2 Timothy 3:14--4:5

3:14 You, however, must continue ¹  in the things you have learned and are confident about. You know ²  who taught you ³  3:15 and how from infancy you have known the holy writings, which are able to give you wisdom for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 3:16 Every scripture ⁴  is inspired by God ⁵  and useful for teaching, for reproof, ⁶  for correction, and for training in righteousness, 3:17 that the person dedicated to God ⁷  may be capable ⁸  and equipped for every good work.

Charge to Timothy Repeated

4:1 I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, who is going to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom: 4:2 Preach the message, ⁹  be ready ¹⁰  whether it is convenient or not, ¹¹  reprove, rebuke, exhort ¹²  with complete patience and instruction. 4:3 For there will be a time when people ¹³  will not tolerate sound teaching. Instead, following their own desires, ¹⁴  they will accumulate teachers for themselves, because they have an insatiable curiosity to hear new things. ¹⁵  4:4 And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths. ¹⁶  4:5 You, however, be self-controlled ¹⁷  in all things, endure hardship, do an evangelist’s work, fulfill your ministry.

¹ tn Grk “but you, continue,” a command.

² tn Grk “knowing,” giving the reasons for continuing as v. 14 calls for.

³ tn Grk “those from whom you learned.”

⁴ tn Or “All scripture.”

⁵ sn Inspired by God. Some have connected this adjective in a different way and translated it as “every inspired scripture is also useful.” But this violates the parallelism of the two adjectives in the sentence, and the arrangement of words makes clear that both should be taken as predicate adjectives: “every scripture is inspired…and useful.”

⁶ tn Or “rebuke,” “censure.” The Greek word implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.

⁷ tn Grk “the man of God,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is most likely used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

⁸ tn This word is positioned for special emphasis; it carries the sense of “complete, competent, able to meet all demands.”

⁹ tn Or “the word.”

¹⁰ tn Or “be persistent.”

¹¹ tn Grk “in season, out of season.”

¹² tn Or “encourage.”

¹³ tn Grk “they”; the referent (the people in that future time) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

¹⁴ tn Grk “in accord with.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “having an itching in regard to hearing,” “having itching ears.”

¹⁶ sn These myths were legendary tales characteristic of the false teachers in Ephesus and Crete. See parallels in 1 Tim 1:4; 4:7; and Titus 1:14.

¹⁷ tn Or “sober,” “temperate.”