1 From: Sha’ul, an emissary of the Messiah Yeshua by God’s will, which holds forth a promise of life through being united with Messiah Yeshua

² To: Timothy, my dear son:

Grace, mercy and shalom from God the Father and the Messiah Yeshua, our Lord.

³ I give thanks to God, whom, like my forbears, I worship with a clean conscience, as I regularly remember you in my prayers night and day. ⁴ I am reminded of your tears, and I long to see you, so that I might be filled with joy. ⁵ I recall your sincere trust, the same trust that your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice had first; and I am convinced that you too now have this trust.

⁶ For this reason, I am reminding you to fan the flame of God’s gift, which you received through s’mikhah from me. ⁷ For God gave us a Spirit who produces not timidity, but power, love and self-discipline. ⁸ So don’t be ashamed of bearing testimony to our Lord or to me, his prisoner. On the contrary, accept your share in suffering disgrace for the sake of the Good News. God will give you the strength for it, ⁹ since he delivered us and called us to a life of holiness as his people. It was not because of our deeds, but because of his own purpose and the grace which he gave to us who are united with the Messiah Yeshua. He did this before the beginning of time, ¹⁰ but made it public only now through the appearing of our Deliverer, the Messiah Yeshua, who abolished death and, through the Good News, revealed life and immortality.

¹¹ It was for this Good News that I was appointed a proclaimer, emissary and teacher of the Goyim; ¹² and this is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, because I know him in whom I have put my trust, and I am persuaded that he can keep safe until that Day what he has entrusted to me. ¹³ Follow the pattern of the sound teachings you have heard from me, with trust and the love which is yours in the Messiah Yeshua. ¹⁴ Keep safe the great treasure that has been entrusted to you, with the help of the Ruach HaKodesh, who lives in us.

¹⁵ You know that everyone in the province of Asia turned away from me, including Phygelus and Ermogenes. ¹⁶ May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he was often a comfort to me and was not ashamed of my being in prison. ¹⁷ On the contrary, when he came to Rome, he diligently searched for me and found me. ¹⁸ May the Lord grant it to him to find mercy from Adonai on that Day. And you know very well how much he helped me in Ephesus.

2 So then, you, my son, be empowered by the grace that comes from the Messiah Yeshua. ² And the things you heard from me, which were supported by many witnesses, these things commit to faithful people, such as will be competent to teach others also. ³ Accept your share in suffering disgrace as a good soldier of the Messiah Yeshua. ⁴ No soldier on duty gets involved with civilian affairs, since he has to please his commanding officer. ⁵ Also an athlete can’t win a contest unless he competes according to the rules. ⁶ The farmer who has done the hard work should be the first to receive a share of the harvest. ⁷ Think about what I am saying, for the Lord will enable you to understand everything.

⁸ Remember Yeshua the Messiah, who was raised from the dead, who was a descendant of David. This is the Good News I proclaim, ⁹ and for which I am suffering to the point of being bound in chains — but the Word of God is not bound in chains! ¹⁰ Why do I persevere through it all? For the sake of those who have been chosen, so that they too may obtain the deliverance that comes through the Messiah Yeshua, with eternal glory. ¹¹ Here is a statement you can trust:

¹⁴ Keep reminding people of this, and charge them solemnly before the Lord not to engage in word-battles. They accomplish nothing useful and are a catastrophe for the hearers! ¹⁵ Do all you can to present yourself to God as someone worthy of his approval, as a worker with no need to be ashamed, because he deals straightforwardly with the Word of the Truth. ¹⁶ But keep away from godless babbling, for those who engage in it will only become more ungodly, ¹⁷ and their teaching will eat away at people like gangrene. Hymenaeus and Philetus are among these; ¹⁸ they have missed the mark, as far as the truth is concerned, by saying that our resurrection has already taken place; and they are overturning some people’s faith. ¹⁹ Nevertheless, God’s firm foundation stands, stamped with these words:

