Dual Panel1PAUL, AN apostle (special messenger) of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus,
2To Timothy, [my] beloved child: Grace (favor and spiritual blessing), mercy, and [heart] peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord!
3I thank God Whom I worship with a pure conscience, in the spirit of my fathers, when without ceasing I remember you night and day in my prayers,
4And when, as I recall your tears, I yearn to see you so that I may be filled with joy.
5I am calling up memories of your sincere {and} unqualified faith (the leaning of your entire personality on God in Christ in absolute trust and confidence in His power, wisdom, and goodness), [a faith] that first lived permanently in [the heart of] your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice and now, I am [fully] persuaded, [dwells] in you also.
6That is why I would remind you to stir up (rekindle the embers of, fan the flame of, and keep burning) the [gracious] gift of God, [the inner fire] that is in you by means of the laying on of my hands [with those of the elders at your ordination].
7For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (of cowardice, of craven and cringing and fawning fear), but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of calm {and} well-balanced mind {and} discipline {and} self-control.
8Do not blush {or} be ashamed then, to testify to {and} for our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for His sake, but [with me] take your share of the suffering [to which the preaching] of the Gospel [may expose you, and do it] in the power of God.
9[For it is He] Who delivered {and} saved us and called us with a calling in itself holy {and} leading to holiness [to a life of consecration, a vocation of holiness]; [He did it] not because of anything of merit that we have done, but because of {and} to further His own purpose and grace (unmerited favor) which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began [eternal ages ago].
10[It is that purpose and grace] which He now has made known {and} has fully disclosed {and} made real [to us] through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, Who annulled death {and} made it of no effect and brought life and immortality (immunity from eternal death) to light through the Gospel.
11For [the proclaiming of] this [Gospel] I was appointed a herald (preacher) and an apostle (special messenger) and a teacher {of the Gentiles.}
12And this is why I am suffering as I do. Still I am not ashamed, for I know (perceive, have knowledge of, and am acquainted with) Him Whom I have believed (adhered to and trusted in and relied on), and I am [positively] persuaded that He is able to guard {and} keep that which has been entrusted to me {and} which I have committed [to Him] until that day.
13Hold fast {and} follow the pattern of wholesome {and} sound teaching which you have heard from me, in [all] the faith and love which are [for us] in Christ Jesus.
14Guard {and} keep [with the greatest care] the precious {and} excellently adapted [Truth] which has been entrusted [to you], by the [help of the] Holy Spirit Who makes His home in us.
15You already know that all who are in Asia turned away {and} forsook me, Phygelus and Hermogenes among them.
16May the Lord grant [His] mercy to the family of Onesiphorus, for he often showed me kindness {and} ministered to my needs [comforting and reviving and bracing me like fresh air]! He was not ashamed of my chains {and} imprisonment [for Christ's sake].
17No, rather when he reached Rome, he searched diligently {and} eagerly for me and found me.
18May the Lord grant to him that he may find mercy from the Lord on that [great] day! And you know how many things he did for me {and} what a help he was at Ephesus [you know better than I can tell you].