1:1 Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have
obtained a faith of equal standing with ours in the righteousness of our
God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you
in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has granted
to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge
of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has
granted to us his precious and very great promises, that through these you
may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of passion,
and become partakers of the divine nature. 5 For this very reason make every
effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness,
and steadfastness with godliness, 7 and godliness with brotherly affection,
and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound,
they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our
Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For whoever lacks these things is blind and shortsighted
and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins. 10 Therefore,
brethren, be the more zealous to confirm your call and election, for if
you do this you will never fall; 11 so there will be richly provided for
you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 Therefore I intend always to remind you of these things, though you know
them and are established in the truth that you have. 13 I think it right,
as long as I am in this body, to arouse you by way of reminder, 14 since
I know that the putting off of my body will be soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ
showed me. 15 And I will see to it that after my departure you may be able
at any time to recall these things. 16 For we did not follow cleverly devised
myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ,
but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For when he received honor and
glory from God the Father and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic
Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased,"
18 we heard this voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy
mountain. 19 And we have the prophetic word made more sure. You will do
well to pay attention to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until
the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all
you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one's
own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by the impulse of man,
but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
2:1 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be
false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies,
even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift
destruction. 2 And many will follow their licentiousness, and because of
them the way of truth will be reviled. 3 And in their greed they will exploit
you with false words; from of old their condemnation has not been idle,
and their destruction has not been asleep. 4 For if God did not spare the
angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits
of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the
ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven
other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6
if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them
to extinction and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly;
7 and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the licentiousness
of the wicked 8 (for by what that righteous man saw and heard as he lived
among them, he was vexed in his righteous soul day after day with their
lawless deeds), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial,
and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,
10 and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and
despise authority. Bold and wilful, they are not afraid to revile the glorious
ones, 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce
a reviling judgment upon them before the Lord. 12 But these, like irrational
animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed, reviling in
matters of which they are ignorant, will be destroyed in the same destruction
with them, 13 suffering wrong for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure
to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their
dissipation, carousing with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable
for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed.
Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way they have gone astray; they
have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing,
16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with human
voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 17 These are waterless springs
and mists driven by a storm; for them the nether gloom of darkness has been
reserved. 18 For, uttering loud boasts of folly, they entice with licentious
passions of the flesh men who have barely escaped from those who live in
error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption;
for whatever overcomes a man, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they
have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered,
the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would
have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than
after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog turns
back to his own vomit, and the sow is washed only to wallow in the mire.
3:1 This is now the second letter that I have written to you, beloved, and
in both of them I have aroused your sincere mind by way of reminder; 2 that
you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment
of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 First of all you must understand
this, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following
their own passions 4 and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?
For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they
were from the beginning of creation." 5 They deliberately ignore this
fact, that by the word of God heavens existed long ago, and an earth formed
out of water and by means of water, 6 through which the world that then
existed was deluged with water and perished. 7 But by the same word the
heavens and earth that now exist have been stored up for fire, being kept
until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. 8 But do not ignore
this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years,
and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise
as some count slowness, but is forbearing toward you, not wishing that any
should perish, but that all should reach repentance. 10 But the day of the
Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a
loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fire, and the earth
and the works that are upon it will be burned up. 11 Since all these things
are thus to be dissolved, what sort of persons ought you to be in lives
of holiness and godliness, 12 waiting for and hastening the coming of the
day of God, because of which the heavens will be kindled and dissolved,
and the elements will melt with fire! 13 But according to his promise we
wait for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. 14 Therefore,
beloved, since you wait for these, be zealous to be found by him without
spot or blemish, and at peace. 15 And count the forbearance of our Lord
as salvation. So also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to
the wisdom given him, 16 speaking of this as he does in all his letters.
There are some things in them hard to understand, which the ignorant and
unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, beware lest you be carried
away with the error of lawless men and lose your own stability. 18 But grow
in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be
the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
New International Version
1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who through
the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith
as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the
knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us
everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who
called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us
his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate
in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil
desires. 5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith
goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control;
and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and
to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. 8 For
if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you
from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus
Christ. 9 But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind,
and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. 10 Therefore,
my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election sure.
For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11 and you will receive
a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them
and are firmly established in the truth you now have. 13 I think it is right
to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, 14 because
I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made
clear to me. 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departure
you will always be able to remember these things. 16 We did not follow cleverly
invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17 For he received
honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the
Majestic Glory, saying, "This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am
well pleased." 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven
when we were with him on the sacred mountain. 19 And we have the word of
the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to
it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning
star rises in your hearts. 20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy
of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation. 21 For prophecy
never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they
were carried along by the Holy Spirit.
2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will
be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies,
even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them---bringing swift destruction
on themselves. 2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the
way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed these teachers will exploit
you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging
over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping. 4 For if God did
not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into
gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient
world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah,
a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6 if he condemned the cities
of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example
of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous
man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men 8 (for that righteous
man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul
by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- 9 if this is so, then the Lord
knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for
the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment. 10 This is especially
true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise
authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial
beings; 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful,
do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence
of the Lord. 12 But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand.
They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught
and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish. 13 They will be paid
back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to
carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their
pleasures while they feast with you. 14 With eyes full of adultery, they
never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed---an
accursed brood! 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow
the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But
he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey---a beast without speech---who
spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 17 These
men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness
is reserved for them. 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing
to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are
just escaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom,
while they themselves are slaves of depravity---for a man is a slave to
whatever has mastered him. 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the
world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled
in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the
beginning. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way
of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on
the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are
true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and, "A sow that is washed
goes back to her wallowing in the mud."
3:1 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both
of them as reminders to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. 2 I want you
to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the command
given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. 3 First of all, you
must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following
their own evil desires. 4 They will say, "Where is this `coming' he
promised? Ever since our fathers died, everything goes on as it has since
the beginning of creation." 5 But they deliberately forget that long
ago by God's word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water
and by water. 6 By these waters also the world of that time was deluged
and destroyed. 7 By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved
for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly
men. 8 But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day
is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord
is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient
with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear
with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything
in it will be laid bare. 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way,
what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives
12 as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming. That day
will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements
will melt in the heat. 13 But in keeping with his promise we are looking
forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness. 14 So
then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort
to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15 Bear in mind that
our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also
wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes the same way in
all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain
some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people
distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 Therefore,
dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so that you
may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from your secure
position. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.
