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From infancy you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:15 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.
  • KJV And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
  • NKJV and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
  • NASB and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to give you the wisdom that leads to salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
  • NLT You have been taught the holy Scriptures from childhood, and they have given you the wisdom to receive the salvation that comes by trusting in 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

From childhood Timothy has known the holy Scriptures, which are able to make him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. Scripture leads to salvation as it points to Christ.

Overview

Timothy was raised on the Old Testament Scriptures, which Paul says can make one 'wise for salvation.' Crucially, this saving wisdom comes 'through faith which is in Christ Jesus,' for the Scriptures find their fulfillment and goal in him. The verse affirms both the saving purpose of Scripture and its Christ-centered focus.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 29

  • Ps 119:98–99Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.
  • Luke 24:45Then He opened their minds to understand the Scriptures.
  • Prov 22:6Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
  • 2 Pet 1:20–21Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.
  • Matt 22:29Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.
  • 1 Cor 15:3–4For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures,
  • Luke 24:27And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.
  • 2 Tim 1:5I am reminded of your sincere faith, which first dwelt in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am convinced is in you as well.
  • John 5:39–40You pore over the Scriptures because you presume that by them you possess eternal life. These are the very words that testify about Me,
  • Luke 2:40And the Child grew and became strong. He was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was upon Him.
  • Ps 19:7The Law of the LORD is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the LORD is trustworthy, making wise the simple.
  • Acts 10:43All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”
  • Luke 24:32They asked each other, “Were not our hearts burning within us as He spoke with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
  • Rom 16:26but now revealed and made known through the writings of the prophets by the command of the eternal God, in order to lead all nations to the obedience that comes from faith—
  • Rom 1:2the gospel He promised beforehand through His prophets in the Holy Scriptures,
  • Ps 71:17O God, You have taught me from my youth, and to this day I proclaim Your marvelous deeds.
  • Prov 8:17I love those who love me, and those who seek me early shall find me.
  • Acts 17:2As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbaths he reasoned with them from the Scriptures,
  • 1 Sam 2:18Now Samuel was ministering before the LORD—a boy wearing a linen ephod.
  • Dan 10:21But first I will tell you what is inscribed in the Book of Truth. Yet no one has the courage to support me against these, except Michael your prince.
  • Rev 19:10So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
  • 2 Chr 34:3In the eighth year of his reign, while he was still young, Josiah began to seek the God of his father David, and in the twelfth year he began to cleanse Judah and Jerusalem of the high places, the Asherah poles, the carved idols, and the cast images.
  • Acts 13:29When they had carried out all that was written about Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
  • 2 Pet 3:16He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
  • Acts 13:38–39Therefore let it be known to you, brothers, that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.
  • 1 Jn 5:11–12And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
  • 1 Pet 1:10–12Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,
  • Eccl 12:1Remember your Creator in the days of your youth, before the days of adversity come and the years approach of which you will say, “I find no pleasure in them,”
  • Luke 1:15for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He shall never take wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother’s womb.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (3)

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 3:15YouTube · 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 3:15 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.