2 Timothy 1:8

So do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, or of me, His prisoner. Instead, join me in suffering for the gospel by the power of God.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Paul, writing from a Roman prison to his young companion Timothy, who is showing signs of fear or withdrawal. The exhortation comes sandwiched between a reminder of God's gift of power (v. 7) and a reminder of God's sovereign purpose in salvation (v. 9).

The words — μαρτύριον (marturion, "testimony") is the same root as "martyr"; the noun carries the weight of witness that can cost a life. The prohibition ἐπαισχυνθῆς (epaischunthēas, aorist subjunctive of "be ashamed") is a direct command, not a suggestion.

The thread — Mark 8:38 reverses the shame: whoever is ashamed of Christ, Christ will be ashamed of. Romans 1:16 states Paul's own posture ("I am not ashamed of the gospel"), and 2 Timothy 4:5 restates the endurance demand in imperative form.

Why it lands — It tells the reader that suffering for the gospel is not a failure of faith but its expected cost, and that the capacity to endure comes from God's power, not personal grit.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;

Cross-references

Romans 1:16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, first to the Jew, then to the Greek.
Mark 8:38 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, the Son of Man will also be ashamed of him when He comes in His Father’s glory with the holy angels.”
2 Timothy 4:5 But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
1 Peter 4:13 But rejoice that you share in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed at the revelation of His glory.
2 Timothy 1:12 For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.
Revelation 12:11 They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
2 Timothy 2:9 for which I suffer to the extent of being chained like a criminal. But the word of God cannot be chained!
Ephesians 3:1 For this reason I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus for the sake of you Gentiles...
Luke 9:26 If anyone is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
Philippians 3:10 I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to Him in His death,