Passage
For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
2 Timothy 4:3 (LSB)
Nearby Context
2 Timothy 4:1 I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom:
2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort, with great patience and teaching.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires,
2 Timothy 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.
2 Timothy 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
Study Lenses
The verse centers on "time", "come", "endure", "sound", "doctrine", "wanting", "ears", and "tickled". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "time" and "come", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.
The nearby context moves from verse 2's "preach the word be ready in season..." into verse 4's "and will turn away their ears from...", so "time" and "come" 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 "time" and "come" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.