2 Timothy 4:4

Amplified Bible

and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable].

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
They will turn away from hearing the truth and will turn aside to myths.

King James Version (1611)
And they shall turne away their eares from the trueth, and shall be turned vnto fables.

King James Version
And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.

English Standard Version
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

New American Standard Bible
and they will turn their ears away from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

New Century Version
They will stop listening to the truth and will begin to follow false stories.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Legacy Standard Bible
and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.

Berean Standard Bible
So they will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.

Contemporary English Version
They will turn from the truth and eagerly listen to senseless stories.

Complete Jewish Bible
Yes, they will stop listening to the truth, but will turn aside to follow myths.

Darby Translation
and they will turn away their ear from the truth, and will have turned aside to fables.

Easy-to-Read Version
People will stop listening to the truth. They will begin to follow the teaching in false stories.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And shall turne their eares from the trueth, and shalbe giuen vnto fables.

George Lamsa Translation
And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and they will turn to fables.

Good News Translation
They will turn away from listening to the truth and give their attention to legends.

Lexham English Bible
and they will turn away from the hearing of the truth, but will turn to myths.

Literal Translation
and they will turn away the ear from the truth and will be turned aside to myths.

American Standard Version
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.

Bible in Basic English
And shutting their ears to what is true, will be turned away to belief in foolish stories.

Hebrew Names Version
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.

International Standard Version
They will refuse to listen to the truth and will turn to myths.1 Timothy 1:4; 4:7; Titus 1:14;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And from the truth they will turn away their ear, but to fables will decline.

Murdock Translation
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and incline after fables.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And shall turne away their hearyng from the trueth, and shalbe turned vnto fables.

English Revised Version
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside unto fables.

World English Bible
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And they will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.

Weymouth's New Testament
and will turn away from listening to the truth and will turn aside to fables.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And treuli thei schulen turne awei the heryng fro treuthe, but to fablis thei schulen turne.

Update Bible Version
and will turn away their ears from the truth, and turn aside to fables.

Webster's Bible Translation
And they will turn away [their] ears from the truth, and will be turned to fables.

New English Translation
And they will turn away from hearing the truth, but on the other hand they will turn aside to myths.

New King James Version
and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables.

New Living Translation
They will reject the truth and chase after myths.

New Life Bible
They will not listen to the truth. Instead, they will listen to stories made up by men.

New Revised Standard
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander away to myths.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, from the truth, indeed, their ear, will they turn away, while, unto stories, they will turn themselves aside.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And will indeed turn away their hearing from the truth, but will be turned unto fables.

Revised Standard Version
and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander into myths.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
and shall turne their eares from ye trueth and shalbe geven vnto fables.

Young's Literal Translation
and indeed, from the truth the hearing they shall turn away, and to the fables they shall be turned aside.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and shal turne their eares from the trueth, and shalbe geuen vnto fables.

Mace New Testament (1729)
which, while they are deaf to the truth, attentively listen to fables.

Simplified Cowboy Version
They'll trade the truth for lies.

Contextual Overview

¹I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is to judge the living and the dead, and by His appearing and His kingdom: ²preach the word [as an official messenger]; be ready when the time is right and even when it is not [keep your sense of urgency, whether the opportunity seems favorable or unfavorable, whether convenient or inconvenient, whether welcome or unwelcome]; correct [those who err in doctrine or behavior], warn [those who sin], exhort and encourage [those who are growing toward spiritual maturity], with inexhaustible patience and [faithful] teaching. ³For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God's truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold, ⁴and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable].⁵But as for you, be clear-headed in every situation [stay calm and cool and steady], endure every hardship [without flinching], do the work of an evangelist, fulfill [the duties of] your ministry. ⁶For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure [from this world] is at hand and I will soon go free. ⁷I have fought the good and worthy and noble fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith [firmly guarding the gospel against error]. ⁸In the future there is reserved for me the [victor's] crown of righteousness [for being right with God and doing right], which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that [great] day—and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and longed for and welcomed His appearing.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

