1 But know this: that in the last days, grievous times will come. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, 3 without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, not lovers of good, 4 traitors, headstrong, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5 holding a form of godliness but having denied its power. Turn away from these, also. 6 For some of these are people who creep into houses and take captive gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts, 7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Even as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these also oppose the truth, men corrupted in mind, who concerning the faith are rejected. 9 But they will proceed no further. For their folly will be evident to all men, as theirs also came to be. 10 But you followed my teaching, conduct, purpose, faith, patience, love, steadfastness, 11 persecutions, and sufferings—those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all. 12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution. 13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. 14 But you remain in the things which you have learnt and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learnt them. 15 From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. 16 Every Scripture is God-breathed and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness, 17 that each person who belongs to God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy · World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
2 Timothy 3 World English Bible British Edition (with Deuterocanon)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Notes on this text (1)
- "World English Bible" is a trademark of eBible.org; the text is shown unaltered.
People & places in this chapter
From this site's family tree and Bible maps, only where those guides cite this chapter.
People
Jambres
Named in 2 Timothy as one of two men who opposed Moses, as the false teachers oppose the truth; they are traditionally Pharaoh's magicians.
Cited in the guide: 2 Timothy 3:8
Jannes
Named in 2 Timothy as one of two men who opposed Moses, as the false teachers oppose the truth; they are traditionally Pharaoh's magicians.
Cited in the guide: 2 Timothy 3:8
Cross references (17)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 2 Peter 3:3; 2 Timothy 4:3; 1 Timothy 4:1–3; 1 John 2:18; 2 Thessalonians 2:3–12
- 2 Philippians 2:21; Romans 1:29–31; Jude 16; Psalm 10:3; 2 Timothy 3:4
- 3 Jude 18; Romans 1:31; Matthew 10:21; 2 Peter 2:14; 1 Timothy 3:11
- 4 Philippians 3:18–19; 1 Timothy 3:6; Jude 4; 2 Peter 2:10–22; Jude 8–9
- 5 Isaiah 29:13; Titus 1:16; Matthew 23:27–28; 1 Timothy 5:8; Romans 2:20–24
- 6 Jude 4; Titus 3:3; 2 Peter 3:17; Jude 18; Titus 1:11
- 7 2 Timothy 4:3–4; Ephesians 4:14; 1 Timothy 2:4; Proverbs 14:6; John 5:44
- 8 Acts 13:8–11; Exodus 7:11; Revelation 2:20; 1 Timothy 6:5; Revelation 2:14–15
- 9 2 Timothy 3:8; Exodus 7:12; Jeremiah 28:15–17; Exodus 9:11; Psalm 76:10
- 10 1 Timothy 6:11; Titus 2:7; 2 Peter 1:5–7; 1 Timothy 4:6; Philippians 2:22
- 11 Psalm 34:19; Acts 14:5–6; 2 Corinthians 11:23–28; Acts 13:45; Acts 14:19–21
- 12 1 Peter 3:14; 1 Peter 4:12–16; 1 Peter 2:20–21; Acts 14:22; Matthew 16:24
- 13 1 Timothy 4:1; Titus 3:3; 2 Timothy 3:8; 2 Peter 2:20; 2 Thessalonians 2:6–11
- 14 1 Thessalonians 2:13; 2 Timothy 2:2; 2 Timothy 1:13; 1 Thessalonians 1:5; Hebrews 10:22
- 15 Psalm 119:98–99; Luke 24:45; Proverbs 22:6; 2 Peter 1:20–21; Matthew 22:29
- 16 Romans 15:4; Hebrews 4:12; 2 Peter 1:19–21; Mark 12:24; Psalm 19:7–11
- 17 2 Timothy 2:21; 2 Corinthians 9:8; Ephesians 2:10; 1 Timothy 6:11; Hebrews 10:24
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
He had said in the former Epistle, that "the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith" (1 Tim. iv.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 13 (1889)
For, being driven away from Him who truly is [God], and being turned backwards, he shall be for ever seeking, yet shall never find out God; but shall continually swim in an abyss without limits, unless, being converted by repentance, he return to the place from which he had been cast out, confessing one God, the Father, the Creator, and …
… a reply to every exception which you hear taken to what you read in it; for so you would become like those silly women of whom the apostle says that they are "always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." Chapter 2 — Recapitulation of the Contents of the First Book In the foregoing book, …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 2 (1887)
All Scripture, then, is given by inspiration of God and is also assuredly profitable.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 9 (1899)
… inharmoniously, and foolishly, not keeping always to the same opinions with regard to the same things, as blind men are led by the blind, they shall deservedly fall into the ditch of ignorance lying in their path, ever seeking and never finding out the truth. It behoves us, therefore, to avoid their doctrines, and to take careful heed lest we …