
{1}1{/}

{R}_{I}1_{/}From Paul, apostle of Christ  Jesus by the will of God, for 
the sake of his promise of eternal life in Christ Jesus, {R}_{I}2_{/}to 
my dear son Timothy. 
May grace, mercy and peace be with you from God the Father and 
Christ Jesus our Lord. 

{N}GOD DID NOT GIVE US A SPIRIT OF BASHFULNESS{/}

[\u0095]_[=]_{R}_{I}3_{/}I give thanks to God whom I serve with a clear 
conscience the way my ancestors did, as I remember you constantly, 
day and night, in my prayers. {I}4_{/}I recall your tears and I long 
to see you that I may be filled with joy. I am reminded of your 
sincere faith, [=]_{I}5_{/}so like the faith of your grandmother Lois 
and of your mother Eunice, which I am sure you have inherited.
[=]_{R}_{I}6_{/}For this reason I invite you to fan into a flame the gift 
of God you received through the laying on of my hands. 
[=]_{R}_{I}7_{/}For God did not confer on us a spirit of bashfulness, but 
of strength, love and good judgment. {R}_{I}8_{/}Do not be ashamed of 
testifying to our Lord, nor of seeing me in chains. On the 
contrary, do your share in laboring for the Gospel with the 
strength of God. [=]_{R}_{I}9_{/}He saved us and called us - a calling 
which proceeds from his holiness. This did not depend on our 
merits, but on his generosity and his own initiative. This calling 
given to us from all time in Christ Jesus [=]_{R}_{I}10_{/}has just been 
manifested with the glorious appearance of Christ Jesus, our Lord, 
who destroyed death and brought life and immortality to light in 
his Gospel. [=]_{I}11_{/}Of this message I was made herald, apostle 
and teacher. 
[=]_{I}12_{/}For its sake I now suffer this trial, but I am not 
ashamed, for I know in whom I have believed and I am convinced 
that he is capable of taking care of all I have entrusted to him 
until that day.
{R}_{I}13_{/}Follow the pattern of the sound doctrine which you have 
heard from me, concerning faith and love in Christ Jesus. 
{R}_{I}14_{/}Keep this precious deposit with the help of the Holy Spirit 
who lives within us.
{I}15_{/}You know that all from the province of Asia have deserted me, 
especially Phygelus and Hermogenes. [=]_{R}_{I}16_{/}May God bless the 
household of Onesiphoras, for he often came to visit me and was 
not ashamed of my chains. {I}17_{/}On the contrary, on arriving in 
Rome he searched for me until he found me. {I}18_{/}May the Lord grant 
that he find mercy from the Lord on that day. You well know all 
the services he rendered at Ephesus.

{N}LABOR LIKE A GOOD SOLDIER OF CHRIST{/}

{1}2{/}

[\u0095]_{R}_{I}1_{/}You, my son, be strong  with the grace you have in Christ 
Jesus. {I}2_{/}Entrust to reliable people everything you have learned 
from me in the presence of many witnesses, that they may instruct 
others.
{R}_{I}3_{/}Labor like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. [=]_{I}4_{/}No soldier 
gets involved in civilian trade; the soldier's aim is to please 
his commanding officer. {I}5_{/}No athlete is crowned unless he 
competes according to the rules. {I}6_{/}And again, the farmer who 
tills the land is the first to enjoy the fruits of the harvest.  
{I}7_{/}Think over what I am telling you; the Lord will give you 
understanding in everything.
[=]_{R}_{I}8_{/}Remember Christ Jesus, risen from the dead, Jesus, son of 
David, as preached in my Gospel. [=]_{R}_{I}9_{/}For this Gospel I labor 
and even wear chains like an evildoer, but the word of God is not 
chained. [=]_{R}_{I}10_{/}And so I bear everything for the sake of the 
chosen people, that they, too, may obtain the salvation given to 
us in Christ Jesus and share eternal glory. {I}11_{/}This statement is 
true:
[=]_{I}12_{/}If we have died with him, we shall also live with him;
If we deny him, he will also deny us;
[=]_{I}13_{/}If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful for he cannot 
deny himself.

{N}DO NOT FIGHT OVER WORDS{/}

[\u0095]_{R}_{I}14_{/}Remind your people of these things and urge them in the 
presence of God not to fight over words, which does no good, but 
only ruins those who listen. [=]_{R}_{I}15_{/}Be for God an active and 
proved minister, a blameless worker correctly handling the word of 
truth. {I}16_{/}Do not take part in useless conversations, alien to 
the faith. This leads to a greater lack of faith. {I}17_{/}Such 
teaching spreads like gangrene: I am thinking of Hymeneus and 
Philetus. [=]_{I}18_{/}They strayed from the truth, holding that 
resurrection has already taken place; and with this they upset the 
faith of some. [=]_{R}_{I}19_{/}But the solid foundations laid by God are 
not shaken; on them it is written: The Lord knows those who are 
his, and: Let him who confesses the name of the Lord turn away 
from evil.
{I}20_{/}In a large house we find not only vessels of gold and silver, 
but also of wood and clay. Some are reserved for special uses, 
others, for ordinary ones. {I}21_{/}All who clean themselves of what I 
speak of, will become a noble vessel, useful to the Lord, prepared 
for any holy purpose.
{I}22_{/}So shun the passions of youth and seek righteousness, faith, 
love and peace, together with those who call upon the Lord with a 
pure heart. {I}23_{/}Avoid stupid and senseless discussions, since 
such are the cause of misunderstanding. [=]_{R}_{I}24_{/}God's servant 
must not be quarrelsome, but kind to all, always teaching and 
patient with those who do not understand, {R}_{I}25_{/}gently correct 
opponents; perhaps God may grant them to repent and discover the 
truth, {I}26_{/}withdrawing them from the snare of the devil who held 
them captive to his own will.

