2 Timothy 3

₁You must know this: In the last days of the world there will be difficult times when people will suffer a lot. ₂People will love only themselves and money. They will think they are very important and will say how good they are. They will say bad things about other people, they will not listen to their parents and they will not thank anyone. They will not want to serve God. ₃They will love no one and will not make peace or forgive anyone. They will say bad things to other people, they will do what they want to do, they will be like wild animals and they will hate everything that is good. ₄They will betray each other, they will not think before they do something, they will think they are wonderful people, they will not love God, and they will want only to enjoy themselves. ₅These people will be religious and people will think that they serve God, but they will not let the power of God change their lives. You must stay away from them.

₆These people are false and they go into the houses of women who believe everything that these people teach them, women whose lives are full of sin because they want to do bad things. ₇These women always want to learn new things, but they never understand the true message of God. ₈These people want to stop the women from hearing the truth. They are the same as Jannes and Jambres who tried to stop Moses. These people can not think right and they do not_really believe in God. ₉They are fools and they will not be able to do what they want to do. Everyone will see that they are foolish, like everyone saw that Jannes and Jambres were fools.

₁₀Timothy, you know what I teach people and how I live and you have started to do the same. You know what I want to do and what I believe. You have seen how patient I am and how much I love God and other people, and how I keep on working for God. ₁₁You know how people have persecuted me and how I have suffered and you know of all the things that have happened to me in the towns of Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. Yes, I have suffered many things, but the Lord has helped me and He saved me from all my problems. ₁₂Everyone who belongs to Christ Jesus and who wants to live as God says will suffer.

₁₃But people who are bad and lie to other people will get worse. They will deceive people and other people will deceive them. ₁₄But you, Timothy, must continue to believe the things that you have learned, because you know that these things are true, and you know who taught you those things. ₁₅You have known the Old_Testament from the time that you were a child and you have learned from it that God saves everyone who believes in Christ Jesus. ₁₆Everything in the Old_Testament is the Word of God and you can use it to teach people, to warn them, to tell them when they are doing wrong and to teach them the right way to live. ₁₇If you do this, the people who belong to God will know how to do the good work that God wants them to do.