2 Timothy 4:11 (DRB)

Passage

Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

Nearby Context

2 Timothy 4:9 For Demas hath left me, loving this world, and is gone to Thessalonica:

2 Timothy 4:10 Crescens into Galatia, Titus into Dalmatia.

2 Timothy 4:11 Only Luke is with me. Take Mark and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.

2 Timothy 4:12 But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus.

2 Timothy 4:13 The cloak that I left at Troas, with Carpus, when thou comest, bring with thee: and the books, especially the parchments.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "only", "luke", "take", "mark", "bring", "thee", "profitable", and "ministry". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "only" and "luke", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "Crescens into Galatia Titus into Dalmatia..." into verse 12's "But Tychicus I have sent to Ephesus...", so "only" and "luke" belong inside that flow. In 2 Timothy context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "only" and "luke" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.