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Monday, July 21st, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

Contemporary English Version

2 Timothy 4:6

Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Death;   Minister, Christian;   Resignation;   Righteousness;   Thompson Chain Reference - Leaders;   Ministers;   Religious;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Sacrifices;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Ethics;   Martyr;   Paul;   Peter, letters of;   Rome;   Timothy;   Timothy, letters to;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Church, the;   Endurance;   Persecution;   Rome;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Revelation of Christ;   Timothy, Second Epistle to;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Sacrifice;   Timothy, the First Epistle to;   Timothy, the Second Epistle to;   Holman Bible Dictionary - 2 Timothy;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Altar;   Brotherly Love;   Confession;   Martyr;   New Testament;   Paul;   Persecution;   Tent, Tent-Making;   Timothy and Titus Epistles to;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Timothy;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Rome,;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Libation;   Offerings;   Timotheus;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Hand;   Linus;   Pastoral Epistles, the;   Paul, the Apostle;   Persecution;  

Devotionals:

- Chip Shots from the Ruff of Life - Devotion for June 12;   Daily Light on the Daily Path - Devotion for January 4;   Every Day Light - Devotion for December 19;   My Utmost for His Highest - Devotion for February 6;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time for my departure is close.
King James Version (1611)
For I am now readie to bee offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
King James Version
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
English Standard Version
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
New American Standard Bible
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
New Century Version
My life is being given as an offering to God, and the time has come for me to leave this life.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
Legacy Standard Bible
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
Berean Standard Bible
For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
Complete Jewish Bible
For as for me, I am already being poured out on the altar; yes, the time for my departure has arrived.
Darby Translation
For *I* am already being poured out, and the time of my release is come.
Easy-to-Read Version
My life is being given as an offering for God. The time has come for me to leave this life here.
Geneva Bible (1587)
For I am nowe readie to be offered, and the time of my departing is at hand.
George Lamsa Translation
From henceforth I am ready to die, and the time of my departure is at hand.
Good News Translation
As for me, the hour has come for me to be sacrificed; the time is here for me to leave this life.
Lexham English Bible
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is imminent.
Literal Translation
For I am already being poured out, and the time of my release is here.
Amplified Bible
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure [from this world] is at hand and I will soon go free.
American Standard Version
For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is come.
Bible in Basic English
For I am even now being offered, and my end is near.
Hebrew Names Version
For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come.
International Standard Version
For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for my departure has come.Philippians 1:23; 2:17; 2 Peter 1:14;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
But I am sacrificed, and the time when I shall be dissolved cometh.
Murdock Translation
But I am soon to be immolated; and the time of my dissolution hath come.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
For I am nowe redie to be offered, & the tyme of my dissolution is at hande.
English Revised Version
For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure is come.
World English Bible
For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
For I am now ready to be offered up, and the time of my departure is at hand.
Weymouth's New Testament
I for my part am like a drink-offering which is already being poured out; and the time for my departure is now close at hand.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
For Y am sacrifisid now, and the tyme of my departyng is nyy.
Update Bible Version
For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come.
Webster's Bible Translation
For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.
New English Translation
For I am already being poured out as an offering, and the time for me to depart is at hand.
New King James Version
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure is at hand.
New Living Translation
As for me, my life has already been poured out as an offering to God. The time of my death is near.
New Life Bible
It will soon be time for me to leave this life.
New Revised Standard
As for me, I am already being poured out as a libation, and the time of my departure has come.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
For, I, already, am being poured out as a drink-offering, and, the season of my release, is at hand, -
Douay-Rheims Bible
For I am even now ready to be sacrificed: and the time of my dissolution is at hand.
Revised Standard Version
For I am already on the point of being sacrificed; the time of my departure has come.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
For I am now redy to be offered and the tyme of my departynge is at honde.
Young's Literal Translation
for I am already being poured out, and the time of my release hath arrived;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
For I am now ready to be offered, and the tyme of my departinge is at honde.
Mace New Testament (1729)
as for me, my blood will soon be pour'd out, and the time of my departure draws nigh:
THE MESSAGE
You take over. I'm about to die, my life an offering on God's altar. This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way. All that's left now is the shouting—God's applause! Depend on it, he's an honest judge. He'll do right not only by me, but by everyone eager for his coming.
Simplified Cowboy Version
My life is slipping away faster and faster. The time is near and my sacrifice is nearly complete.

