| Godlessness in the Last Days |
Difficult Times Ahead |
Chapter 3 |
| 1 But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. |
1 Don't be naive. There are difficult times ahead. |
1 BUT UNDERSTAND this, that in the last days will come (set in) perilous times of great stress and trouble [hard to deal with and hard to bear]. |
| 2 People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, |
2 As the end approaches, people are going to be self-absorbed, money-hungry, self-promoting, stuck-up, profane, contemptuous of parents, crude, coarse, |
2 For people will be lovers of self and [utterly] self-centered, lovers of money and aroused by an inordinate [greedy] desire for wealth, proud and arrogant and contemptuous boasters. They will be abusive (blasphemous, scoffing), disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy and profane. |
| 3 without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, |
3 dog-eat-dog, unbending, slanderers, impulsively wild, savage, cynical, |
3 [They will be] without natural [human] affection (callous and inhuman), relentless (admitting of no truce or appeasement); [they will be] slanderers (false accusers, troublemakers), intemperate and loose in morals and conduct, uncontrolled and fierce, haters of good. |
| 4 treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-- |
4 treacherous, ruthless, bloated windbags, addicted to lust, and allergic to God. |
4 [They will be] treacherous [betrayers], rash, [and] inflated with self-conceit. [They will be] lovers of sensual pleasures and vain amusements more than and rather than lovers of God. |
| 5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them. |
5 They'll make a show of religion, but behind the scenes they're animals. Stay clear of these people. |
5 For [although] they hold a form of piety (true religion), they deny and reject and are strangers to the power of it [their conduct belies the genuineness of their profession]. Avoid [all] such people [turn away from them]. |
| 6 They are the kind who worm their way into homes and gain control over weak-willed women, who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires, |
6 These are the kind of people who smooth-talk themselves into the homes of unstable and needy women and take advantage of them; women who, depressed by their sinfulness, take up with every new religious fad that calls itself "truth." |
6 For among them are those who worm their way into homes and captivate silly and weak-natured and spiritually dwarfed women, loaded down with [the burden of their] sins [and easily] swayed and led away by various evil desires and seductive impulses. |
| 7 always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth. |
7 They get exploited every time and never really learn. |
7 [These weak women will listen to anybody who will teach them]; they are forever inquiring and getting information, but are never able to arrive at a recognition and knowledge of the Truth. |
| 8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth--men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected. |
8 These men are like those old Egyptian frauds Jannes and Jambres, who challenged Moses. They were rejects from the faith, twisted in their thinking, defying truth itself. |
8 Now just as Jannes and Jambres were hostile to and resisted Moses, so these men also are hostile to and oppose the Truth. They have depraved and distorted minds, and are reprobate and counterfeit and to be rejected as far as the faith is concerned. |
| 9 But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men, their folly will be clear to everyone. |
9 But nothing will come of these latest impostors. Everyone will see through them, just as people saw through that Egyptian hoax. |
9 But they will not get very far, for their rash folly will become obvious to everybody, as was that of those [magicians mentioned]. |
| Paul's Charge to Timothy |
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| 10 You, however, know all about my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance, |
10 You've been a good apprentice to me, a part of my teaching, my manner of life, direction, faith, steadiness, love, patience, |
10 Now you have closely observed and diligently followed my teaching, conduct, purpose in life, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, |
| 11 persecutions, sufferings--what kinds of things happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured. Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them. |
11 troubles, sufferings—suffering along with me in all the grief I had to put up with in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. And you also well know that God rescued me! |
11 Persecutions, sufferings—such as occurred to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra, persecutions I endured, but out of them all the Lord delivered me. |
| 12 In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, |
12 Anyone who wants to live all out for Christ is in for a lot of trouble; there's no getting around it. |
12 Indeed all who delight in piety and are determined to live a devoted and godly life in Christ Jesus will meet with persecution [will be made to suffer because of their religious stand]. |
| 13 while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. |
13 Unscrupulous con men will continue to exploit the faith. They're as deceived as the people they lead astray. As long as they are out there, things can only get worse. |
13 But wicked men and imposters will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and leading astray others and being deceived and led astray themselves. |
| 14 But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, |
14 But don't let it faze you. Stick with what you learned and believed, sure of the integrity of your teachers— |
14 But as for you, continue to hold to the things that you have learned and of which you are convinced, knowing from whom you learned [them], |
| 15 and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. |
15 why, you took in the sacred Scriptures with your mother's milk! There's nothing like the written Word of God for showing you the way to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. |
15 And how from your childhood you have had a knowledge of and been acquainted with the sacred Writings, which are able to instruct you and give you the understanding for salvation which comes through faith in Christ Jesus [through the leaning of the entire human personality on God in Christ Jesus in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness]. |
| 16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, |
16 Every part of Scripture is God-breathed and useful one way or another—showing us truth, exposing our rebellion, correcting our mistakes, training us to live God's way. |
16 Every Scripture is God-breathed (given by His inspiration) and profitable for instruction, for reproof and conviction of sin, for correction of error and discipline in obedience, [and] for training in righteousness (in holy living, in conformity to God’s will in thought, purpose, and action), |
| 17 so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work. |
17 Through the Word we are put together and shaped up for the tasks God has for us. |
17 So that the man of God may be complete and proficient, well fitted and thoroughly equipped for every good work. |