turn: 2 Timothy 1:15, Proverbs 1:32, Zechariah 7:11, Acts 7:57, Hebrews 13:25

unto: 1 Timothy 1:4, 1 Timothy 4:7, Titus 1:14, 2 Peter 1:16

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 13:5 - turn you Deuteronomy 30:17 - heart 1 Kings 18:22 - Baal's prophets Job 21:14 - for we Psalms 50:17 - hatest Proverbs 17:4 - General Proverbs 28:9 - turneth Ecclesiastes 9:18 - sinner Jeremiah 5:31 - my people Jeremiah 27:15 - that I Matthew 13:15 - ears Matthew 13:47 - and gathered Matthew 18:7 - for Luke 14:18 - I have John 8:45 - General Acts 20:30 - of your 1 Corinthians 14:38 - General 2 Corinthians 2:17 - which 2 Corinthians 11:3 - so 2 Corinthians 11:13 - false Galatians 1:7 - pervert Philippians 3:2 - evil 2 Thessalonians 2:3 - except 1 Timothy 1:19 - concerning 1 Timothy 4:1 - depart 2 Timothy 3:7 - learning Titus 1:10 - there Hebrews 12:25 - turn away 1 John 2:18 - ye have

Cross-References

Genesis 4:16
So Cain went away from the [manifested] presence of the LORD, and lived in the land of Nod [wandering in exile], east of Eden.

Genesis 4:17
Cain knew his wife [one of Adam's descendants] and she conceived and gave birth to Enoch; and Cain built a city and named it Enoch, after the name of his son.

Genesis 4:19
And Lamech took for himself two wives; the name of the one was Adah, and the name of the other, Zillah.

Genesis 4:20
Adah gave birth to Jabal; he became the father of those [nomadic herdsmen] who live in tents and have cattle and raise livestock.

Genesis 15:17
When the sun had gone down and a [deep] darkness had come, there appeared a smoking brazier and a flaming torch which passed between the [divided] pieces [of the animals].

Exodus 13:12
you shall set apart and dedicate to the LORD all that first opens the womb. All the firstborn males of your livestock shall be the LORD'S.

Leviticus 9:24
Then fire came out from before the LORD and consumed the burnt offering and the portions of fat on the altar; and when all the people saw it, they shouted and fell face downward [in awe and worship].

Numbers 16:35
Fire also came forth from the LORD and consumed the two hundred and fifty men who were offering the incense.

Numbers 18:12
"All the best of the fresh [olive] oil, and all the best of the new wine and of the grain, the first fruits of those which they give to the LORD, I give them to you.

Numbers 18:17
"But the firstborn of a cow or of a sheep or of a goat you shall not redeem; they are holy [and belong to the LORD]. You shall sprinkle their blood on the altar and shall offer up their fat in smoke as an offering by fire, for a sweet and soothing aroma to the LORD.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth,.... The solid truths of the Gospel, not being able to bear the hearing of them:

and shall be turned unto fables; things idle, trifling, useless, and, unprofitable; and which are no better than old wives' fables; some respect may be had either to Jewish fables, or to the miraculous mythologies of the Gentiles, or of the Gnostics, and others: but in general, it includes everything that is vain, empty, and senseless; and this is to be considered as a just judgment upon them; that since they like not to retain the knowledge of the truth, but turn away their ears from it, God gives them up to a reprobate mind, a mind void of sense and judgment, to attend to things idle and fabulous.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And they shall turn away their ears from the truth - That is, the people themselves will turn away from the truth. It does not mean that the teachers would turn them away by the influence of their instructions.

And shall be turned unto fables; - See the notes at 1 Timothy 1:4.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 2 Timothy 4:4. And they shall turn away their ears from the truth — The truth strips them of their vices, sacrifices their idols, darts its lightnings against their easily besetting sins, and absolutely requires a conformity to a crucified Christ; therefore they turn their ears away from it.

And shall be turned unto fables. — Believe any kind of stuff and nonsense; for, as one has justly observed, "Those who reject the truth are abandoned by the just judgment of God to credit the most degrading nonsense." This is remarkably the case with most deists; their creed often exhibits what is grossly absurd.