New Revised Standard NRS
The Message Bible MSG
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, for the sake of the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
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I, Paul, am on special assignment for Christ, carrying out God's plan laid out in the Message of Life by Jesus.
2 To Timothy, my beloved child: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
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I write this to you, Timothy, the son I love so much. All the best from our God and Christ be yours!
3 I am grateful to God—whom I worship with a clear conscience, as my ancestors did—when I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day.
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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.
4 Recalling your tears, I long to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
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I miss you a lot, especially when I remember that last tearful good-bye, and I look forward to a joy-packed reunion.
5 I am reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that lived first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am sure, lives in you.
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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!
6 For this reason I remind you to rekindle the gift of God that is within you through the laying on of my hands;
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And the special gift of ministry you received when I laid hands on you and prayed - keep that ablaze!
7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
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God doesn't want us to be shy with his gifts, but bold and loving and sensible.
8 Do not be ashamed, then, of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner, but join with me in suffering for the gospel, relying on the power of God,
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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,
9 who saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works but according to his own purpose and grace. This grace was given to us in Christ Jesus before the ages began,
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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.
10 but it has now been revealed through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.
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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.
11 For this gospel I was appointed a herald and an apostle and a teacher,
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This is the Message I've been set apart to proclaim as preacher, emissary, and teacher.
12 and for this reason I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know the one in whom I have put my trust, and I am sure that he is able to guard until that day what I have entrusted to him.
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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.
13 Hold to the standard of sound teaching that you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
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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.
14 Guard the good treasure entrusted to you, with the help of the Holy Spirit living in us.
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Guard this precious thing placed in your custody by the Holy Spirit who works in us.
15 You are aware that all who are in Asia have turned away from me, including Phygelus and Hermogenes.
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I'm sure you know by now that everyone in the province of Asia deserted me, even Phygelus and Hermogenes.
16 May the Lord grant mercy to the household of Onesiphorus, because he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chain;
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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.
17 when he arrived in Rome, he eagerly searched for me and found me
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The first thing he did when he got to Rome was look me up.
18 —may the Lord grant that he will find mercy from the Lord on that day! And you know very well how much service he rendered in Ephesus.
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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.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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.