1 But of this be assured: in the last days grievous times will set in. 2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, haughty, profane. They will be disobedient to parents, thankless, irreligious, 3 destitute of natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers. They will have no self-control, but will be brutal, opposed to goodness, 4 treacherous, headstrong, self-important. They will love pleasure instead of loving God, 5 and will keep up a make-believe of piety and yet live in defiance of its power. Turn away from people of this sort. 6 Among them are included the men who make their way into private houses and carry off weak women as their prisoners--women who, weighed down by the burden of their sins, are led by ever-changing caprice, 7 and are always learning something new, and yet are never able to arrive at real knowledge of the truth. 8 And just as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so also these false teachers withstand the truth--being, as they are, men of debased intellects, and of no real worth so far as faith is concerned. 9 But they will have no further success; for their folly will be as clearly manifest to all men, as that of the opponents of Moses came to be. 10 But you have intimately known my teaching, life, aims, faith, patience, love, resignation, 11 and the persecutions and sufferings which I have endured; the things which happened to me in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra. You know the persecutions I endured, and how the Lord delivered me out of them all. 12 And indeed every one who is determined to live a godly life as a follower of Christ Jesus will be persecuted. 13 But bad men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, misleading and being misled. 14 But you must cling to the things which you have learnt and have been taught to believe, knowing who your teachers were, 15 and that from infancy you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise to obtain salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 16 Every Scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for convincing, for correction of error, and for instruction in right doing; 17 so that the man of God may himself be complete and may be perfectly equipped for every good work. | |