II Timothy 1-2

II Timothy 1

¹Paul, an Apostle of Jesus Christ by the purpose of God, in the hope of the life which is in Christ Jesus,

²To Timothy, my well-loved child: Grace, mercy, peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

³I give praise to God, whose servant I have been, with a heart free from sin, from the time of my fathers, because in my prayers at all times the thought of you is with me, night and day

⁴Desiring to see you, keeping in my memory your weeping, so that I may be full of joy;

⁵Having in mind your true faith, which first was in your mother's mother Lois, and in your mother Eunice, and, I am certain, is now in you.

⁶For this reason I say to you, Let that grace of God which is in you, given to you by my hands, have living power.

⁷For God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of self-control.

⁸Have no feeling of shame, then, for the witness of our Lord or for me, his prisoner: but undergo all things for the good news in the measure of the power of God;

⁹Who gave us salvation, marking us out for his purpose, not on account of our works, but in the measure of his purpose and his grace, which was given to us in Christ Jesus before times eternal,

¹⁰But has now been made clear by the revelation of our Saviour Christ Jesus, who put an end to death and made life unending come to light through the good news,

¹¹Of which I was made a preacher and an Apostle and a teacher;

¹²And for which I undergo these things: but I have no feeling of shame. For I have knowledge of him in whom I have faith, and I am certain that he is able to keep that which I have given into his care till that day.

¹³Keep the form of those true words which you had from me, in faith and love which is in Christ Jesus.

¹⁴That good thing which was given to you keep safe, through the Holy Spirit which is in us.

¹⁵You have had news that all those in Asia went away from me; among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes:

¹⁶May the Lord give mercy to the house of Onesiphorus because he frequently gave me help, and had no feeling of shame because I was in chains;

¹⁷But when he was in Rome, he went in search of me everywhere, and came to me

¹⁸(May he have the Lord's mercy in that day); and of all he did for me at Ephesus you have full knowledge.

II Timothy 2

¹So then, my child, be strong in the grace which is in Christ Jesus.

²And the things which I have said to you before a number of witnesses, give to those of the faith, so that they may be teachers of others.

³Be ready to do without the comforts of life, as one of the army of Christ Jesus.

⁴A fighting man, when he is with the army, keeps himself free from the business of this life so that he may be pleasing to him who has taken him into his army.

⁵And if a man takes part in a competition he does not get the crown if he has not kept the rules.

⁶It is right for the worker in the fields to be the first to take of the fruit.

⁷Give thought to what I say; for the Lord will give you wisdom in all things.

⁸Keep in mind Jesus Christ, of the seed of David, who came back from the dead, as my good news gives witness:

⁹In which I put up with the hardest conditions, even prison chains, like one who has done a crime; but the word of God is not in chains.

¹⁰But I undergo all things for the saints, so that they may have salvation in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.

¹¹This is a true saying: If we undergo death with him, then will we be living with him:

¹²If we go on to the end, then we will be ruling with him: if we say we have no knowledge of him, then he will say he has no knowledge of us:

¹³If we are without faith, still he keeps faith, for he will never be untrue to himself.

¹⁴Put these things before them, giving them orders in the name of the Lord to keep themselves from fighting about words, which is of no profit, only causing error in their hearers.

¹⁵Let it be your care to get the approval of God, as a workman who has no cause for shame, giving the true word in the right way.

¹⁶But take no part in wrong and foolish talk, for those who do so will go farther into evil,

¹⁷And their words will be like poisoned wounds in the flesh: such are Hymenaeus and Philetus;

¹⁸Men whose ideas are all false, who say that the coming back from the dead has even now taken place, overturning the faith of some.

¹⁹But God's strong base is unchanging, having this sign, The Lord has knowledge of those who are his: and, Let everyone by whom the name of the Lord is named be turned away from evil.

²⁰Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but others of wood and earth, and some which are honoured and some without honour.

²¹If a man makes himself clean from these, he will be a vessel for honour, made holy, ready for the master's use, ready for every good work.

²²But keep yourself from those desires of the flesh which are strong when the body is young, and go after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with those whose prayers go up to the Lord from a clean heart.

²³And put away foolish and uncontrolled questionings, seeing that they are a cause of trouble.

²⁴For it is not right for the Lord's servant to make trouble, but he is to be gentle to all, ready in teaching, putting up with wrong,

²⁵Gently guiding those who go against the teaching; if by chance God may give them a change of heart and true knowledge,

²⁶And so they may get themselves free from the net of the Evil One, being made the prisoners of the Lord's servant, for the purpose of God.