Contextual Overview

1 When Christ Jesus comes as king, he will be the judge of everyone, whether they are living or dead. So with God and Christ as witnesses, I command you 2 to preach God's message. Do it willingly, even if it isn't the popular thing to do. You must correct people and point out their sins. But also cheer them up, and when you instruct them, always be patient. 3 The time is coming when people won't listen to good teaching. Instead, they will look for teachers who will please them by telling them only what they are itching to hear. 4 They will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories. 5 But you must stay calm and be willing to suffer. You must work hard to tell the good news and to do your job well. 6 Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar. 7 I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. 8 So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

I am: Philippians 2:17

and: Genesis 48:21, Genesis 50:24, Numbers 27:12-17, Deuteronomy 31:14, Joshua 23:14, Philippians 1:23, 2 Peter 1:14, 2 Peter 1:15

Reciprocal: Numbers 15:5 - General Numbers 23:10 - the death 1 Samuel 12:2 - I am old 2 Samuel 19:37 - I may die 1 Kings 2:1 - the days Psalms 31:15 - My times Psalms 37:37 - General Psalms 73:26 - flesh Daniel 11:33 - yet Malachi 3:3 - an Matthew 10:28 - And Matthew 10:39 - General Matthew 24:46 - General Mark 8:35 - will save Acts 20:24 - I might Acts 21:13 - for Philippians 1:17 - that Philippians 1:20 - whether Philippians 3:8 - for whom Colossians 1:23 - whereof Hebrews 12:4 - General Revelation 6:9 - I saw

Cross-References

Genesis 4:1
Adam and Eve had a son. Then Eve said, "I'll name him Cain because I got him with the help of the Lord ."
Genesis 4:3
One day, Cain gave part of his harvest to the Lord ,
Genesis 4:4
and Abel also gave an offering to the Lord . He killed the first-born lamb from one of his sheep and gave the Lord the best parts of it. The Lord was pleased with Abel and his offering,
Genesis 4:5
but not with Cain and his offering. This made Cain so angry that he could not hide his feelings.
Genesis 4:8
Cain said to his brother Abel, "Let's go for a walk." And when they were out in a field, Cain killed him.
Genesis 4:11
And so, I'll put you under a curse. Because you killed Abel and made his blood run out on the ground, you will never be able to farm the land again.
Genesis 4:13
"This punishment is too hard!" Cain said.
Job 5:2
Envy and jealousy will kill a stupid fool.
Isaiah 1:18
I, the Lord , invite you to come and talk it over. Your sins are scarlet red, but they will be whiter than snow or wool.
Jeremiah 2:5
and I, the Lord , will speak. I was never unfair to your ancestors, but they left me and became worthless by following worthless idols.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

For I am now ready to be offered,.... Or poured out, as a libation, or a drink offering; or as the blood was poured out at the bottom of the altar; which is expressive of martyrdom, and shows that the apostle knew what death he should die; for which he was habitually ready; and this sacrifice of himself was not to atone for sin, his own, or others; Christ's death was the only sacrifice for sin, and that is a complete one, and needs no other to be added to it; but this was in the cause of Christ, and for the confirmation of the Gospel, and the faith of the saints in it: so covenants have been confirmed by libations or drink offerings of wine; and this was an offering acceptable unto God, in whose sight the death of his saints is precious; as the wine in the drink offering is said to cheer God, that is, to be acceptable to him:

