2 Peter 1

Salutation

1 From Simeons Peter,t a slavets and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our Gods and Savior,t Jesus Christ, have been grantedt a faith just as preciousts as ours.

2 May grace and peace be lavished on yout as you growt in the rich knowledget of God and of Jesus our Lord!t

Believers’ Salvation and the Work of God

3 I can pray this because his divine powert has bestowed on us everything necessaryt for life and godliness through the rich knowledget of the one who calleds us byt his own glory and excellence.4 Through these thingsts he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promisedt you may become partakers of the divine nature,s after escapingt the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.t5 For this very reason,ts make every effortt to add to your faith excellence,t to excellence, knowledge;6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance;t to perseverance, godliness;7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfishs love.ts8 For ift these things are really yourst and are continually increasing,s they will keep you from becomingt ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit oft knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.t9 Butt concerning the one who lacks such thingst – he is blind. That is to say, he ist nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins.10 Therefore, brothers and sisters,t make every effort to be sure of your calling and election.ts For by doing thist you will nevert stumble into sin.t

11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.

Salvation Based on the Word of God

12 Therefore, I intend to remind you constantlyt of these things even though you know them and are well established in the truth that you now have.13 Indeed, as long as I am in this tabernacle,ts I consider it right to stir you up by way of a reminder,14 since I know that my tabernacle will soon be removed,t becauset our Lord Jesus Christ revealed this to me.s

15 Indeed, I will also make every effort that, after my departure, you have a testimony of these things.s
16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and returnt of our Lord Jesus Christ;t no,t we weret eyewitnesses of hist grandeur.s17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when thatt voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.”ts18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselvest heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain.t19 Moreover,t wes possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing.t You do well if you pay attentiont to thist as you wouldt to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning stars rises in your hearts.s20 Above all, you do well if you recognizet this:t No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination,ts

21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, ment carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

2 Peter 2

The False Teachers’ Ungodly Lifestyle

1 But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.s These false teacherst wills infiltrate your midstt with destructive heresies,t even to the point oft denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bringt swift destruction on themselves.2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles.t Because of these false teachers,t the way of truth will be slandered.t

3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Theirt condemnation pronounced long agot is not sitting idly by;t theirt destruction is not asleep.
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned,t but threw them into hellt and locked them upt in chainss in utter darkness,t to be kept until the judgment,5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others,t when Godt brought a flood on an ungodly world,t6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction,sts having appointedt them to serve as an examplet to future generations of the ungodly,t7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawlesst men,t8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soult by the lawless deeds he saw and heardt)9 – if so,t then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials,t and to reserve the unrighteous for punishmentt at the day of judgment,

10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desirest and who despise authority.
Brazen and insolent,t they are not afraid to insultt the glorious ones,t11 yet event angels, who are much more powerful,t do not bring a slanderoust judgment against them before the Lord.s12 Butt these men,t like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyedt – do not understand whomt they are insulting, and consequentlyt in their destruction they will be destroyed,t13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways.t By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight,t they are stains and blemishes, indulgingt in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you.14 Their eyes,t full of adultery,t never stop sinning;t they enticet unstable people.t They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children!t15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor,t who loved the wages of unrighteousness,t

16 yet was rebukedt for his own transgression (a dumb donkey,t speaking with a human voice,t restrained the prophet’s madness).s
17 These ment are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darknesst have been reserved.18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty wordst they are able to entice,t with fleshly desires and with debauchery,t peoplet who have just escapedt from those who reside in error.t19 Although these false teachers promiset such peoplet freedom, they themselves are enslaved tot immorality.t For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.t20 For if after they have escaped the filthy thingst of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,s theyt again get entangled in them and succumb to them,t their last state has become worse for them than their first.21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them.

22 They are illustrations of this true proverb:t “A dog returns to its own vomit,”t and “A sow, after washing herself,t wallows in the mire.”t

2 Peter 3

The False Teachers’ Denial of the Lord’s Return

1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have writtent you, in whicht I am trying to stir upt your pure mind by way of reminder:2 I want you to recallt botht the predictionst foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.s3 Above all, understand this:t In the last days blatant scofferst will come, being propelled by their own evil urgest4 and saying,t “Where is his promised return?t For ever sincet our ancestorst died,t all things have continued as they weret from the beginning of creation.”5 For they deliberately suppress this fact,t that by the word of Godt heavens existed long ago and an eartht was formed out of water and by means of water.6 Through these thingst the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water.

7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.t
8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice,t that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise,t as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wisht for anys to perish but for all to come to repentance.t10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes,t the heavens will disappeart with a horrific noise,t and the celestial bodiest will melt awayt in a blaze,t and the earth and every deed done on itt will be laid bare.s11 Since all these things are to melt awayt in this manner,t what sort of people must west be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness,t12 while waiting for and hasteningt the coming of the day of God?s Because of this day,t the heavens will be burned up andt dissolve, and the celestial bodiest will melt away in a blaze!t

13 But, according to his promise, we are waiting fort new heavens and a new earth, in whicht righteousness truly resides.t

Exhortation to the Faithful

14 Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting fort these things, strive to be founds at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into his presence.t15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation,t just as also our dear brother Pauls wrote to you,s according to the wisdom given to him,16 speaking of these things in all his letters.t Some things in these letterst are hard to understand, thingst the ignorant and unstable twistt to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures.s17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned,t be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled ments and fall from your firm grasp on the truth.t

18 But grow in the grace and knowledget of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and ont that eternal day.st