2 Timothy 2:6

And I will use another picture story, about a gardener. He works hard, and then he is the first person to eat the food he grows in the garden. Well, like that gardener, if you work hard for God, he will quickly pay you.

Plain English Version

In The King James Version

The husbandman that laboureth must be first partaker of the fruits.

In Context

5And you are also like a sportsman. You know that sportsmen have to follow the rules of their game. If they don’t, they can’t win. Well, just like that, you have to follow the rules that God set down, so that in the end God will tell you that you won.

7Now think about those things that I just told you, and Jesus, our leader, will help you to properly understand them all.

Read all of 2 Timothy 2

Cross References

Matthew 20:1Jesus said to his followers, “This picture story is about the people that will be in God’s family. There was a man that owned a garden, and he wanted some work-men to get a job finished in one day. So he went out early in the morning, to the place in the town where men waited around looking for a job.

John 4:35Listen. I will tell you this picture story about food plants. You can plant seeds, but then you have to wait about 4 months for them to grow before you can get the food from them. That’s how it is with food plants. But you will not have to wait for people to be ready. A lot of people are ready right now to hear the good news and join God’s family. So there is already work for you to do. You don’t have to wait, like you wait for food plants to grow.

1 Corinthians 9:7You know, everyone that works gets some sort of pay for their work. You know about soldiers. They don’t have to buy their own food or their gear. And you know about gardeners. They work, and they always eat some of the food they grow. And it is the same for people that look after cows. They work, and they can drink some of the milk they get. You see, it’s right for people to work and then get something for it. So, if my work is to tell you about Jesus, it’s right for you to give me something for my work. But I never ask you to give me anything.

Matthew Henry on 2 Timothy 2:2-8

Ministerial Fortitude. ( a. d. 66.) 1 Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. 2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also. 3 Thou therefore endure hardness, as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. 4 No man that warreth entangleth himself with the affairs of this life; that he may please him who hath chosen him to be a soldier. 5 And if a man also strive for masteries, yet is he not crowned,… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study 2 Timothy 2:6