I am
 confident that He has it in His power to keep what I have
 entrusted to Him safe until that day.
1:13 /4 Provide yourself with an /5 outline of the sound
 teaching which you have heard from my lips, /6 and be true to
 the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
1:14 That precious treasure which is in your charge, guard
 through the Holy Spirit who has His home in our hearts.
1:15 Of this you are aware, that all the Christians in Roman
 Asia have deserted me: and among them Phygelus and Hermogenes.
1:16 May the Lord show mercy to the /7 household of Onesiphorus;
 for many a time he cheered me and he was not ashamed of my
 chain.
1:17 Nay, when he was here in Rome, he took great pains to
 inquire where I was living, and at last he found me.
1:18 (The Lord grant that he may obtain mercy at His hands on
 that day!) And you yourself well know all the services which he
 rendered me in Ephesus.
2:1 You then, my child, must /8 be strong in the grace that is
 in Christ Jesus.
2:2 All that you have been taught by me in the hearing of many
 witnesses, you must hand on to trusty men who shall themselves,
 in turn, be competent to instruct others also.
2:3 As a good soldier of Christ Jesus accept your share of
 suffering.
2:4 Every one who serves as a soldier keeps himself from
 becoming entangled in the world's business--so that he may
 satisfy the officer who enlisted him.
2:5 And if any one takes part in an athletic contest, he gets no
 prize unless he obeys the rules.

2:6 The harvestman who labours in the field must be the first to
 get a share of the crop.
2:7 Mark well what I am saying: the Lord will give you
 discernment in everything.
2:8 Never forget that Jesus Christ has risen from among the dead
 and is a descendant of David, as is declared in the Good News
 which I preach.
2:9 For preaching the Good News I suffer, and am even put in
 chains, as if I were a criminal: yet the word of God is not
 imprisoned.
2:10 For this reason I endure all things for the sake of God's
 own people; so that they also may obtain salvation--even the
 salvation which is in Christ Jesus--and with it eternal glory.
2:11 Faithful is /1 the saying: "If we died with Him, we shall
 also live with Him;
2:12 "If we patiently endure pain, we shall also share His
 Kingship; "If we disown Him, He will also disown us;
2:13 "And even if *our* faith fails, He remains true--He cannot
 prove false to Himself."
2:14 Bring all this to men's remembrances, solemnly charging
 them in the presence of /2 God not to waste time in wrangling
 about mere words, a course which is altogether unprofitable and
 tends only to the ruin of the hearers.
2:15 Earnestly seek to commend yourself to God as a servant who,
 because of his straightforward /3 dealing with the word of
 truth, has no reason to feel any shame.
2:16 But from irreligious and frivolous talk hold aloof, for
 those who indulge in it will proceed from bad to worse in
 impiety,
2:17 and their teaching will spread like a running sore.
 Hymenaeus and Philetus are men of that stamp.
2:18 In the matter of the truth they have /4 gone astray, saying
 that the Resurrection /5 is already past, and so they are
 overthrowing the faith of some.

2:19 Yet God's solid foundation stands unmoved, bearing this
 inscription, <"The Lord knows those who really belong to Him.">
 And this also, <"Let every one who names the Name of the Lord
 renounce all wickedness.">
2:20 Now in a great house there are not only articles of gold
 and silver, but also others of wood and of earthenware; and
 some are for specially honourable, and others for common use.
2:21 If therefore a man keeps himself clear of these latter, he
 himself will be for specially honourable use, consecrated, fit
 for the Master's service, and fully equipped for every good
 work.
2:22 Keep a strong curb, however, on your youthful cravings; and
 strive for integrity, good faith, love, peace, in company with
 all who pray to the Lord with pure hearts.
2:23 But /1 avoid foolish discussions with ignorant men,
 knowing--as you do--that these lead to quarrels;
2:24 and a bondservant of the Lord must not quarrel, but must be
 inoffensive towards all men, a skilful teacher, and patient
 under wrongs.
2:25 He must speak in a gentle tone when correcting the errors
 of opponents, in the hope that God will at last give them
 repentance, for them to come to a full knowledge of the truth
2:26 and recover sober-mindedness and freedom from the Devil's
 snare, /2 though they are now entrapped by him to do his will.
3:1 But of this be assured: in /3 the last days grievous times
 will set in.
3:2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful,
 haughty, profane. They will be disobedient to parents,
 thankless, irreligious,
3:3 destitute of natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers.
 They will have no self-control, but will be brutal, opposed /4
 to goodness,
3:4 treacherous, headstrong, self-important. They will love
 pleasure instead of loving God,
3:5 and will keep up a make-believe of piety and yet live in
 defiance of its power. Turn away from people of this sort.

3:6 Among them are included the men who make their way into
 private houses and carry off weak women as their
 prisoners--women who, weighed down by the burden of their sins,
 are led by ever-changing caprice,
3:7 and are always learning something new, and yet are never
 able to arrive at real knowledge of the truth.
3:8 And just as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also
 these false teachers withstand the truth--being, as they are,
 men of debased intellects, and of no real worth so far as faith
 is concerned.
3:9 But they will have no further success; for their folly will
 be as clearly manifest to all men, as that of the opponents of
 Moses came to be.
3:10 But you have /1 intimately known my teaching, life, aims,
 faith, patience, love, resignation,
3:11 and the persecutions and sufferings which I have endured;
 the things which happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra.
 You know the persecutions I endured, and how the Lord delivered
 me out of them all.
3:12 And indeed every one who is determined to live a godly life
 /2 as a follower of Christ Jesus will be persecuted.
3:13 But bad men and impostors will go on from bad to