2 Timothy 4:4 (LSB)

Passage

and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Nearby Context

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.

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "turn", "away", "ears", "truth", "aside", and "myths". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "turn" and "away", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "For the time will come when they..." into verse 5's "But you be sober in all things...", so "turn" and "away" 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 "turn" and "away" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.