athlete

⁵Then, too, whoever strives in a competition is not crowned, unless he has competed lawfully.

⁷I have fought the good fight. I have completed the course. I have preserved the faith.

²⁹It is he who gives strength to the weary, and it is he who increases fortitude and strength in those who are failing. ³⁰Servants will struggle and fail, and young men will fall into infirmity. ³¹But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will take up wings like eagles. They will run and not struggle. They will walk and not tire.

⁷But avoid the silly fables of old women. And exercise yourself so as to advance in piety.

¹⁷Iron sharpens iron, and a man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

³Yes, he himself is my God and my salvation. He is my supporter; I will be moved no more.

²⁴Do you not know that, of those who run in a race, all of them, certainly, are runners, but only one achieves the prize. Similarly, you must run, so that you may achieve.

¹⁴In God, we will act virtuously. And those who trouble us, he will lead to nothing.

¹And know this: that in the last days perilous times will press near. ²Men will be lovers of themselves, greedy, self-exalting, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, ³without affection, without peace, false accusers, unchaste, cruel, without kindness, ⁴traitorous, reckless, self-important, loving pleasure more than God, ⁵even having the appearance of piety while rejecting its virtue. And so, avoid them. ⁶For among these are ones who penetrate houses and lead away, like captives, foolish women burdened with sins, who are led away by means of various desires,

¹⁷Let everything whatsoever that you do, whether in word or in deed, be done all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

¹²Fight the good fight of faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you have been called, and make a good profession of faith in the sight of many witnesses.