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But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days.

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People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful,

proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy,

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without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control,

brutal, not lovers of the good,

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treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--

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having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

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They are the kind who worm their way into homes

and gain control over weak-willed women,

who are loaded down with sins and are swayed by all kinds of evil desires,

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always learning but never able to acknowledge the truth.

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Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so also these men oppose the truth--

men of depraved minds, who, as far as the faith is concerned, are rejected.

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But they will not get very far because, as in the case of those men,

their folly will be clear to everyone.

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You, however, know all about my teaching,

my way of life, my purpose, faith, patience, love, endurance,

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persecutions, sufferings--what kinds of things happened to me

in Antioch, Iconium and Lystra, the persecutions I endured.

Yet the Lord rescued me from all of them.

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In fact, everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

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while evil men and impostors will go from bad to worse,

deceiving and being deceived.

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But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of,

because you know those from whom you learned it,

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and how from infancy you have known the holy Scriptures,

which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

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All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for

teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,

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so that the man of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.