Chapter 2

¹So you, my son, must find strength in the blessing that comes through Christ Jesus. ²The things you learned from me before many witnesses you must commit to trustworthy men who will be capable of teaching others. ³Share my hardships like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. ⁴Anyone who is in the army keeps from being involved in business affairs, so as to please the officer who enlisted him. ⁵No one who competes in the games is awarded a crown unless he obeys the rules. ⁶The farmer who does the work ought to be the first to have some of the produce. ⁷Think over what I say. For the Lord will help you to understand it perfectly. ⁸Remember Jesus Christ as risen from the dead, and descended from David, as I preach the good news, ⁹for the sake of which I even suffer imprisonment as a criminal. But God’s message is not imprisoned! ¹⁰For that reason I am ready to submit to anything for the sake of those whom God has chosen, so that they too may gain the salvation that comes through Christ Jesus and brings eternal glory. ¹¹How true those words are! “If we have died with him, we will live with him! ¹²If we endure, we will reign with him! If we disown him, he will also disown us! ¹³If we are unfaithful, he will remain faithful, for he cannot be false to himself!”

¹⁴Remind men of these things. Charge them before God to avoid idle arguments which do no one any good and only bring destruction on those who listen to them. ¹⁵Do your best to win God’s approval as a workman who has nothing to be ashamed of, but rightly shapes the message of truth. ¹⁶Leave worldly, empty phrases alone, for they lead people deeper and deeper into godlessness, ¹⁷and their teaching spreads like a cancer; men like Hymenaeus and Philetus, ¹⁸who have missed the truth and say that the resurrection has taken place already, thus undermining people’s faith. ¹⁹Yet God’s solid foundation stands unshaken, bearing this inscription, “The Lord knows those who belong to him,” and “Everyone who uses the name of the Lord must give up evil.” ²⁰In any large house there are not only gold and silver dishes but also wooden and earthen ones, some for great occasions and some for ordinary use. ²¹So if a man will cleanse himself from these things, he will be put to great uses, consecrated and used by the master of the house himself, and ready for any good use. ²²Fly from the cravings of youth, and go in pursuit of uprightness, faith, love, and peace, in company with those who call upon the Lord with pure hearts. ²³Avoid foolish, crude speculations; you know they only lead to quarrels, ²⁴and a slave of the Lord must not quarrel, but treat everyone kindly; he must be persuasive and unresentful, ²⁵correcting his opponents with gentleness; for God may possibly let them repent and acknowledge the truth, ²⁶and they may yet return to their senses and escape from the toils of the devil, who has caught them to make them do his will.