5. An athlete is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.
6. It is the hard-working farmer who ought to have the first share of the crops.
7. Think over what I say, for the Lord will give you understanding in everything.
8. Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel,
9. for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound!
10. Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.
11. The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him;
12. if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us;
13. if we are faithless, he remains faithful—for he cannot deny himself.
14. Remind them of these things, and charge them before God not to quarrel about words, which does no good, but only ruins the hearers.
15. Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.
16. But avoid irreverent babble, for it will lead people into more and more ungodliness,
17. and their talk will spread like gangrene. Among them are Hymenaeus and Philetus,