2 Timothy 2:14-3:9
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
III. Instructions Concerning False Teaching
Warning Against Useless Disputes. 14 [a]Remind people of these things and charge them before God[b] to stop disputing about words. This serves no useful purpose since it harms those who listen.(A) 15 Be eager to present yourself as acceptable to God, a workman who causes no disgrace, imparting the word of truth without deviation.(B) 16 Avoid profane, idle talk, for such people will become more and more godless,(C) 17 and their teaching will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,(D) 18 who have deviated from the truth by saying that [the] resurrection has already taken place and are upsetting the faith of some.(E) 19 Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands, bearing this inscription, “The Lord knows those who are his”; and, “Let everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord avoid evil.”(F)
20 In a large household there are vessels not only of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for lofty and others for humble use. 21 If anyone cleanses himself of these things, he will be a vessel for lofty use, dedicated, beneficial to the master of the house, ready for every good work.(G) 22 So turn from youthful desires and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord[c] with purity of heart.(H) 23 Avoid foolish and ignorant debates, for you know that they breed quarrels.(I) 24 A slave of the Lord should not quarrel, but should be gentle with everyone, able to teach, tolerant,(J) 25 correcting opponents with kindness. It may be that God will grant them repentance that leads to knowledge of the truth,(K) 26 [d]and that they may return to their senses out of the devil’s snare,(L) where they are entrapped by him, for his will.
Chapter 3
The Dangers of the Last Days.[e] 1 But understand this: there will be terrifying times in the last days.(M) 2 People will be self-centered and lovers of money, proud, haughty, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, irreligious,(N) 3 callous, implacable, slanderous, licentious, brutal, hating what is good, 4 traitors, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 as they make a pretense of religion but deny its power. Reject them.(O) 6 For some of these slip into homes and make captives of women weighed down by sins, led by various desires,(P) 7 always trying to learn but never able to reach a knowledge of the truth.(Q) 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so they also oppose the truth—people of depraved mind, unqualified in the faith.(R) 9 But they will not make further progress, for their foolishness will be plain to all, as it was with those two.
Paul’s Example and Teaching.[f]
Footnotes
- 2:14–19 For those who dispute about mere words (cf. 2 Tm 2:23–24) and indulge in irreligious talk to the detriment of their listeners (2 Tm 2:16–19), see notes on 1 Tm 1:3–7; 6:20–21. Hymenaeus and Philetus (2 Tm 2:17), while accepting the Christian’s mystical death and resurrection in Christ through baptism, claimed that baptized Christians are already risen with Christ in this life and thus that there is no future bodily resurrection or eternal glory to come. The first quotation in 2 Tm 2:19 is from Nm 16:5; the other quotation is from some unidentified Jewish or Christian writing.
- 2:14 Before God: many ancient manuscripts read “before the Lord.”
- 2:22 Those who call on the Lord: those who believe in Christ and worship him as Lord, i.e., Christians (Acts 9:14–16, 20–21; Rom 10:12–13; cf. 2 Tm 2:19, literally, “Everyone who names the name of the Lord”).
- 2:26 Some interpreters would render this passage, “Thus they may come to their senses and, forced to do his (i.e., God’s) will, may escape the devil’s trap.” This interpretation of the Greek is possible, but the one accepted in the text seems more likely.
- 3:1–9 The moral depravity and false teaching that will be rampant in the last days are already at work (2 Tm 3:1–5). The frivolous and superficial, too, devoid of the true spirit of religion, will be easy victims of those who pervert them by falsifying the truth (2 Tm 3:6–8), just as Jannes and Jambres, Pharaoh’s magicians of Egypt (Ex 7:11–12, 22), discredited the truth in Moses’ time. Exodus does not name the magicians, but the two names are widely found in much later Jewish, Christian, and even pagan writings. Their origins are legendary.
- 3:10–17 Paul’s example for Timothy includes persecution, a frequent emphasis in the Pastorals. Timothy is to be steadfast to what he has been taught and to scripture. The scriptures are the source of wisdom, i.e., of belief in and loving fulfillment of God’s word revealed in Christ, through whom salvation is given.
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