2 Timothy 3 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

But understand this: the last days will bring brutal times.

People will be obsessed with themselves, obsessed with money, arrogant, full of themselves, verbally abusive, dismissive of their parents, ungrateful, and completely without reverence for anything.

They'll be devoid of real affection, unwilling to reconcile, slanderous, out of control, savage, and hostile to anything good.

They'll be the kind who betray others, reckless, swollen with arrogance — people who are devoted to pleasure rather than devoted to God.

They'll keep up an outward appearance of devotion to God but reject the power that actually makes it real. Stay away from people like that.

These are the kind of people who worm their way into households and manipulate vulnerable women weighed down by their failures, driven by one craving after another,

always trying to learn but never able to arrive at a real understanding of the truth.

Just like Jannes and Jambres stood against Moses, these people stand against the truth. Their minds are corrupted and their so-called faith is counterfeit.

But they won't get very far. Their foolishness will become obvious to everyone, just like it did with those two.

But you, Timothy — you've closely followed my teaching, my way of life, my purpose, my trust in God, my patience, my love, my endurance,

and the persecutions and suffering I went through — what happened to me in Antioch, in Iconium, in Lystra. I endured terrible persecutions, and the Lord rescued me from every one of them.

In fact, everyone who is determined to live devoted to God through the One, Jesus, will be persecuted.

But corrupt people and con artists will go from bad to worse — deceiving others and being deceived themselves.

But you — keep going in what you've learned and become convinced of. You know who you learned it from,

and that from infancy you've known the sacred writings, which have the power to make you wise for rescue through trust in the One, Jesus.

Every part of Scripture is breathed out by God and is useful for teaching, for exposing what's wrong, for correcting course, and for training in living right,

so that the person devoted to God is fully capable, thoroughly equipped for every good thing they need to do.