1Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, writes regarding the promise of life found in Christ Jesus.
2To Timothy, my dear child: May you have grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
3I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience, just as my ancestors did. I constantly remember you in my prayers, night and day.
4I long to see you; remembering your tears fills me with joy.
5I recall the genuine faith that lives in you, a faith that first lived in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced it is in you also.
6Because of this, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but of power, love, and self-control.
8So do not be ashamed to tell others about our Lord, or to be ashamed of me, his prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the Good News, with the strength that God provides.
9He saved us and called us to a holy life, not based on anything we have done, but on his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before time began.
10But now this grace has been revealed through the appearance of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Good News.
11I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher to proclaim this message to the Gentiles.
12That is why I suffer these things. Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to protect what I have entrusted to him until that day.
13Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
14Guard the good deposit that was entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us.
15You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16May the Lord show mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.
17On the contrary, when he was in Rome, he searched tirelessly for me and found me.
18(May the Lord grant him to find the Lord’s mercy on that day.) And you know very well how much he helped me in Ephesus.