2 Timothy 3:3-17

3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. 3:5 They will maintain the outward appearance ¹  of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. ²  3:6 For some of these insinuate themselves ³  into households and captivate weak women ⁴  who are overwhelmed with sins and led along by various passions. 3:7 Such women are always seeking instruction, ⁵  yet never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth. 3:8 And just as Jannes and Jambres ⁶  opposed Moses, so these people – who have warped minds and are disqualified in the faith ⁷  – also oppose the truth. 3:9 But they will not go much further, ⁸  for their foolishness will be obvious to everyone, just like it was with Jannes and Jambres. ⁹ 

Continue in What You Have Learned

3:10 You, however, ¹⁰  have followed my teaching, my ¹¹  way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 3:11 as well as the persecutions and sufferings ¹²  that happened to me in Antioch, ¹³  in Iconium, and in Lystra. ¹⁴  I endured these persecutions and the Lord delivered me from them all. 3:12 Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 3:13 But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, ¹⁵  deceiving others and being deceived themselves. ¹⁶  3:14 You, however, must continue ¹⁷  in the things you have learned and are confident about. You know ¹⁸  who taught you ¹⁹  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 ²⁰  is inspired by God ²¹  and useful for teaching, for reproof, ²²  for correction, and for training in righteousness, 3:17 that the person dedicated to God ²³  may be capable ²⁴  and equipped for every good work.

[3:5]  ¹ tn Or “form.”

[3:5]  ² tn Grk “and avoid these,” with the word “people” implied.

[3:6]  ³ tn Grk “For from these are those who sneak.”

[3:6]  ⁴ tn Or “silly women.”

[3:7]  ⁵ tn Grk “always learning,” continuing the description of the women from v. 6. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[3:8]  ⁶ sn Jannes and Jambres were the traditional names of two of Pharaoh’s magicians who opposed Moses at the time of the Exodus.

[3:8]  ⁷ tn Grk “disapproved concerning the faith.”

[3:9]  ⁸ tn Grk “for they will not progress any more.”

[3:9]  ⁹ tn Grk “as theirs came to be,” referring to the foolishness of Jannes and Jambres. The referent of “theirs” (Jannes and Jambres) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[3:10]  ¹⁰ sn There is a strong emphasis on the pronoun you in contrast to the people described in vv. 2-9.

[3:10]  ¹¹ tn The possessive “my” occurs only at the beginning of the list but is positioned in Greek to apply to each of the words in the series.

[3:11]  ¹² tn Grk “persecutions, sufferings,” as a continuation of the series from v. 10.

[3:11]  ¹³ map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2; JP4 E2.

[3:11]  ¹⁴ sn In Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra. See Acts 13-14 for the account of these persecutions.

[3:13]  ¹⁵ tn Grk “will advance to the worse.”

[3:13]  ¹⁶ tn Grk “deceiving and being deceived.”

[3:14]  ¹⁷ tn Grk “but you, continue,” a command.

[3:14]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “knowing,” giving the reasons for continuing as v. 14 calls for.

[3:14]  ¹⁹ tn Grk “those from whom you learned.”

[3:16]  ²⁰ tn Or “All scripture.”

[3:16]  ²¹ 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.”

[3:16]  ²² tn Or “rebuke,” “censure.” The Greek word implies exposing someone’s sin in order to bring correction.

[3:17]  ²³ tn Grk “the man of God,” but ἄνθρωπος (anqrwpos) is most likely used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women.

[3:17]  ²⁴ tn This word is positioned for special emphasis; it carries the sense of “complete, competent, able to meet all demands.”