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Endure suffering along with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 2:3 · New Living Translation
Parallel translations
  • WEB You therefore must endure hardship, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
  • KJV Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
  • BSB Join me in suffering, like a good soldier of Christ Jesus.
  • NKJV You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.
  • NASB Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

Timothy must share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. Endurance of hardship is part of faithful Christian service.

Overview

Paul introduces the first of three vivid images, the soldier, to describe gospel ministry. Like a soldier, Timothy must accept hardship as a normal and expected part of his calling. Suffering for Christ is not failure but evidence of genuine service under the Lord.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 14

  • Heb 12:2–3looking to Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising its shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
  • Jas 1:12Blessed is the man who endures temptation, for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord promised to those who love him.
  • 2 Tim 4:5But you be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.
  • Eph 6:11–18Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
  • 2 Tim 1:8Therefore don’t be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner; but endure hardship for the Good News according to the power of God,
  • 2 Cor 10:3–5For though we walk in the flesh, we don’t wage war according to the flesh;
  • Heb 10:32But remember the former days, in which, after you were enlightened, you endured a great struggle with sufferings;
  • 2 Tim 2:10Therefore I endure all things for the chosen ones’ sake, that they also may obtain the salvation which is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
  • 2 Cor 1:6But if we are afflicted, it is for your comfort and salvation. If we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you the patient enduring of the same sufferings which we also suffer.
  • 1 Tim 1:18This instruction I commit to you, my child Timothy, according to the prophecies which led the way to you, that by them you may wage the good warfare;
  • 2 Tim 3:11persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all.
  • Heb 11:27By faith, he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured, as seeing him who is invisible.
  • 1 Cor 13:7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
  • Heb 6:15Thus, having patiently endured, he obtained the promise.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (8)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 2 Timothy videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 2 Timothy 2:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 2 TimothyMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Christ Jesus 'abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel' — the risen Lord whose word and kingdom endure to the end.

How 2 Timothy 2:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.