2 Timothy
Chapter 3
The Last Days
Be quite sure that difficult times will come in the last days.
People will become selfish, lovers of money, boastful, conceited, gossipers, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, impious,
unable to love and forgive, slanderers, without self-control, cruel, enemies of good,
traitors, shameless, full of pride, more in love with pleasure than with God.
They will appear pious but will reject its demands. Stay away from such people.
For among them are those who enter households and captivate weak women full of sins, swayed by all kinds of passions,
who are always learning but never understand the truth.
These people with corrupt minds and false faith oppose the truth, just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses.
But they will not get very far, for their folly will be clear to everyone, just like with those two.
You, on the other hand, have closely followed my teaching, way of life, projects, faith, patience, love, endurance,
persecutions, and sufferings. You know what happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. How many trials I had to endure! Yet, the Lord rescued me from all of them.
Indeed, all who desire to serve God in Christ Jesus will face persecution;
while evil people and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.
Servant of the Word of God
As for you, continue with what you have learned and what has been entrusted to you, knowing from whom you received it.
Besides, you have known the sacred scriptures from childhood, which are capable of giving you wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for refutation, for correcting, and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped for every good work.
Commentaries
The Last Days.
Here begins a warning for the approaching end times. Paul’s disciple and successor must rely on the teachings and examples of his master and what he gained from Scripture. Persecution is part of an apostle’s life.
Servant of the Word of God.
The final advice Timothy receives from the letter’s author, delivered as if from Paul, centers on Sacred Scripture. The “testamentary” nature of the letter reaches its highest point here. With God and Jesus Christ as witnesses and with the end of history as his horizon, the Apostle earnestly urges Timothy that “now” is the moment to proclaim the Word of God. A series of imperatives conveys the urgency and importance of preaching: proclaim, convince, rebuke, exhort, watch, endure trials, do the work, fulfill your ministry. Never has the calling and primary mission of the ordained ministry—bishops, priests, deacons—been clearer: to be servants of the Word of God. And in communion with those leading the Church, the mission and vocation of all believers are also emphasized.