{1}3{/}

[\u0095]_[=]_{I}1_{/}Be quite sure that there  will be difficult times in 
the last days. [=]_{I}2_{/}People will become selfish, lovers of 
money, boastful, conceited, gossips, disobedient to their parents, 
ungrateful, unholy. {I}3_{/}They will be unable to love and to 
forgive; they will be slanderers, without self-control, cruel, 
enemies of good, {R}_{I}4_{/}traitors, shameless, full of pride, more in 
love with pleasure than with God. {I}5_{/}They will keep the 
appearance of piety, while rejecting its demands. Keep away from 
such people.
[=]_{I}6_{/}Of the same kind are those who enter houses and captivate 
weak women, full of sins, swayed by all kinds of passion, {I}7_{/}who 
are always learning but never grasping knowledge of the truth. 
{I}8_{/}These people of corrupt mind and false faith oppose the truth 
just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses. {I}9_{/}Yet they may not go 
very far, for their folly will be clear to all, as in the case of 
those two.
[=]_{I}10_{/}You, instead, have closely followed my teaching, my way 
of life, my projects, faith, patience, love, endurance, 
[=]_{I}11_{/}persecutions and sufferings. You know what happened to me 
at Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. How many trials I had to bear! Yet 
the Lord rescued me from them all. [=]_{R}_{I}12_{/}All who want to serve 
God in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, {I}13_{/}while evil persons 
and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being 
deceived. 
{I}14_{/}As for you, continue with what you have learned and what has 
been entrusted to you, knowing from whom you received it. 
{R}_{I}15_{/}Besides, you have known the Scriptures from childhood; they 
will give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in 
Christ Jesus. [=]_[*]_{R}_{I}16_{/}All Scripture is inspired by God and 
is useful for teaching, refuting error, for correcting and 
training in Christian life. {R}_{I}17_{/}Through Scripture the man of God 
is made expert and thoroughly equipped for every good work.

{N}PREACH THE WORD{/}

{1}4{/}

[\u0095]_{R}_{I}1_{/}In the presence of God  and Christ Jesus, who is to judge 
the living and the dead, and by the hope I have of his coming and 
his kingdom, I urge you {I}2_{/}to preach the Word, in season and out 
of season, reproving, rebuking or advising, always with patience 
and providing instruction. [=]_{I}3_{/}For the time is coming when 
people will no longer endure sound doctrine but will be so eager 
to hear what is new, that they will never have enough teachers 
after their own liking. {I}4_{/}And they will abandon the truth to 
hear fables. {I}5_{/}So be prudent, do not mind your labor, give 
yourself to your work as an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
[=]_{R}_{I}6_{/}As for me the time of sacrifice has arrived, and the 
moment of my departure has come. {I}7_{/}I have fought the good fight, 
I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. [=]_{I}8_{/}Now there 
is laid up for me the crown of righteousness with which the Lord, 
the just judge, will reward me on that day; and not only me, but 
all those who have longed for his glorious coming.

{N}FINAL GREETINGS{/}

{I}9_{/}Do your best to come to me quickly. [=]_{I}10_{/}You must know 
that Demas has deserted me for the love of this world: he returned 
to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia and Titus to 
Dalmatia. [=]_{I}11_{/}Only Luke remains with me. Get Mark and bring 
him with you, for he is a useful helper in my work. {I}12_{/}I sent 
Tychicus to Ephesus.
{I}13_{/}Bring with you the cloak I left at Troas, in Carpos' house 
and also the scrolls, especially the parchments. 
[=]_{R}_{I}14_{/}Alexander the metalworker has caused me great harm. The 
Lord will repay him for what he has done. {I}15_{/}Distrust him for he 
has been very much opposed to our preaching.
{I}16_{/}At my first hearing in court no one supported me; all 
deserted me. May the Lord not hold it against them. [=]_{I}17_{/}But 
the Lord was at my side, giving me strength to proclaim the Word 
fully, and let all the pagans hear it. So I was rescued from the 
lion's mouth. [=]_{R}_{I}18_{/}The Lord will save me from all evil, 
bringing me to his heavenly kingdom. Glory to him for ever and 
ever. Amen!
[=]_{I}19_{/}Greetings to Prisca and Aquila and to the family of 
Onesiphorus. {I}20_{/}Erastus remained in Corinth. I left Trophimus 
sick in Miletus.
[=]_{I}21_{/}Try to come here before the winter. Eubulus, Pudens, 
Linus, Claudia and all the brothers and sisters send you 
greetings. {R}_{I}22_{/}The Lord be with your spirit.
May grace be with you all.

