The Last Days

3 ¹Remember this! There will be many troubles in the last days. ²In those times people will love only themselves and money. They will be boastful and proud. People will say bad things against other people. People will not obey their parents. People will not be thankful. They will not be the kind of people God wants. ³People will not have love for other people. They will refuse to forgive other people, and they will speak bad things. People will not control themselves. They will be angry and mean and will hate things that are good. ⁴In the last days people will turn against their friends. They will do foolish things without thinking. They will be conceited and proud. People will love pleasure--they will not love God. ⁵Those people will continue to act like they serve God. But the way they live shows that they don't really serve God. Timothy, stay away from those people. ⁶Some of those people go into homes and get women who are weak. Those women are full of sin. Those women are led to sin by the many evil things they want to do. ⁷Those women always try to learn [new teachings], but they are never able to fully understand the truth. ⁸Remember Jannes and Jambres.* They were against Moses.* It is the same with these people. They are against the truth. They are people whose thinking has been confused. They have failed in trying to follow the faith. ⁹But they will not be successful in the things they do. All the people will see that they are foolish. That is what happened to Jannes and Jambres.

Last Instructions

¹⁰But you know all about me. You know what I teach and the way I live. You know my goal in life. You know my faith, my patience, and my love. You know that I never stop trying. ¹¹You know about my persecutions (troubles) and my sufferings. You know all the things that happened to me in Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. You know the persecutions I suffered in those places. But the Lord saved me from all those troubles. ¹²Every person who wants to live the way God wants, in Christ Jesus, will be persecuted. ¹³People who are evil and cheat other people will become worse and worse. They will fool other people, but they will also be fooling themselves. ¹⁴But you should continue following the teachings you learned. You know that those teachings are true. You know you can trust the people who taught you those things. ¹⁵You have known the Holy Scriptures* since you were a child. Those Scriptures are able to make you wise. And that wisdom leads to salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. ¹⁶All Scripture is given by God. And all Scripture is useful for teaching and for showing people the things that are wrong in their lives. It is useful for correcting faults and teaching how to live right. ¹⁷Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be ready and will have everything he needs to do every good work.

Jannes and Jambres Probably the magicians that opposed Moses in Pharaoh's court. See Ex. 7:11-12, 22. Moses One of the most important leaders of the Jewish people during the time of the Old Testament. Holy Scriptures Writings that Jews and Christians accepted to be from God--the Old Testament.