Thou therefore, my child, be strengthened in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
And the things which thou hast heard from me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.
{Or, Take thy part in suffering hardship, as &c.}Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
No soldier on service entangleth himself in the affairs of this life; that he may please him who enrolled him as a soldier.
And if also a man contend in the games, he is not crowned, except he have contended lawfully.
The husbandman that laboreth must be the first to partake of the fruits.
Consider what I say; for the Lord shall give thee understanding in all things.
Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, of the seed of David, according to my {See marginal note on chapter 1:8.}gospel:
wherein I suffer hardship unto bonds, as a malefactor; but the word of God is not bound.
Therefore I endure all things for the elect's sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
Faithful is the {Or, saying: for if &c.}saying: For if we died with him, we shall also live with him:
if we endure, we shall also reign with him: if we shall deny him, he also will deny us:
if we are faithless, he abideth faithful; for he cannot deny himself.
Of these things put them in remembrance, charging them in the sight of {Many ancient authorities read God.}the Lord, that they strive not about words, to no profit, to the subverting of them that hear.
Give diligence to present thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, {Or, holding a straight course in the word of truth Or, rightly dividing the word of truth}handling aright the word of truth.
But shun profane babblings: for they will proceed further in ungodliness,
and their word will {Or, spread}eat as doth a gangrene: of whom is Hymenæus and Philetus;
men who concerning the truth have {Greek: missed the mark. 1 Timothy 1:6.}erred, saying that {Some ancient authorities read a resurrection.}the resurrection is past already, and overthrow the faith of some.
Howbeit the firm foundation of God standeth, having this seal, {Numbers 16:5?}The Lord knoweth them that are his: and, {Isaiah 26:13?}Let every one that nameth the name of the Lord depart from unrighteousness.
Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and of silver, but also of wood and of earth; and some unto honor, and some unto dishonor.
If a man therefore purge himself from these, he shall be a vessel unto honor, sanctified, meet for the master's use, prepared unto every good work.
But flee youthful lusts, and follow after righteousness, faith, love, peace, with them that call on the Lord out of a pure heart.
But foolish and ignorant questionings refuse, knowing that they gender strifes.
And the Lord's {Greek: bondservant.}servant must not strive, but be gentle towards all, apt to teach, forbearing,
in meekness {Or, instructing}correcting them that oppose themselves; if peradventure God may give them repentance unto the knowledge of the truth,
and they may {Greek: return to soberness}recover themselves out of the snare of the devil, having been {Greek: taken alive.}taken captive {Or, by him, unto the will of God. Compare 2 Corinthians 10:5 Greek: by him, unto the will of him. In the Greek the two pronouns are different.}by him unto his will.
Querverweise zu 2. Timotheus 2,6 2Tim 2,6
Doth he that ploweth to sow plow continually? doth he continually open and harrow his ground?
When he hath levelled the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the {Or, black cumin (Nigella sativa)}fitches, and scatter the cummin, and put in the wheat in rows, and the barley in the appointed place, and the spelt in the border thereof?
{Or, And the traineth each of them aright; his God doth teach him}For his God doth instruct him aright, and doth teach him.
And I do all things for the {See marginal note on chapter 4:15.}gospel's sake, that I may be a joint partaker thereof.
Then saith he unto his disciples, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few.
For ye have need of {Or, stedfastness}patience, that, having done the will of God, ye may receive the promise.
Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest.
For the kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that was a householder, who went out early in the morning to hire laborers into his vineyard.
Hear another parable: There was a man that was a householder, who planted a vineyard, and set a hedge about it, and digged a winepress in it, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into another country.
And when the season of the fruits drew near, he sent his {Greek: bondservants.}servants to the husbandmen, to receive {Or, the fruits of it}his fruits.
And the husbandmen took his {Greek: bondservants.}servants, and beat one, and killed another, and stoned another.
Again, he sent other {Greek: bondservants.}servants more than the first: and they did unto them in like manner.
But afterward he sent unto them his son, saying, They will reverence my son.
But the husbandmen, when they saw the son, said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and take his inheritance.
And they took him, and cast him forth out of the vineyard, and killed him.
When therefore the lord of the vineyard shall come, what will he do unto those husbandmen?
They say unto him, He will miserably destroy those miserable men, and will let out the vineyard unto other husbandmen, who shall render him the fruits in their seasons.
And he said unto them, The harvest indeed is plenteous, but the laborers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he send forth laborers into his harvest.
Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh the harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields, that they are {Or, white unto harvest. Already he that reapeth &c.}white already unto harvest.
He that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal; that he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.
For herein is the saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.
I sent you to reap that whereon ye have not labored: others have labored, and ye are entered into their labor.
I planted, Apollos watered; but God gave the increase.
So then neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.
Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: but each shall receive his own reward according to his own labor.
For we are God's fellow-workers: ye are God's {Greek: tilled land.}husbandry, God's building.
What soldier ever serveth at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock?
Do I speak these things after the manner of men? or saith not the law also the same?
For it is written in the law of Moses, {Deuteronomy 25:4.}Thou shalt not muzzle the ox when he treadeth out the corn. Is it for the oxen that God careth,
or saith he it {Or, altogether}assuredly for our sake? Yea, for our sake it was written: because he that ploweth ought to plow in hope, and he that thresheth, to thresh in hope of partaking.
If we sowed unto you spiritual things, is it a great matter if we shall reap your carnal things?