2 Timothy 4
1 I sincerely plead with you in the sight of God and Christ Jesus, who is going to assess the living and the dead, and by his arrival and his reign: 2 Announce the message, be ready at convenient and inconvenient moments, expose,a appraise,b and encourage with teaching and complete patience. 3 You see, there will be a time when they will not uphold healthy teaching but will collect teachers to tickle the ear based on their own desires, 4 and they will both turn the ear away from the truth and be turned aside to false narratives.c 5 But you, be even tempered in everything, endure oppression, do the work of an announcer of the triumphant message, and fully carry out your service.
6 I am already being poured out as a drink offering,d and the time of my reliefe has approached. 7 I have contended honorably in the contestf; I have finished the race; I have carefully attended to faithfulness. 8 All that’s left for me is the laurel wreathg for justness, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me but also to all who have loved his arrival.
9 Try to come to me soon 10 because Demas abandoned me, since he lovedh this present Age, and he left for Thessalonica, Crescens left for Galatia, and Titus left for Dalmatia. 11 Luke is the only one with me. Get Mark and bring him with you because he is helpful to me as I serve.i 12 I sent Tychicus to Ephesus. 13 When you come, bring the cloak I left behind in Troas with Carpas and the scrolls, especially the parchments.
14 Alexander the coppersmith demonstrated many harmful things toward me—the Lord will repay him based on his actions— 15 and you watch out for him too because he made a stand against our discussions. 16 When I first spoke my defense, no one came to be with me; instead, they all abandoned me—may it not be counted against them— 17 but the Lord stood with me and empowered me, so that through me, the announcement would be carried out fully and all people groups would hear it, and I was rescued from the lion’s mouth. 18 The Lord will rescue me from every harmful action and liberate me for his divinej reign. Praise be to him for ages upon ages! Amen.
19 Wish Prisca and Aquilla and the household of Onesiphorus well. 20 Erastus stayed in Corinth, and I left Trophimus sick in Miletus. 21 Try to come before winter. Eubulus, Pudens, Linus, Claudia, and all the Familyk wish you well. 22 May the Lord be with your life-breath. May good fortune be with all of you.l
FOOTNOTES:
a Or ‘investigate.’ The idea is looking into the conduct, typically of leaders or those with high status, to expose misconduct and call them out publicly.
b This word means to declare something to be worthy of honor if positive or dishonor if negative. The word itself does not imply positive or negative but rather the appraisal and declaration of what is found.
c Traditionally, ‘myths.’ The English word ‘myth’ does come from this Greek word muthos, but the Greek word was a more generic word for stories and did not have the same definitions as the English word ‘myth.’
d Or ‘libation.’ The word is about the act of pouring out a beverage as a sign of peacemaking or reconciliation, often done as a ritual for a deity, requesting peace with one’s enemies, or with an enemy as a show of making a truce. Torah contains instructions for drink offerings as well as it being a cultural practice in the surrounding culture. Jesus refers to his own blood being poured out as a drink offering at the Last Supper in Matthew 26.
e Or ‘release’ as in a letting go free
f This refers to athletic games.
g Winners in athletic games were awarded a laurel wreath to wear on their heads.
h This is agapao (‘love’ in the sense of a commitment to the wellbeing and thriving of what is loved) being used in a negative context. It seems to be a direct contrast to the agapao that appears in the previous verse where it says, “all who have loved his arrival.”
i Literally, ‘he is useful to me for service.’
j Literally, ‘heavenly’
k Or ‘siblings’ or ‘brothers’
l This instance of ‘you’ is the only time in this letter that it is plural. All the other instances are being directed to Timothy individually, but this one instance seems to include the people who are with Timothy.