2 Timothy 1:8

Plain English Version

You have to tell people about our leader Jesus. Don’t feel shame about that. And don’t feel shame about me because I’m in jail. I’m here because I told people about Jesus. But don’t worry. Just go ahead anyway and tell people about our leader Jesus. And then maybe some people might make trouble for you, just like they made trouble for me. But God will make you strong, and you will not worry about that trouble.

Cross References

Mark 8:38

You know that some people are really bad, and they don’t take any notice of God. If you are frightened of them, so that you don’t tell them about me, and you don’t say that you belong to me, then later, I will not say that you belong to me. I’m God’s special man from heaven, and one day my father, God, will make me really great, and I will come back here to the earth, with all God’s angel messengers. But if you don’t tell people now that you belong to me, then when I come back here, I will not say that you belong to me.”

John 15:27

And you mob will talk about me too. You were with me from the time I started teaching, so you have to tell everyone about me.”

John 19:35

There was a man there that saw all this happen, and he told everyone about it. He knows what really happened, and what he says is true. He tells everyone about it so that you can believe in Jesus too.

Acts 5:41

So Jesus’s special workers left that meeting, and they were very happy. They knew that God reckoned they were good enough to feel pain for Jesus, and to be shamed for following him, so they were happy, even though the soldiers hit them.

Romans 1:16

I don’t feel any shame about God’s good news. It is a really good story because it has God’s power in it. Whenever people believe this good news, God saves them. It is the same for everybody, for Jewish people and for people that are not Jews.

Romans 16:25

God is really great and powerful, so everybody has to tell him that he is good. He can make you strong. This is his message. It is the good news about Jesus Christ. A long time ago, God planned to get both the Jewish people, and the people that are not Jews, to believe in him. But at first he kept it a secret, and he just got the Jewish people to follow him. After that, he got his men to write about it ahead of time, and their words are in his book. Now his message about Jesus is for every nation. It is not just for the Jewish people, but everybody everywhere can trust him, and they can listen to him and do what he wants. God is the only one that can think good enough to make it all work out like that. So everybody has to tell God and Jesus Christ, “You are great.” They have always got to do that for ever. From Paul

Romans 8:36

It is like God says in his book, “Some people find out that we belong to God, and they kill us. They reckon we are weak like sheep and they can kill us whenever they want to.”

1 Corinthians 1:6

That shows that the message we told you about Jesus Christ is true.

Ephesians 3:1

You mob know about me, Paul, that I am in jail now. You see, I told you mob the message about Jesus. But the bosses didn’t like me talking about Jesus to people that are not Jews. So they put me in jail.

Ephesians 3:13

So when some people make trouble for me, don’t let that worry you. I tell you God’s word, and they don’t like it, so they make trouble for me. But don’t worry. I want you to be strong. You can always feel happy whenever they make trouble for me.

Ephesians 4:1

So now, even though I’m in jail because I follow Jesus, I’m asking you strongly to live the right way. You see, God picked you to be his own people, so you have to live his way.

Ephesians 4:17

I’m telling you this message that our leader, Jesus, wants me to tell you, so you have to take notice of it. Don’t live any more like the people that don’t know God. They can’t think straight.

Philippians 1:7

You see, I love you mob very much, so it is all right for me to think about you like that. You are my friends and God is good to you, just like he is good to me. So you help me every time God lets me tell people the good news about Jesus. Right now I’m tied up in jail, and sometimes they take me to court, and I tell them the message about Jesus, and I show them that it is true. And you help me do that.

Philippians 3:10

And I really want to know Jesus Christ properly. And I want God’s power to be in my life, the same power he used to make Jesus alive again. And I even want to share the pain that Jesus got. I will even let his enemies kill me, like they killed him.

Philippians 4:13

You see, Jesus Christ makes me strong, so I can do all these things.

Colossians 1:11

And we ask God to use his great power to make you strong, so that you will stay strong for him and you will not give up. And if people give you trouble, we pray that you will not worry or get upset. And we ask him to make you happy all the time.

Colossians 1:24

Yes, I tell people the message about Jesus. Some people don’t like it, and they give me trouble. But that doesn’t matter, that message helps people that believe it. You believe it, so it helps you. So I am happy, and I keep on telling it. You know that Jesus Christ got a lot of trouble. In the same way, I get a lot of trouble. But I want to keep on helping his people. They are the church. They are like the body of Jesus Christ.

1 Thessalonians 3:4

This is what we told you when we were still with you, we said, “Some people will give you trouble.” And soon that happened, just like we said.

1 Timothy 2:6

He let people kill him. When he died, he took the payback for everybody, so that now God can save anybody. He died like that at just the right time to show everybody that God really wants to save them.

2 Timothy 1:10

and now he makes it clear for us all to see. Jesus came to save people, so that if they believe the good news about him, they will not stay dead after they die, but they will live for ever.

2 Timothy 1:12

So I tell everyone about him. Those people that don’t like Jesus, they make trouble for me. But I know God, and I believe in him, so I don’t feel shame when I get that trouble. I know that he will look after me right up until the day when Jesus will come back.

2 Timothy 1:16

But Onesiforus wasn’t like that. He came here to Rome and looked everywhere for me. And when he found me here in jail, he didn’t feel shame. He often came and cheered me up. So I pray that Jesus, our leader, will be really good to his family. And you already know about that time that he was over there in Ephesus with me, and he helped me in lots of ways. One day our leader will judge everyone, and I pray that he will be good to Onesiforus and his family on that day.

2 Timothy 2:3

Remember that you belong to Jesus Christ. You are like his soldier. If soldiers get hurt, they don’t stop fighting. They just forget their pain and keep going. Well, you have to be like that now. If people see that you belong to Jesus, and then they hurt you, you just have to forget it and keep going, just like a good soldier, and like other good Christians.

2 Timothy 2:8

So if people make trouble for you, just remember that they made trouble for Jesus Christ. He was born into the family of David, the man that was the big boss a long time ago. But people gave Jesus a lot of trouble, and they killed him. But then God made him alive again. That is the good news that I always tell people about Jesus.

2 Timothy 2:9

But some of them don’t like me telling everybody that message, so they make trouble for me. They even treat me like a criminal. They tied me up and put me here in this jail. But nobody can tie up God’s word or keep it in jail. Anyone out there now can still go around and tell people God’s message.

2 Timothy 4:17

But God stood there beside me, and he made me strong, so that I could tell his message properly to everybody in that court. Those people there were not Jews, so maybe that was the first time they heard about God. In the end the judge didn’t sentence me to death, so they didn’t give me to the lions to eat.

2 Timothy 4:5

Don’t be like those people. You have to control yourself all the time, no matter what happens to you. If they get tough on you, don’t get upset, just keep going. You have to keep on telling people the good news about Jesus, and you have to finish all the work that he gave you to do.

1 Peter 1:5

God has a lot of power, and he looks after us, all of us that trust him. He will look after us until the last day. Then he will show everyone that he saved us.

Jude 1:24

All right, I’ll finish my letter now. God can keep you safe so that you don’t go the wrong way. He can make you good and clean inside yourself, so that there aren’t any bad parts in you. Yes, one day, he will make you properly good, so that he can bring you close to himself. You will come near to the beautiful light that shines from him. He is very great and good, and you will stand with him. And you will be very, very happy.