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Sunday, July 20th, 2025
the Week of Proper 11 / Ordinary 16
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Read the Bible

The Darby Translation

2 Timothy 4:4

and they will turn away their ear from the truth, and will have turned aside to fables.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Apostasy;   Fable;   Lust;   Minister, Christian;   Truth;   Word of God;   Thompson Chain Reference - Apostasy;   Deafness;   Deafness-Hearing;   Fables;   Faithfulness-Unfaithfulness;   Leaders;   Ministers;   Religious;   Spiritual;   The Topic Concordance - Doctrine;   Fables;   Last Days;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Doctrines, False;   Truth;  

Dictionaries:

- Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Teacher;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Corinthians, First and Second, Theology of;   Endurance;   Hear, Hearing;   Myth;   Truth;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Fable;   Revelation of Christ;   Truth;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Evangelist;   Holman Bible Dictionary - 2 Thessalonians;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Fable;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - John Epistles of;   Myth;   Timothy and Titus Epistles to;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Fable,;   Prophets, the;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Saul of Tarsus;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Apostasy;   Fable;   Peter, Simon;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for December 19;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.
King James Version (1611)
And they shall turne away their eares from the trueth, and shall be turned vnto fables.
King James Version
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
English Standard Version
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
New American Standard Bible
and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
New Century Version
They will stop listening to the truth and will begin to follow false stories.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
Legacy Standard Bible
and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
Berean Standard Bible
So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.
Contemporary English Version
They will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories.
Complete Jewish Bible
Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths.
Easy-to-Read Version
People will stop listening to the truth. They will begin to follow the teaching in false stories.
Geneva Bible (1587)
And shall turne their eares from the trueth, and shalbe giuen vnto fables.
George Lamsa Translation
And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and they will turn to fables.
Good News Translation
They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends.
Lexham English Bible
and they will turn away from the hearing of the truth, but will turn to myths.
Literal Translation
and they will turn away the ear from the truth and will be turned aside to myths.
Amplified Bible
and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable].
American Standard Version
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.
Bible in Basic English
And shutting their ears to what is true, will be turned away to belief in foolish stories.
Hebrew Names Version
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.
International Standard Version
They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths.1 Timothy 1:4; 4:7; Titus 1:14;">[xr]
Etheridge Translation
And from the truth they will turn away their ear, but to fables will decline.
Murdock Translation
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and incline after fables.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
And shall turne away their hearyng from the trueth, and shalbe turned vnto fables.
English Revised Version
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.
World English Bible
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.
Weymouth's New Testament
and will turn away from listening to the truth and will turn aside to fables.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And treuli thei schulen turne awei the heryng fro treuthe, but to fablis thei schulen turne.
Update Bible Version
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.
Webster's Bible Translation
And they will turn away [their] ears from the truth, and will be turned to fables.
New English Translation
And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths.
New King James Version
and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.
New Living Translation
They will reject the truth and chase after myths.
New Life Bible
They will not listen to the truth. Instead, they will listen to stories made up by men.
New Revised Standard
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, from the truth, indeed, their ear, will they turn away, while, unto stories, they will turn themselves aside.
Douay-Rheims Bible
And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables.
Revised Standard Version
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
and shall turne their eares from ye trueth and shalbe geven vnto fables.
Young's Literal Translation
and indeed, from the truth the hearing they shall turn away, and to the fables they shall be turned aside.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and shal turne their eares from the trueth, and shalbe geuen vnto fables.
Mace New Testament (1729)
which, while they are deaf to the truth, attentively listen to fables.
Simplified Cowboy Version
They'll trade the truth for lies.

