Father's Heart Bible™ (FHB)

2 Timothy 3:16–17

¹⁶All Scripture is breathed out by our Father—useful for teaching, exposing wrong, correcting, and training in right living, ¹⁷so that the person of our Father may be complete, equipped for every good work.

2 Timothy 3:16–17 · Father's Heart Bible™

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What 2 Timothy 3:16–17 means

2 Timothy 3:16 says, “All Scripture is breathed out by our Father—useful for teaching, exposing wrong, correcting, and training in right living.” Paul wrote it near the end of his life to Timothy, his younger co-worker, as a charge to stay with what he had been taught. The FHB footnote reads it as Scripture being the breath of our Father himself: the living word of the Father who speaks to his children.

The verses around it show why it matters. Verse 14 tells Timothy to “stay with what you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned it,” and verse 15 reminds him that “from infancy you have known the sacred writings, able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.” Scripture is where Timothy’s faith was formed, and Paul points him back to it.

Verse 16 gives four uses: teaching, exposing wrong, correcting, and training in right living. Verse 17 gives the purpose: “so that the person of our Father may be complete, equipped for every good work.” The point is not only to know more. Scripture is given to make us complete.

Written by Spirit Media Publishing · Edited by Kevin White · Published November 10, 2026

2 Timothy 3:16–17 in context

¹⁴ But you—stay with what you learned and became convinced of, knowing from whom you learned it,

¹⁵ and that from infancy you have known the sacred writings, able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by our Father—useful for teaching, exposing wrong, correcting, and training in right living,

¹⁷ so that the person of our Father may be complete, equipped for every good work.

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Questions about 2 Timothy 3:16–17

What does 2 Timothy 3:16–17 say?

In Father's Heart Bible™, 2 Timothy 3:16–17 reads: “All Scripture is breathed out by our Father—useful for teaching, exposing wrong, correcting, and training in right living, so that the person of our Father may be complete, equipped for every good work.”

What does 2 Timothy 3:16 mean?

2 Timothy 3:16 means that all Scripture is breathed out by our Father and is useful for teaching, exposing wrong, correcting, and training in right living. Verse 17 gives the purpose: so that the person of our Father may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Who wrote 2 Timothy 3:16, and to whom?

Paul wrote it to Timothy, his younger co-worker. In the verses just before it, he tells Timothy to stay with what he learned and reminds him that from infancy he has known the sacred writings, which are able to make him wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.