UST 2TIM Chapter 2

2 So as for you, Timothy, let the Messiah Jesus strengthen you as he acts kindly towards you. You are like a son to me. 2 You have heard my teachings in the presence of many people who can confirm them. Now you must carefully teach these things to some other people. These must be reliable people who will, in turn, be qualified to teach others.

3 Join me in suffering as we obey Jesus the Messiah, just as a good soldier must suffer as he obeys his commander. 4 You know that people who serve as soldiers, in order to please their commander, do not become involved in civilian occupations. 5 Likewise, athletes competing in games cannot win unless they obey the rules. 6 The farmer who works hard should receive his share of the crops first. 7 Think about what I have just written, because, if you do, the Lord will enable you to understand it completely. 8 As you suffer hardships, remember Jesus the Messiah, whom God raised from the dead. He is a descendant of King David. This is the good news that I preach. 9 For this good news I have suffered many things, which now include that soldiers have imprisoned me as a criminal. But no one can imprison the message from God! 10 Therefore I willingly endure all that I am suffering for the sake of those whom God has chosen. I do this in order that the Messiah Jesus will save them, too, and that they will be forever with him in his glorious presence. 11 You can depend on this message that we preach:

“When Jesus died for us, it was as though the old, sinful person that we were also died with him. If we have done that, then we will also live with him.

12 If we accept the suffering that comes from obeying Jesus in this life, then we will also rule over everything with him in the next life.

But if we say that we do not know him, he also will say that he does not know us.

13 If we are unfaithful to Jesus, he continues to be faithful to us,

because he cannot be false to himself.”

14 Keep reminding the believers about these things that I have told you. Warn them that God is listening and that they must not fight over which words are correct for expressing God’s message. Arguing like this does not help anything and can cause those who listen to give up on following Jesus.

15 Do your best to be a person of whom God approves. Be like a worker who knows that he is doing good work as you correctly teach the true message.

16 Stay out of useless conversations that ignore God, because this kind of talk causes people to dishonor God more and more. 17 This way of speaking will spread like an infectious disease. Hymenaeus and Philetus are two examples of men who talk like this. 18 These men believe and teach things that are not true. They wrongly say that God has already raised his people from the dead and will not do so again. In this way they convince some believers to stop trusting in the Messiah. 19 However, the truth about God still exists. It is like a firm foundation of a building, on which someone has written these words: “The Lord knows those who belong to him” and “Everyone who says he belongs to the Lord must stop doing wicked deeds.”

20 In a wealthy person’s house there are not only containers made of gold and of silver, but also containers made of wood and of clay. The owner uses the gold and silver containers on great and honorable occasions. But he uses the wood and clay containers to do ordinary and dishonorable things. 21 Therefore, anyone who gets rid of what is evil in his life will be like a container that someone has cleaned completely so that the owner can use it for any occasion, even the most special ones. In the same way, when a person gets rid of what is evil in his life, God considers him worthy and can use him to do any good task. 22 So avoid doing the sinful things that young people usually desire. Instead, together with people who worship the Lord sincerely, strive to do things that are right, trust in God and love him and others, and live peacefully with other people.

23 Do not let anyone begin to debate with you about matters that only uneducated and foolish people talk about. You know that when people talk about such things, they begin to quarrel. 24 But the one who serves the Lord must not quarrel. Instead, he should be kind to all people. He should be able to teach God’s truth well. He should be patient with people. 25 He should gently instruct the people who argue against him. Perhaps God may lead them to repent of their wrong thinking and to know the truth. 26 In that way they may think correctly again. They will realize that the devil has been deceiving them and controlling them so that they will do what he wants.

2TIM C1 C2 C3 C4