2 Timothy 4:4 (WEB)

Passage

and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables.

Nearby Context

2 Timothy 4:2 preach the word; be urgent in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with all patience and teaching.

2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when they will not listen to the sound doctrine, but, having itching ears, will heap up for themselves teachers after their own lusts;

2 Timothy 4:4 and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn away to fables.

2 Timothy 4:5 But you be sober in all things, suffer hardship, do the work of an evangelist, and fulfill your ministry.

2 Timothy 4:6 For I am already being offered, and the time of my departure has come.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "turn", "away", "ears", "truth", and "fables". 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.