New Testament Plan

¹But understand this, that in the last days there will come times of difficulty.

²For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

³heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good,

⁴treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,

⁵having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.

⁶For among them are those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions,

⁷always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth.

⁸Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind and disqualified regarding the faith.

⁹But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, as was that of those two men.

¹⁰You, however, have followed my teaching, my conduct, my aim in life, my faith, my patience, my love, my steadfastness,

¹¹my persecutions and sufferings that happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra — which persecutions I endured; yet from them all the Lord rescued me.

¹²Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

¹³while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

¹⁴But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it

¹⁵and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

¹⁷that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

¹I charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom:

²preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching.

³For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions,

⁴and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

⁵As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.

⁶For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

⁷I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

⁸Henceforth there is laid up for me 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 loved his appearing.

⁹Do your best to come to me soon.

¹⁰For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, Titus to Dalmatia.

¹¹Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.

¹²Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

¹³When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, also the books, and above all the parchments.

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me great harm; the Lord will repay him according to his deeds.

¹⁵Beware of him yourself, for he strongly opposed our message.

¹⁶At my first defense no one came to stand by me, but all deserted me. May it not be charged against them!

¹⁷But the Lord stood by me and strengthened me, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. So I was rescued from the lion's mouth.

¹⁸The Lord will rescue me from every evil deed and bring me safely into his heavenly kingdom. To him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

²⁰Erastus remained at Corinth, and I left Trophimus, who was ill, at Miletus.

²¹Do your best to come before winter. Eubulus sends greetings to you, as do Pudens and Linus and Claudia and all the brothers.

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

¹Paul, a servant of God and an apostle of Jesus Christ, for the sake of the faith of God's elect and their knowledge of the truth, which accords with godliness,

²in hope of eternal life, which God, who never lies, promised before the ages began

³and at the proper time manifested in his word through the preaching with which I have been entrusted by the command of God our Savior;

⁴To Titus, my true child in a common faith: Grace and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Savior.

⁵This is why I left you in Crete, so that you might put what remained into order, and appoint elders in every town as I directed you —

⁶if anyone is above reproach, the husband of one wife, and his children are believers and not open to the charge of debauchery or insubordination.

⁷For an overseer, as God's steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain,

⁸but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

⁹He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it.

¹⁰For there are many who are insubordinate, empty talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision party.

¹¹They must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for shameful gain what they ought not to teach.

¹²One of the Cretans, a prophet of their own, said, “Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, lazy gluttons.”

¹³This testimony is true. Therefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in the faith,

¹⁴not devoting themselves to Jewish myths and the commands of people who turn away from the truth.

¹⁵To the pure, all things are pure, but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure; but both their minds and their consciences are defiled.

¹⁶They profess to know God, but they deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, unfit for any good work.