2 Peter 1-3 (New American Standard Bible)

2 Peter 1

Growth in Christian Virtue

 ¹Simon Peter, a ^(A)bond-servant and ^(B)apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received ^(C)a faith of the same kind as ours, by ^(D)the righteousness of ^(E)our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

 ^2(F)Grace and peace be multiplied to you in ^(G)the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

 ³seeing that His ^(H)divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true ^(I)knowledge of Him who ^(J)called us by His own glory and excellence.

 ⁴For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent ^(K)promises, so that by them you may become ^(L)partakers of the divine nature, having ^(M)escaped the ^(N)corruption that is in ^(O)the world by lust.

 ⁵Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith ^(P)supply ^(Q)moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, ^(R)knowledge,

 ⁶and in your knowledge, ^(S)self-control, and in your self-control, ^(T)perseverance, and in your perseverance, ^(U)godliness,

 ⁷and in your godliness, ^(V)brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

 ⁸For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor ^(W)unfruitful in the true ^(X)knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 ⁹For he who lacks these qualities is ^(Y)blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his ^(Z)purification from his former sins.

 ¹⁰Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His ^(AA)calling and ^(AB)choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never ^(AC)stumble;

 ¹¹for in this way the entrance into ^(AD)the eternal kingdom of our ^(AE)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be ^(AF)abundantly ^(AG)supplied to you.

 ¹²Therefore, ^(AH)I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in ^(AI)the truth which is present with you.

 ¹³I consider it ^(AJ)right, as long as I am in ^(AK)this earthly dwelling, to ^(AL)stir you up by way of reminder,

 ¹⁴knowing that ^(AM)the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, ^(AN)as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

 ¹⁵And I will also be diligent that at any time after my ^(AO)departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

Eyewitnesses

 ¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly devised ^(AP)tales when we made known to you the ^(AQ)power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were ^(AR)eyewitnesses of His majesty.

 ¹⁷For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an ^(AS)utterance as this was made to Him by the ^(AT)Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased"--

 ¹⁸and we ourselves heard this utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the ^(AU)holy mountain.

 ¹⁹So we have ^(AV)the prophetic word made more ^(AW)sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to ^(AX)a lamp shining in a dark place, until the ^(AY)day dawns and the ^(AZ)morning star arises ^(BA)in your hearts.

 ²⁰But ^(BB)know this first of all, that ^(BC)no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,

 ²¹for ^(BD)no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men ^(BE)moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

2 Peter 2

The Rise of False Prophets

 ¹But ^(BF)false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be ^(BG)false teachers ^(BH)among you, who will ^(BI)secretly introduce ^(BJ)destructive heresies, even ^(BK)denying the ^(BL)Master who ^(BM)bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

 ²Many will follow their ^(BN)sensuality, and because of them ^(BO)the way of the truth will be ^(BP)maligned;

 ³and in their ^(BQ)greed they will ^(BR)exploit you with ^(BS)false words; ^(BT)their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

 ⁴For ^(BU)if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and ^(BV)committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;

 ⁵and did not spare ^(BW)the ancient world, but preserved ^(BX)Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a ^(BY)flood upon the world of the ungodly;

 ⁶and if He ^(BZ)condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an ^(CA)example to those who would ^(CB)live ungodly lives thereafter;

 ⁷and if He ^(CC)rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the ^(CD)sensual conduct of ^(CE)unprincipled men

 ⁸(for by what he saw and heard that ^(CF)righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),

 ^9(CG)then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the ^(CH)day of judgment,

 ¹⁰and especially those who ^(CI)indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and ^(CJ)despise authority Daring, ^(CK)self-willed, they do not tremble when they ^(CL)revile angelic majesties,

 ^11(CM)whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.

 ¹²But ^(CN)these, like unreasoning animals, ^(CO)born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,

 ¹³suffering wrong as ^(CP)the wages of doing wrong They count it a pleasure to ^(CQ)revel in the ^(CR)daytime They are stains and blemishes, ^(CS)reveling in their ^[a]deceptions, as they ^(CT)carouse with you,

 ¹⁴having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, ^(CU)enticing ^(CV)unstable souls, having a heart trained in ^(CW)greed, ^(CX)accursed children;

 ¹⁵forsaking ^(CY)the right way, they have gone astray, having followed ^(CZ)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(DA)the wages of unrighteousness;

 ¹⁶but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, ^(DB)for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

 ¹⁷These are ^(DC)springs without water and mists driven by a storm, ^(DD)for whom the black darkness has been reserved.

 ¹⁸For speaking out ^(DE)arrogant words of ^(DF)vanity they ^(DG)entice by fleshly desires, by ^(DH)sensuality, those who barely ^(DI)escape from the ones who live in error,

 ¹⁹promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for ^(DJ)by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

 ²⁰For if, after they have ^(DK)escaped the defilements of the world by ^(DL)the knowledge of the ^(DM)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again ^(DN)entangled in them and are overcome, ^(DO)the last state has become worse for them than the first.

 ^21(DP)For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from ^(DQ)the holy commandment ^(DR)handed on to them.

 ²²It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "^(DS)A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."

2 Peter 3

Purpose of This Letter

 ¹This is now, ^(DT)beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am ^(DU)stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

 ²that you should ^(DV)remember the words spoken beforehand by ^(DW)the holy prophets and ^(DX)the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

The Coming Day of the Lord

 ^3(DY)Know this first of all, that ^(DZ)in the last days ^(EA)mockers will come with their mocking, ^(EB)following after their own lusts,

 ⁴and saying, "^(EC)Where is the promise of His ^(ED)coming? For ever since the fathers ^(EE)fell asleep, all continues just as it was ^(EF)from the beginning of creation."

 ⁵For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that ^(EG)by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was ^(EH)formed out of water and by water,

 ⁶through which ^(EI)the world at that time was ^(EJ)destroyed, being flooded with water.

 ⁷But by His word ^(EK)the present heavens and earth are being reserved for ^(EL)fire, kept for ^(EM)the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

 ⁸But do not let this one fact escape your notice, ^(EN)beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and ^(EO)a thousand years like one day.

 ^9(EP)The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but ^(EQ)is patient toward you, ^(ER)not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

A New Heaven and Earth

 ¹⁰But ^(ES)the day of the Lord ^(ET)will come like a thief, in which ^(EU)the heavens ^(EV)will pass away with a roar and the ^(EW)elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and ^(EX)the earth and its works will be ^[b]burned up.

 ¹¹Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

 ^12(EY)looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which ^(EZ)the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the ^(FA)elements will melt with intense heat!

 ¹³But according to His ^(FB)promise we are looking for ^(FC)new heavens and a new earth, ^(FD)in which righteousness dwells.

 ^14(FE)Therefore, ^(FF)beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be ^(FG)found by Him in peace, ^(FH)spotless and blameless,

 ¹⁵and regard the ^(FI)patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also ^(FJ)our beloved brother Paul, ^(FK)according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,

 ¹⁶as also in all his letters, speaking in them of ^(FL)these things, ^(FM)in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and ^(FN)unstable distort, as they do also ^(FO)the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

 ¹⁷You therefore, ^(FP)beloved, knowing this beforehand, ^(FQ)be on your guard so that you are not carried away by ^(FR)the error of ^(FS)unprincipled men and ^(FT)fall from your own steadfastness,

 ¹⁸but grow in the grace and ^(FU)knowledge of our ^(FV)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ^(FW)To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.