2 Peter 1
Amplified Bible, Classic Edition
1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle (special messenger) of Jesus Christ, to those who have received (obtained an equal privilege of) like precious faith with ourselves in and through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 May grace (God’s favor) and peace (which is [a]perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual prosperity, and [b]freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, [c]precise, and correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 For His divine power has bestowed upon us all things that [are requisite and suited] to life and godliness, through the [[d]full, personal] knowledge of Him Who called us by and to His own glory and excellence (virtue).
4 By means of these He has bestowed on us His precious and exceedingly great promises, so that through them you may escape [by flight] from the moral decay (rottenness and corruption) that is in the world because of covetousness (lust and greed), and become sharers (partakers) of the divine nature.
5 For this very reason, [e]adding your diligence [to the divine promises], employ every effort in [f]exercising your faith to develop virtue (excellence, resolution, Christian energy), and in [exercising] virtue [develop] knowledge (intelligence),
6 And in [exercising] knowledge [develop] self-control, and in [exercising] self-control [develop] steadfastness (patience, endurance), and in [exercising] steadfastness [develop] godliness (piety),
7 And in [exercising] godliness [develop] brotherly affection, and in [exercising] brotherly affection [develop] Christian love.
8 For as these qualities are yours and increasingly abound in you, they will keep [you] from being idle or unfruitful unto the [[g]full personal] knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One).
9 For whoever lacks these qualities is blind, [[h]spiritually] shortsighted, [i]seeing only what is near to him, and has become oblivious [to the fact] that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Because of this, brethren, be all the more solicitous and eager to make sure (to ratify, to strengthen, to make steadfast) your calling and election; for if you do this, you will never stumble or fall.
11 Thus there will be richly and abundantly provided for you entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 So I intend always to remind you about these things, although indeed you know them and are firm in the truth that [you] now [hold].
13 I think it right, as long as I am in this tabernacle (tent, body), to stir you up by way of remembrance,
14 Since I know that the laying aside of this body of mine will come speedily, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
15 Moreover, I will diligently endeavor [to see to it] that [even] after my departure (decease) you may be able at all times to call these things to mind.
16 For we were not following cleverly devised stories when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah), but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty (grandeur, authority of sovereign power).
17 For when He was invested with honor and glory from God the Father and a voice was borne to Him by the [splendid] Majestic Glory [in the bright cloud that overshadowed Him, saying], This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased and delight,
18 We [actually] heard this voice borne out of heaven, for we were together with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And we have the prophetic word [made] firmer still. You will do well to pay close attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dismal (squalid and dark) place, until the day breaks through [the gloom] and the Morning Star rises ([j]comes into being) in your hearts.
20 [Yet] first [you must] understand this, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of any personal or private or special interpretation (loosening, solving).
21 For no prophecy ever originated because some man willed it [to do so—it never came by human impulse], but men spoke from God who were borne along (moved and impelled) by the Holy Spirit.
Footnotes
- 2 Peter 1:2 Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Holy Bible.
- 2 Peter 1:2 Webster’s New International Dictionary offers this as a definition of “peace.”
- 2 Peter 1:2 Joseph Thayer, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament.
- 2 Peter 1:3 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
- 2 Peter 1:5 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
- 2 Peter 1:5 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- 2 Peter 1:8 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies.
- 2 Peter 1:9 Marvin Vincent, Word Studies in the New Testament.
- 2 Peter 1:9 Joseph P. Rotherham, The Emphasized Bible.
- 2 Peter 1:19 G. Abbott-Smith, Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament.
2 Peter 1
Complete Jewish Bible
1 From: Shim‘on Kefa, a slave and emissary of Yeshua the Messiah
To: Those who, through the righteousness of our God and of our Deliverer Yeshua the Messiah, have been given the same kind of trust as ours:
2 May grace and shalom be yours in full measure, as you come to a full knowledge of God and Yeshua our Lord.
3 God’s power has given us everything we need for life and godliness, through our knowing the One who called us to his own glory and goodness. 4 By these he has given us valuable and superlatively great promises, so that through them you might come to share in God’s nature and escape the corruption which evil desires have brought into the world.
5 For this very reason, try your hardest to furnish your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, 6 knowledge with self-control, self-control with perseverance, perseverance with godliness, 7 godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 8 For if you have these qualities in abundance, they keep you from being barren and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 9 Indeed, whoever lacks them is blind, so shortsighted that he forgets that his past sins have been washed away. 10 Therefore, brothers, try even harder to make your being called and chosen a certainty. For if you keep doing this, you will never stumble. 11 Thus you will be generously supplied with everything you need to enter the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah.
12 For this reason, I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you already have. 13 And I consider it right to keep stirring you up with reminders, as long as I am in the tent of this body. 14 I know that I will soon lay aside this tent of mine, as our Lord Yeshua the Messiah has made clear to me. 15 And I will do my best to see that after my exodus, you will be able to remember these things at all times.
16 For when we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah, we did not rely on cunningly contrived myths. On the contrary, we saw his majesty with our own eyes. 17 For we were there when he received honor and glory from God the Father; and the voice came to him from the grandeur of the Sh’khinah, saying, “This is my son, whom I love; I am well pleased with him!” 18 We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 Yes, we have the prophetic Word made very certain. You will do well to pay attention to it as to a light shining in a dark, murky place, until the Day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts. 20 First of all, understand this: no prophecy of Scripture is to be interpreted by an individual on his own; 21 for never has a prophecy come as a result of human willing — on the contrary, people moved by the Ruach HaKodesh spoke a message from God.
2 Peter 1
New King James Version
Greeting the Faithful
1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and (A)apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have [a]obtained (B)like[b] precious faith with us by the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 (C)Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, 3 as His (D)divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him (E)who called us by glory and virtue, 4 (F)by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these you may be (G)partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the [c]corruption that is in the world through lust.
Fruitful Growth in the Faith
5 But also for this very reason, (H)giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue (I)knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to self-control [d]perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness brotherly kindness, and (J)to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither [e]barren (K)nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these things is (L)shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent (M)to make your call and election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11 for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Peter’s Approaching Death
12 For this reason (N)I will not be negligent to remind you always of these things, (O)though you know and are established in the present truth. 13 Yes, I think it is right, (P)as long as I am in this [f]tent, (Q)to stir you up by reminding you, 14 (R)knowing that shortly I must [g]put off my tent, just as (S)our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my [h]decease.
The Trustworthy Prophetic Word(T)
16 For we did not follow (U)cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the (V)power and (W)coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were (X)eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: (Y)“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on (Z)the holy mountain.
19 [i]And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a (AA)light that shines in a dark place, (AB)until (AC)the day dawns and the morning star rises in your (AD)hearts; 20 knowing this first, that (AE)no prophecy of Scripture is of any private [j]interpretation, 21 for (AF)prophecy never came by the will of man, (AG)but [k]holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
Footnotes
- 2 Peter 1:1 received
- 2 Peter 1:1 faith of the same value
- 2 Peter 1:4 depravity
- 2 Peter 1:6 patience
- 2 Peter 1:8 useless
- 2 Peter 1:13 Body
- 2 Peter 1:14 Die and leave this body
- 2 Peter 1:15 Lit. exodus, departure
- 2 Peter 1:19 Or We also have the more sure prophetic word
- 2 Peter 1:20 Or origin
- 2 Peter 1:21 NU men spoke from God
Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

