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PAUL, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God and by the promise of life which is in Jesus Christ,
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To Timotheus, a dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Jesus Christ our Lord.
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I thank God, whom I have served from boyhood with a pure conscience, that I have always remembered you in my prayers night and day.
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I am anxious to see you and I still remember your tears;
I am filled with joy,
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Especially when I am reminded of your true faith, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am sure now in you also.
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¶ For this reason, I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you by the laying on of my hand.
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For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of good discipline.
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Be not, therefore, ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner;
but bear the hardships that go along with the preaching of the gospel through the power of God,
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Who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own will and his grace, which was given us in Jesus Christ before the world began,
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And is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who has abolished death, and has revealed life and immortality through the gospel,
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To which I am appointed a preacher, and an apostle, and a teacher of the Gentiles.
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For this cause I suffer these things;
nevertheless I am not ashamed;
for I know whom I have trusted, and I am sure he will take care of me until that day.
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Let this example of sound words which you have heard from me abide with you in the faith and love which is in Jesus Christ.
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That good thing which was committed to you keep by the help of the Holy Spirit which dwells in us.
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This you know, that all those in Asia Minor have turned away from me, of whom are Phygellus and Hermogenes.
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Let our Lord grant mercy to the house of Onesiphorus;
for he has often refreshed me, and he was not ashamed of the chains of my imprisonment;
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But when he was in Rome, he searched for me diligently and found me.
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Let our Lord grant to him that he may find mercy in heaven, where our Lord is, in that day;
and of how he ministered to me at Ephesus, you know very well.