2 Timothy 3:13 (LSB)

Passage

But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Nearby Context

2 Timothy 3:11 persecutions, and sufferings, such as happened to me at Antioch, at Iconium, and at Lystra. What persecutions I endured, and out of them all the Lord rescued me!

2 Timothy 3:12 Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.

2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.

2 Timothy 3:14 But you, continue in the things you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned them,

2 Timothy 3:15 and that from childhood you have known the sacred writings which are able to make you wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "evil", "impostors", "proceed", "worse", "deceiving", and "deceived". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "evil" and "impostors", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 12's "Indeed all who desire to live godly..." into verse 14's "But you continue in the things you...", so "evil" and "impostors" 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 "evil" and "impostors" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.