2 Timothy 3:1

ἐν ἐσχάταις ἡμέραις ἐνστήσονται : Although St. Paul had abandoned his once confident expectation that the Lord would come again during his own lifetime, it is plain that here, as in 1 Timothy 4:1, he regards the time now present as part of the last days. See ἀποτρέπου … εἰσιν οἱ ἐνδύνοντες, 2 Timothy 3:5-6. The prophetical form of the sentence is a rhetorical way of saying that things are going from bad to worse. The same account is to be given of 2 Peter 3:3; Jude 1:18. St. John says plainly, “It is the last hour” (1 John 2:18). See note on 1 Timothy 4:1.

ἐνστήσονται : will be upon us, instabunt (Vulg.).

χαλεποί : grievous (R.V.); but not necessarily perilous (A.V.) to those who feel their grievousness.