3:1 But understand this, that in the last days difficult 1 times will come. 3:2 For people 2 will be lovers of themselves, 3 lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3:3 unloving, irreconcilable, slanderers, without self-control, savage, opposed to what is good, 3:4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, loving pleasure rather than loving God. 3:5 They will maintain the outward appearance 4 of religion but will have repudiated its power. So avoid people like these. 5
3:10 You, however, 6 have followed my teaching, my 7 way of life, my purpose, my faith, my patience, my love, my endurance, 3:11 as well as the persecutions and sufferings 8 that happened to me in Antioch, 9 in Iconium, and in Lystra. 10 I endured these persecutions and the Lord delivered me from them all. 3:12 Now in fact all who want to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 3:13 But evil people and charlatans will go from bad to worse, 11 deceiving others and being deceived themselves. 12
1 tn Or perhaps, “dangerous,” “fierce.”
2 tn Grk “men”; but here ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is generic, referring to both men and women.
3 tn Or “self-centered.” The first two traits in 2 Tim 3:2 and the last two in 3:4 are Greek words beginning with the root “lovers of,” and so bracket the list at beginning and end.
4 tn Or “form.”
sn Outward appearance. Paul’s contrast with power in 3:5b shows that he regards this “form” to be outward, one of appearance rather than reality (cf. 1 Cor 4:19-20; 1 Thess 1:5).
5 tn Grk “and avoid these,” with the word “people” implied.
6 sn There is a strong emphasis on the pronoun you in contrast to the people described in vv. 2-9.
7 tn The possessive “my” occurs only at the beginning of the list but is positioned in Greek to apply to each of the words in the series.
8 tn Grk “persecutions, sufferings,” as a continuation of the series from v. 10.
9 map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2; JP4 E2.
10 sn In Antioch, in Iconium, and in Lystra. See Acts 13-14 for the account of these persecutions.
map For location see JP1 E2; JP2 E2; JP3 E2
11 tn Grk “will advance to the worse.”
12 tn Grk “deceiving and being deceived.”