But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.
Parallel translations
- WEB But know this, that in the last days, grievous times will come.
- KJV This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
- NKJV But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
- NASB But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
- NLT You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times.
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
Paul warns that in the last days difficult and dangerous times will come. The church should expect moral and spiritual hardship throughout this present age.
Overview
The 'last days' refers to the whole period from Christ's first coming to his return, in which the church now lives. Paul prepares Timothy for seasons of grievous opposition and decline rather than uninterrupted ease. This sober realism shapes how believers approach the challenges of every era.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 21
- 2 Pet 3:3Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
- 2 Tim 4:3For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.
- 1 Tim 4:1–3Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,
- 1 Jn 2:18Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.
- 2 Th 2:3–12Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.
- Jude 1:17But you, beloved, remember what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ
- Mic 4:1In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and the peoples will stream to it.
- Isa 2:2In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it.
- Dan 12:11And from the time the daily sacrifice is abolished and the abomination of desolation set up, there will be 1,290 days.
- Jer 49:39“Yet in the last days, I will restore Elam from captivity,” declares the LORD.
- Dan 12:7And the man dressed in linen, who was above the waters of the river, raised his right hand and his left hand toward heaven, and I heard him swear by Him who lives forever, saying, “It will be for a time, and times, and half a time. When the power of the holy people has finally been shattered, all these things will be completed.”
- Rev 8:1–13When the Lamb opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.
- Ezek 38:16You will advance against My people Israel like a cloud covering the land. It will happen in the latter days, O Gog, that I will bring you against My land, so that the nations may know Me when I show Myself holy in you before their eyes.
- Dan 10:14Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision concerns those days.”
- Dan 11:36Then the king will do as he pleases and will exalt and magnify himself above every god, and he will speak monstrous things against the God of gods. He will be successful until the time of wrath is completed, for what has been decreed must be accomplished.
- Dan 8:8–14Thus the goat became very great, but at the height of his power, his large horn was broken off, and four prominent horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven.
- Hos 3:5Afterward, the people of Israel will return and seek the LORD their God and David their king. They will come trembling to the LORD and to His goodness in the last days.
- Dan 7:8While I was contemplating the horns, suddenly another horn, a little one, came up among them, and three of the first horns were uprooted before it. This horn had eyes like those of a man and a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
- Gen 49:1Then Jacob called for his sons and said, “Gather around so that I can tell you what will happen to you in the days to come:
- Dan 7:20–25I also wanted to know about the ten horns on its head and the other horn that came up, before which three of them fell—the horn whose appearance was more imposing than the others, with eyes and with a mouth that spoke words of arrogance.
- Jer 48:47Yet in the latter days I will restore Moab from captivity,” declares the LORD. Here ends the judgment on Moab.
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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 3:1 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
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