and,

²⁰ In a large house there are dishes and pots not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay. That is, some are meant for honorable use and some for dishonorable. ²¹ If a person keeps himself free of defilement by the latter, he will be a vessel set aside for honorable use by the master of the house and ready for every kind of good work. ²² So, flee the passions of youth; and, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart, pursue righteousness, faithfulness, love and peace. ²³ But stay away from stupid and ignorant controversies — you know that they lead to fights, ²⁴ and a slave of the Lord shouldn’t fight. On the contrary, he should be kind to everyone, a good teacher, and not resentful when mistreated. ²⁵ Also he should be gentle as he corrects his opponents. For God may perhaps grant them the opportunity to turn from their sins, acquire full knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ come to their senses and escape the trap of the Adversary, after having been captured alive by him to do his will.

3 Moreover, understand this: in the acharit-hayamim will come trying times. ² People will be self-loving, money-loving, proud, arrogant, insulting, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, ³ heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, uncontrolled, brutal, hateful of good, ⁴ traitorous, headstrong, swollen with conceit, loving pleasure rather than God, ⁵ as they retain the outer form of religion but deny its power.

Stay away from these people! ⁶ For some of them worm their way into homes and get control of weak-willed women who are heaped with sins and swayed by various impulses, ⁷ who are always learning but never able to come to full knowledge of the truth. ⁸ In the same way as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moshe, so also these people oppose the truth. They are people with corrupted minds, whose trust cannot pass the test. ⁹ However, they won’t get very far; because everyone will see how stupid they are, just as happened with those two.

¹⁰ But you, you have closely followed my teaching, conduct, purpose in life, trust, steadfastness, love and perseverance — ¹¹ as well as the persecutions and sufferings that came my way in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. What persecutions I endured! Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. ¹² And indeed, all who want to live a godly life united with the Messiah Yeshua will be persecuted, ¹³ while evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving others and being deceived themselves.

¹⁴ But you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, recalling the people from whom you learned it; ¹⁵ and recalling too how from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which can give you the wisdom that leads to deliverance through trusting in Yeshua the Messiah. ¹⁶ All Scripture is God-breathed and is valuable for teaching the truth, convicting of sin, correcting faults and training in right living; ¹⁷ thus anyone who belongs to God may be fully equipped for every good work.

4 I solemnly charge you before God and the Messiah Yeshua, who will judge the living and the dead when he appears and establishes his Kingdom: ² proclaim the Word! Be on hand with it whether the time seems right or not. Convict, censure and exhort with unfailing patience and with teaching.

³ For the time is coming when people will not have patience for sound teaching, but will cater to their passions and gather around themselves teachers who say whatever their ears itch to hear. ⁴ Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths.

⁵ But you, remain steady in every situation, endure suffering, do the work that a proclaimer of the Good News should, and do everything your service to God requires.

⁶ For as for me, I am already being poured out on the altar; yes, the time for my departure has arrived. ⁷ I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. ⁸ All that awaits me now is the crown of righteousness which the Lord, “the Righteous Judge,” will award to me on that Day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for him to appear.

⁹ Do your best to come to me soon. ¹⁰ For Demas, because he has fallen in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone off to Thessalonica; Crescens has gone to Galatia; Titus has gone to Dalmatia — ¹¹ only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with you, because he is a very useful helper in my work. ¹² But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus. ¹³ When you come, bring the coat which I left with Carpus in Troas, also the scrolls and especially the parchments. ¹⁴ Alexander the metalworker did me a great deal of harm; the Lord will render to him according to his works;^{[c] 15} and you should guard against him, because he bitterly opposed everything we said.

¹⁶ The first time I had to present my defense, no one stood by me; everyone deserted me — may it not be counted against them. ¹⁷ But the Lord stood by me and gave me power to proclaim the full message for all the Goyim to hear, and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth.^{[d] 18} The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and bring me safely into his heavenly Kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹ Greet Priscilla and Aquila and the household of Onesiphorus. ²⁰ Erastus has remained in Corinth, and Trophimus I left ill at Miletus. ²¹ Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens, Linus, Claudia and all the brothers.

²² The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.