and the time of my departure is at hand; death is not an annihilation of man, neither of his body, nor of his soul; the one at death returns to dust, and the other to God that gave it; death is a dissolution of soul and body, or a dissolving of the union that is between them, and a resolution of the body into its first principles; hence the Syriac version renders it, "the time in which I shall be dissolved"; and the Vulgate Latin version, "the time of my resolution". Death analyzes men, and reduces them to their first original earth; it is a removing of persons from one place and state to another; from an house of clay, from this earthly house of our tabernacle, to an house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens, to everlasting habitations, and mansions in Christ's Father's house. This phrase, "a departure", is an easy representation of death, and supposes an existence after it; :-. Now there is a "time" for this; saints are not to continue here always; this is a state of pilgrimage, and a time of sojourning, and which is fixed and settled; the time for going out of this world, as well as for coming into it, is determined by God, beyond which there is no passing; the number of men's days, months, and years, is with him; and the apostle knew partly from his age, and partly from his situation, being in bonds at Rome, and it may be by divine revelation, that his time of removing out of this world was very near; and which he mentions, to stir up Timothy to diligence, since he would not have him long with him, to give him counsel and advice, to admonish him, or set him an example.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

For I am now ready to be offered - This conviction of the apostle that he was about to die, is urged as a reason why Timothy should be laborious and faithful in the performance of the duties of his office. His own work was nearly done. He was soon to be withdrawn from the earth, and whatever benefit the world might have derived from his experience or active exertions, it was now to be deprived of it. He was about to leave a work which he much loved, and to which he had devoted the vigor of his life, and he was anxious that they who were to succeed him should carry on the work with all the energy and zeal in their power. This expresses the common feeling of aged ministers as death draws near. The word “ready” in the phrase “ready to be offered,” conveys an idea which is not in the original. It implies a willingness to depart, which, whether true or not, is not the idea conveyed by the apostle.

His statement is merely of “the fact” that he was “about” to die, or that his work “was” drawing to a close. No doubt he was ready, in the sense of being willing and prepared, but this is not the idea in the Greek. The single Greek word rendered “I am ready to be offered” - σπένδομαι spendomai - occurs nowhere else in the New Testament, except in Philippians 2:17, where it is translated “if I be offered;” see it explained in the notes on that place. The allusion here, says Burder (in Rosenmuller’s A. u. n. Morgenland), is to the custom which prevailed among the pagan generally, of pouring wine and oil on the head of a victim when it was about to be offered in sacrifice. The idea of the apostle then is, that he was in the condition of the victim on whose head the wine and oil had been already poured, and which was just about to be put to death; that is, he was about to die. Every preparation had been made, and he only awaited the blow which was to strike him down.

The meaning is not that he was to be a sacrifice; it is that his death was about to occur. Nothing more remained to be done but to die. The victim was all ready, and he was sure that the blow would soon fall. What was the ground of his expectation, he has not told us. Probably there were events occurring in Rome which made it morally certain that though he had once been acquitted, he could not now escape. At all events, it is interesting to contemplate an aged and experienced Christian on the borders of the grave, and to learn what were his feelings in the prospect of his departure to the eternal world. Happily, Paul has in more places than one (compare Philippians 1:23), stated his views in such circumstances, and we know that his religion then did not fail him. He found it to be in the prospect of death what he had found it to be through all his life - the source of unspeakable consolation - and he was enabled to look calmly onward to the hour which should summon him into the presence of his Judge.

And the time of my departure is at hand - Greek: “dissolving, or dissolution.” So we speak of the “dissolution” of the soul and body. The verb from which the noun (ἀνάλυσις analusis), is derived (ἀναλύω analuō), means to loosen again; to undo. It is applied to the act of unloosing or casting off the fastenings of a ship, preparatory to a departure. The proper idea in the use of the word would be, that he had been bound to the present world, like a ship to its moorings, and that death would be a release. He would now spread his sails on the broad ocean of eternity. The true idea of death is that of loosening the bands that confine us to the present world; of setting us free, and permitting the soul to go forth, as with expanded sails, on its eternal voyage. With such a view of death, why should a Christian fear to die?

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. For I am now ready to be offered — ηοηαπενδομαι. I am already poured out as a libation. Philippians 2:17; Philippians 2:17. He considers himself as on the eve of being sacrificed, and looks upon his blood as the libation which was poured on the sacrificial offering. He could not have spoken thus positively had not the sentence of death been already passed upon him.


 
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