Contextual Overview

1 I testify before God and Christ Jesus, who is about to judge living and dead, and by his appearing and his kingdom, 2 proclaim the word; be urgent in season [and] out of season, convict, rebuke, encourage, with all longsuffering and doctrine. 3 For the time shall be when they will not bear sound teaching; but according to their own lusts will heap up to themselves teachers, having an itching ear; 4 and they will turn away their ear from the truth, and will have turned aside to fables. 5 But *thou*, be sober in all things, bear evils, do [the] work of an evangelist, fill up the full measure of thy ministry. 6 For *I* am already being poured out, and the time of my release is come. 7 I have combated the good combat, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Henceforth the crown of righteousness is laid up for me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will render to me in that day; but not only to me, but also to all who love his appearing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

turn: 2 Timothy 1:15, Proverbs 1:32, Zechariah 7:11, Acts 7:57, Hebrews 13:25

unto: 1 Timothy 1:4, 1 Timothy 4:7, Titus 1:14, 2 Peter 1:16

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 13:5 - turn you Deuteronomy 30:17 - heart 1 Kings 18:22 - Baal's prophets Job 21:14 - for we Psalms 50:17 - hatest Proverbs 17:4 - General Proverbs 28:9 - turneth Ecclesiastes 9:18 - sinner Jeremiah 5:31 - my people Jeremiah 27:15 - that I Matthew 13:15 - ears Matthew 13:47 - and gathered Matthew 18:7 - for Luke 14:18 - I have John 8:45 - General Acts 20:30 - of your 1 Corinthians 14:38 - General 2 Corinthians 2:17 - which 2 Corinthians 11:3 - so 2 Corinthians 11:13 - false Galatians 1:7 - pervert Philippians 3:2 - evil 2 Thessalonians 2:3 - except 1 Timothy 1:19 - concerning 1 Timothy 4:1 - depart 2 Timothy 3:7 - learning Titus 1:10 - there Hebrews 12:25 - turn away 1 John 2:18 - ye have

Cross-References

Genesis 4:16
And Cain went out from the presence of Jehovah, and dwelt in the land of Nod, toward the east of Eden.
Genesis 4:17
And Cain knew his wife, and she conceived and bore Enoch. And he built a city; and he called the name of the city after the name of his son Enoch.
Genesis 4:19
And Lemech took two wives: the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the second, Zillah.
Genesis 4:20
And Adah bore Jabal: he was the father of those who dwell in tents, and [breed] cattle.
Genesis 15:17
And it came to pass when the sun had gone down, and it was dark, that behold, there was a smoking furnace, and a flame of fire which passed between those pieces.
Exodus 13:12
that thou shalt offer unto Jehovah all that breaketh open the womb, and every firstling that cometh of cattle which is thine: the males [shall be] Jehovah's.
Leviticus 9:24
And there went out fire from before Jehovah, and consumed on the altar the burnt-offering, and the pieces of fat; and all the people saw it, and they shouted, and fell on their face.
Numbers 16:35
And there came out a fire from Jehovah, and consumed the two hundred and fifty men that had presented incense.
Numbers 18:12
All the best of the oil, and all the best of the new wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they give to Jehovah, have I given thee.
Numbers 18:17
But the firstborn of a cow, or the firstborn of a sheep, or the firstborn of a goat, thou shalt not ransom: they are holy. Thou shalt sprinkle their blood on the altar, and their fat shalt thou burn as an offering by fire for a sweet odour to Jehovah.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth,.... The solid truths of the Gospel, not being able to bear the hearing of them:

and shall be turned unto fables; things idle, trifling, useless, and, unprofitable; and which are no better than old wives' fables; some respect may be had either to Jewish fables, or to the miraculous mythologies of the Gentiles, or of the Gnostics, and others: but in general, it includes everything that is vain, empty, and senseless; and this is to be considered as a just judgment upon them; that since they like not to retain the knowledge of the truth, but turn away their ears from it, God gives them up to a reprobate mind, a mind void of sense and judgment, to attend to things idle and fabulous.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth - That is, the people themselves will turn away from the truth. It does not mean that the teachers would turn them away by the influence of their instructions.

And shall be turned unto fables; - See the notes at 1 Timothy 1:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Timothy 4:4. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth — The truth strips them of their vices, sacrifices their idols, darts its lightnings against their easily besetting sins, and absolutely requires a conformity to a crucified Christ; therefore they turn their ears away from it.

And shall be turned unto fables. — Believe any kind of stuff and nonsense; for, as one has justly observed, "Those who reject the truth are abandoned by the just judgment of God to credit the most degrading nonsense." This is remarkably the case with most deists; their creed often exhibits what is grossly absurd.


 
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