¹⁶ Stay away from ·foolish, useless talk [godless/irreverent chatter; 1 Tim. 1:3–4; 4:7; 6:20], because that will lead people ·further away from God [into even more ungodliness]. ¹⁷ Their evil teaching will spread like ·a sickness inside the body [^Lgangrene]. Hymenaeus [1 Tim. 1:20] and Philetus are like that [^Cprobably false teachers and opponents of Paul from Ephesus]. ¹⁸ They have ·left [strayed away from] the ·true teaching [truth], saying that the ·rising from the dead [resurrection] has already taken place, and so they are ·destroying [undermining; overturning] the faith of some people.