2 Timothy 3:13 (WEB)

Passage

But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

Nearby Context

2 Timothy 3:11 persecutions, and sufferings: those things that happened to me at Antioch, Iconium, and Lystra. I endured those persecutions. The Lord delivered me out of them all.

2 Timothy 3:12 Yes, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.

2 Timothy 3:13 But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.

2 Timothy 3:14 But you remain in the things which you have learned and have been assured of, knowing from whom you have learned them.

2 Timothy 3:15 From infancy, you have known the holy Scriptures which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith, which is in Christ Jesus.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "evil", "impostors", "grow", "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 "Yes and all who desire to live..." into verse 14's "But you remain in the things which...", 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.