Twenty - II Timothy - 2

2:1  Do you, then, my Child, find strength in the help which comes from the union with Christ Jesus;

2:2  and what you learned from me, in the presence of many listeners, entrust to reliable men, who will be able in their turn to teach others.

2:3  Share hardships with me, as a true soldier of Christ Jesus.

2:4  A soldier on active service, to please his superior officer, always avoids entangling himself in the affairs of ordinary life.

2:5  No athlete is ever awarded the wreath of victory unless he has kept the rules.

2:6  The laborer who does the work should be the first to receive a share of the fruits of the earth.

2:7  Reflect upon what I say; the Lord will always help you to understand.

2:8  Keep before your mind Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David, as told in the Good News entrusted to me;

2:9  in the service of which I am suffering hardships, even to being put in fetters as a criminal. But the Message of God is not fettered;

2:10  and that is why I submit to anything for the sake of God's People, that they also may obtain the Salvation which comes from union with Christ Jesus, and imperishable glory.

2:11  How true this saying is--'If we have shared his death, we shall also share his life.

2:12  If we continue to endure, we shall also share his throne. If we should ever disown him, he, too, will disown us.

2:13  If we lose our trust, he is still to be trusted, for he cannot be false to himself!'

2:14  Remind people of all this; urge them solemnly, as in the sight of God, to avoid controversy, a useless thing and the ruin of those who listen to it.

2:15  Do your utmost to show yourself true to God, a workman with no reason to be ashamed, accurate in delivering the Message of the Truth.

2:16  Avoid profane prattle. Those who indulge in it only get deeper into irreligious ways,

2:17  and their teaching will spread like a cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are instances of this.

2:18  They have gone completely astray as regards the Truth; they say that a resurrection has already taken place, and so upset some people's faith.

2:19  Yet God's firm foundation still stands unmoved, and it bears this inscription--'THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS';and this--'LET ALL THOSE WHO USE THE NAME OF THE LORD TURN AWAY FROM WICKEDNESS.'

2:20  Now in a large house there are not only things of gold and silver, but also others of wood and earthenware, some for better and some for common use.

2:21  If, then, a man has escaped from the pollution of such errors as I have mentioned, he will be like a thing kept for better use, set apart, serviceable to its owner, ready for any good purpose.

2:22  Flee from the passions of youth, but pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, in the company of those who, with a pure heart, invoke the Lord.

2:23  Shun foolish and ignorant discussions, for you know that they only breed quarrels;

2:24  and a Servant of the Lord should never quarrel. He ought, on the contrary, to be courteous to every one, a skillful teacher, and forbearing.

2:25  He should instruct his opponents in a gentle spirit; for, possibly, God may give them a repentance that will lead to a fuller knowledge of Truth,

2:26  and they may yet come to a sober mind, and escape from the snares of the Devil, when captured by the Lord's Servant to do the will of God.