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To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
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Thanksgiving
I thank God, whom I serve, as my ancestors did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers.
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Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy.
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I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also.
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Appeal for Loyalty to Paul and the Gospel
For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
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For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
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So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.
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What you heard from me, keep as the pattern of sound teaching, with faith and love in Christ Jesus.
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Examples of Disloyalty and Loyalty
You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
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May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.
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On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched hard for me until he found me.
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May the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! You know very well in how many ways he helped me in Ephesus.
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The Appeal Renewed
You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
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And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.
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Join with me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
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Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel,
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Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory.
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Avoid godless chatter, because those who indulge in it will become more and more ungodly.
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Nevertheless, God’s solid foundation stands firm, sealed with this inscription: “The Lord knows those who are his,” and, “Everyone who confesses the name of the Lord must turn away from wickedness.”
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Those who cleanse themselves from the latter will be instruments for special purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.
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And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful.
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Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth,
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But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.
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People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,
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Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these teachers oppose the truth. They are men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.
