The Message Bible MSG
New American Standard Bible NAS
1 I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God's plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus.
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Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life in Christ Jesus,
2 I write this to you, Timothy, the son I love so much. All the best from our God and Christ be yours!
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To Timothy, my beloved son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord .
3 Every time I say your name in prayer - which is practically all the time - I thank God for you, the God I worship with my whole life in the tradition of my ancestors.
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I thank God, whom I serve with a clear conscience the way my forefathers did, as I constantly remember you in my prayers night and day,
4 I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.
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longing to see you, even as I recall your tears, so that I may be filled with joy.
5 That precious memory triggers another: your honest faith - and what a rich faith it is, handed down from your grandmother Lois to your mother Eunice, and now to you!
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For I am mindful of the sincere faith within you, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure that it is in you as well.
6 And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed - keep that ablaze!
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For this reason I remind you to kindle afresh the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
7 God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.
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For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.
8 So don't be embarrassed to speak up for our Master or for me, his prisoner. Take your share of suffering for the Message along with the rest of us. We can only keep on going, after all, by the power of God,
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Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord or of me His prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel according to the power of God,
9 who first saved us and then called us to this holy work. We had nothing to do with it. It was all his idea, a gift prepared for us in Jesus long before we knew anything about it.
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who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to His own purpose and grace which was granted us in Christ Jesus from all eternity,
10 But we know it now. Since the appearance of our Savior, nothing could be plainer: death defeated, life vindicated in a steady blaze of light, all through the work of Jesus.
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but now has been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,
11 This is the Message I've been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher.
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for which I was appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher.
12 It's also the cause of all this trouble I'm in. But I have no regrets. I couldn't be more sure of my ground - the One I've trusted in can take care of what he's trusted me to do right to the end.
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For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.
13 So keep at your work, this faith and love rooted in Christ, exactly as I set it out for you. It's as sound as the day you first heard it from me.
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Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus.
14 Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.
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Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.
15 I'm sure you know by now that everyone in the province of Asia deserted me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes.
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You are aware of the fact that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among whom are Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 But God bless Onesiphorus and his family! Many's the time I've been refreshed in that house. And he wasn't embarrassed a bit that I was in jail.
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The Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains;
17 The first thing he did when he got to Rome was look me up.
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but when he was in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me-
18 May God on the Last Day treat him as well as he treated me. And then there was all the help he provided in Ephesus - but you know that better than I.
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the Lord grant to him to find mercy from the Lord on that day -and you know very well what services he rendered at Ephesus.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California. All rights reserved.