Joshua 21

¹ From Paul, apostle of Christ Jesus through the wil of God in accordance with his promise of life in ChristJesus,

² to Timothy, dear son of mine. Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Christ Jesus ourLord.

³ Night and day I thank God whom I serve with a pure conscience as my ancestors did. I remember you inmy prayers constantly night and day;

⁴ I remember your tears and long to see you again to complete my joy.

⁵ I also remember your sincere faith, a faith which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois, and your motherEunice, and I am sure dwel s also in you.

⁶ That is why I am reminding you now to fan into a flame the gift of God that you possess through thelaying on of my hands.

⁷ God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but the Spirit of power and love and self-control.

⁸ So you are never to be ashamed of witnessing to our Lord, or ashamed of me for being his prisoner; butshare in my hardships for the sake of the gospel, relying on the power of God

⁹ who has saved us and called us to be holy -- not because of anything we ourselves had done but for hisown purpose and by his own grace. This grace had already been granted to us, in Christ Jesus, before thebeginning of time,

¹⁰ but it has been revealed only by the appearing of our Saviour Christ Jesus. He has abolished death,and he has brought to light immortality and life through the gospel,

¹¹ in whose service I have been made herald, apostle and teacher.

¹² That is why I am experiencing my present sufferings; but I am not ashamed, because I know in whom Ihave put my trust, and I have no doubt at all that he is able to safeguard until that Day what I have entrusted tohim.

¹³ Keep as your pattern the sound teaching you have heard from me, in the faith and love that are inChrist Jesus.

¹⁴ With the help of the Holy Spirit who dwel s in us, look after that precious thing given in trust.

¹⁵ As you know, Phygelus and Hermogenes and al the others in Asia have deserted me.

¹⁶ I hope the Lord wil be kind to al the family of Onesiphorus, because he has often been a comfort tome and has never been ashamed of my chains.

¹⁷ On the contrary, as soon as he reached Rome, he searched hard for me and found me.

¹⁸ May the Lord grant him to find the Lord's mercy on that Day. You know better than anyone else howmuch he helped me at Ephesus.