2 Timothy 4

KJV · Chapter 4/4

¹I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;

²Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.

³For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;

⁴And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

⁵But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

⁶For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

⁷I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

⁸Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing.

⁹Do thy diligence to come shortly unto me:

¹⁰For Demas hath forsaken me, having loved this present world, and is departed unto Thessalonica; Crescens to Galatia, Titus unto Dalmatia.

¹¹Only Luke is with me. Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

¹²And Tychicus have I sent to Ephesus.

¹³The cloke that I left at Troas with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee, and the books, but especially the parchments.

¹⁴Alexander the coppersmith did me much evil: the Lord reward him according to his works:

¹⁵Of whom be thou ware also; for he hath greatly withstood our words.

¹⁶At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.

¹⁷Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

¹⁸And the Lord shall deliver me from every evil work, and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom: to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

¹⁹Salute Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.

²⁰Erastus abode at Corinth: but Trophimus have I left at Miletum sick.

²¹Do thy diligence to come before winter. Eubulus greeteth thee, and Pudens, and Linus, and Claudia, and all the brethren.

²²The Lord Jesus Christ be with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen. The second epistle unto Timotheus, ordained the first bishop of the church of the Ephesians, was written from Rome, when Paul was brought before Nero the second time.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Paul, sensing that his death is near, declares that he has fought the good fight and kept the faith, awaiting the crown of righteousness. He asks Timothy to come visit him and mentions friends who abandoned him or remained faithful.

Explanation

This is one of the most moving chapters in Paul's letters: written knowing that his execution was near, he sums up his life with serenity, using the image of an athlete who has finished the race and a soldier who fought to the end. The personal mentions — Demas, who deserted him out of love for the world, only Luke remaining with him, the request to bring the cloak and the parchments — give a human and vulnerable portrait of the apostle even in the face of death. Today's application is that it is possible to face the end of life with peace when one has lived with integrity and purpose, even amid the abandonment of others.

Fun facts

Paul's request to bring 'the cloak' and especially 'the parchments' (4:13) shows his interest in study and reading right up to the end of his life — likely copies of Scripture or of his own writings, even while imprisoned and near death.

Verse-by-verse explanation

2 Timothy 4:1Paul opens this final appeal with an extremely solemn tone, invoking God and Christ Jesus, who will one day judge everyone, the living and the dead.
2 Timothy 4:2Paul asks Timothy to preach and correct constantly, even when the moment seems inconvenient or unpopular for it. It is a call to persistence, not to insistence without discernment.
2 Timothy 4:3“Itching ears” is a vivid image describing people who only want to hear what already agrees with their own thinking, collecting teachers who confirm their own desires instead of challenging them. Paul predicts that this kind of search will become common, and so he reinforces to Timothy the importance of preaching the truth anyway.
2 Timothy 4:4Paul predicts that people will prefer fanciful stories to the truth, the same kind of “fables” he had already warned Timothy to avoid since the first letter.
2 Timothy 4:5In the middle of this difficult scenario, Paul asks Timothy to stay alert, endure the hardships, and carry out his work as an evangelist to the end.
2 Timothy 4:6Paul again uses the image of the drink offering — the liquid poured out over a sacrifice — to describe his own approaching death, the same image he had already used in Philippians 2:17, only now writing near the actual end. It is his way of saying that his life is about to be “poured out” as the final part of his offering to God.
2 Timothy 4:7Paul brings together again the images of soldier and athlete he used in chapter 2, now as a final summary of his own life, written near his expected execution. It is a farewell, not a complaint — he describes his life as a task carried out to the end.
2 Timothy 4:8After describing his own life as a finished race (previous verse), Paul speaks of the reward he expects: a crown reserved not only for him, but for all who await Jesus’s return with love.
2 Timothy 4:9Paul, alone and near the end, asks Timothy to come see him as soon as possible, a personal request in the middle of such a solemn letter.
2 Timothy 4:10Demas was one of Paul’s close companions, mentioned in other letters as a trusted coworker, but here he appears as someone who abandoned Paul for reasons Paul attributes to attachment to worldly things. It is a brief detail, but it shows the real isolation Paul felt at this final moment.
2 Timothy 4:11After listing who abandoned him, Paul points out that only Luke stayed with him, and asks that Mark be brought too, calling him useful for the ministry, despite an old disagreement between the two recorded in Acts.
2 Timothy 4:12A quick, practical detail in the middle of the farewell: Paul had already sent another companion, Tychicus, to look after the church in Ephesus.
2 Timothy 4:13This very practical and human request — a cloak to protect him from the cold and his scrolls of parchment, probably copies of the Scriptures — shows Paul as a real prisoner, feeling cold and wanting his own books, not only as an authority figure writing theology. It is one of the most personal details in all of Paul’s correspondence.
2 Timothy 4:14Paul mentions a man who did him harm, leaving the response to God’s judgment instead of seeking personal revenge.
2 Timothy 4:15Paul warns Timothy to also be careful with this same person, who strongly opposed their teaching.
2 Timothy 4:16Paul recounts that, the first time he had to publicly defend himself against the accusation, no one showed up to support him, but he chooses not to hold it against them.
2 Timothy 4:17Despite this human abandonment, Paul says that the Lord himself stood by him, giving him strength so that the message would reach the Gentiles, and uses the image of escaping the lion’s mouth.
2 Timothy 4:18Paul closes this passage with confidence: even near death, he expects to be kept safe by God forever, expressing this in a brief burst of praise.
2 Timothy 4:19Among the final greetings, Paul recalls Prisca and Aquila, a couple who appear in several of his letters as close coworkers, and the household of Onesiphorus, already mentioned in chapter 1.
2 Timothy 4:20Paul gives practical news about other companions: Erastus stayed in Corinth, and Trophimus, sick, had to be left behind in Miletus.
2 Timothy 4:21Paul insists once more that Timothy come before winter, when traveling would become much harder, and passes along greetings from other Christians who are with him.
2 Timothy 4:22Paul closes the letter, and with it all his correspondence that has come down to us, with one final, simple blessing: grace and the Lord’s presence.

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