1You must, then, my child, find strength in the help which comes from the union with Christ Jesus;
2and what you learnt from me, in the presence of many listeners, entrust to reliable people, who will be able in their turn to teach others.
3Share hardships with me, as a true soldier of Christ Jesus.
4A soldier on active service, to please his superior officer, always avoids entangling himself in the affairs of ordinary life.
5No athlete is ever awarded the wreath of victory unless they have kept the rules.
6The labourer who does the work should be the first to receive a share of the fruits of the earth.
7Reflect on what I say; the Lord will always help you to understand.
8Keep before your mind Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, a descendant of David, as told in the good news entrusted to me;
9in 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;
10and that is why I submit to anything for the sake of God’s people: so that they also may obtain the salvation which comes from union with Christ Jesus, and imperishable glory.
11How true this saying is – “If we have shared his death, we will also share his life.
12If we continue to endure, we will also share his throne. If we should ever disown him, he, too, will disown us.
13If we lose our trust, he is still to be trusted, for he cannot be false to himself!”
14Remind people of all this; tell them solemnly, as in the sight of God, to avoid controversy, a useless thing and the ruin of those who listen to it.
15Do your utmost to show yourself true to God, a worker with no reason to be ashamed, accurate in delivering the message of the truth.
16Avoid profane prattle. Those who indulge in it only get deeper into irreligious ways,
17and their teaching will spread like a cancer. Hymenaeus and Philetus are instances of this.
18They have gone completely astray as regards the truth; they say that a resurrection has already taken place, and so upset some people’s faith.
19Yet 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.”
20Now 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.
21If, then, a person has escaped from the pollution of such errors as I have mentioned, they will be like a thing kept for better use, set apart, serviceable to its owner, ready for any good purpose.
22Flee 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.
23Shun foolish and ignorant discussions, for you know that they only breed quarrels;
24and a servant of the Lord should never quarrel. They ought, on the contrary, to be courteous to everyone, skilful teachers, and forbearing.
25They should instruct their opponents in a gentle spirit; for, possibly, God may give those opponents a repentance that will lead to a fuller knowledge of truth,
26and they may yet come to a sober mind, and escape from the devil’s net, when captured by the Lord’s servant to do the will of God.