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Atomic Bible
2 Timothy 3:1-9·~1 min

Evil in the Last Days

Paul says Timothy must understand that terrible times will come in the last days, marked by people who are ruled by self-love, greed, pride, disobedience, cruelty, and pleasure rather than by love of God. Even with a form of godliness, they deny its power, and Timothy is told to turn away from such people.

B1ut understand this: In the last days terrible times will come. 2For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, 3unloving, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, without love of good, 4traitorous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, 5having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

Paul says these people worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women burdened by sins and desires, always learning but never arriving at the truth. Like Jannes and Jambres opposing Moses, they resist the truth with corrupt minds, yet they will not advance much farther because their folly will become plain to all.

6They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, 7who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth. 8Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth. They are depraved in mind and disqualified from the faith. 9But they will not advance much further. For just like Jannes and Jambres, their folly will be plain to everyone.

Section summaryPaul tells Timothy to understand that in the last days severe times will come, marked by a long catalogue of self-love, pride, brutality, and hollow religion that denies the very power it displays. These deceivers infiltrate homes, capture vulnerable people, oppose the truth like Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, and yet Paul says their advance will not be endless, because their folly will finally be exposed.
Role in the chapterThis opening section gives Timothy a sober map of the age he serves in. It names evil not only as public wickedness but as counterfeit godliness, intellectual resistance, and predatory deception.