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1 Peter 5 - 2 Peter 2
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

Tending the Flock of God

5 Now as an elder myself and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I exhort the elders among you(A) 2 to tend the flock of God that is in your charge, exercising the oversight,[a] not under compulsion but willingly, as God would have you do it,[b] not for sordid gain but eagerly.(B) 3 Do not lord it over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock.(C) 4 And when the chief shepherd appears, you will win the crown of glory that never fades away.(D) 5 In the same way, you who are younger must be subject to the elders.[c] And all of you must clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for

“God opposes the proud
    but gives grace to the humble.”(E)

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time. 7 Cast all your anxiety on him, because he cares for you.(F) 8 Discipline yourselves; keep alert. Like a roaring lion your adversary the devil prowls around, looking for someone to devour.(G) 9 Resist him, steadfast in your faith, for you know that your brothers and sisters in all the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.(H) 10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ,[d] will himself restore, support, strengthen, and establish you.(I) 11 To him be the power[e] forever and ever. Amen.

Final Greetings and Benediction

12 Through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.(J) 13 Your sister church[f] in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark. 14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace to all of you who are in Christ.[g](K)

Salutation

1 Simeon[h] Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who have received a faith as equally honorable as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:

2 May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

The Christian’s Call and Election

3 His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by[i] his own glory and excellence.(L) 4 Thus he has given us, through these things, his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may escape from the corruption that is in the world because of lust and may become participants of the divine nature.(M) 5 For this very reason, you must make every effort to support your faith with excellence, and excellence with knowledge,(N) 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with godliness, 7 and godliness with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love. 8 For if these things are yours and are increasing among you, they keep you from being ineffective and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.(O) 9 For anyone who lacks these things is blind, suffering from eye disease, forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.(P) 10 Therefore, brothers and sisters, be all the more eager to confirm your call and election, for if you do this, you will never stumble. 11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

12 Therefore I intend to keep on reminding you of these things, though you know them already and are established in the truth that has come to you.(Q) 13 I think it right, as long as I am in this body,[j] to refresh your memory,(R) 14 since I know that my death[k] will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.(S) 15 And I will make every effort so that after my departure you may be able at any time to recall these things.

Eyewitnesses of Christ’s Glory

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 had been eyewitnesses of his majesty.(T) 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when that voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, my Beloved,[l] with whom I am well pleased.”(U) 18 We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven, while we were with him on the holy mountain.(V)

19 So we have the prophetic message more fully confirmed. You will do well to be attentive to this as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.(W) 20 First of all you must understand this, that no prophecy of scripture is a matter of one’s[m] own interpretation, 21 because no prophecy ever came by human will, but men and women moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.[n](X)

False Prophets and Their Punishment

2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.(Y) 2 Even so, many will follow their debaucheries, and because of these teachers[o] the way of truth will be maligned. 3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.(Z)

4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned but cast them into hell and committed them to chains[p] of deepest darkness to be kept until the judgment;(AA) 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;(AB) 6 and if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to destruction[q] and made them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;[r] 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man greatly distressed by the debauchery of the lawless(AC) 8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by their lawless deeds that he saw and heard), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial and to keep the unrighteous until the day of judgment, when they will be punished(AD) 10 —especially those who indulge their flesh in depraved lust and who despise authority.

Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones,[s](AE) 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not bring against them a slanderous judgment.[t] 12 These people, however, are like irrational animals, mere creatures of instinct, born to be caught and killed. They slander what they do not understand, and as those creatures are destroyed,[u] they also will be destroyed, 13 suffering[v] the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures[w] while they feast with you.(AF) 14 They have eyes full of adultery,[x] insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 They have left the straight road and have gone astray, following the road of Balaam son of Bosor,[y] who loved the wages of doing wrong(AG) 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17 These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm; for them the deepest darkness has been reserved.(AH) 18 For they speak bombastic nonsense, and with debased[z] desires of the flesh they entice people who have just[aa] escaped from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for people are slaves to whatever masters them.(AI) 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the[ab] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overpowered, the last state has become worse for them than the first.(AJ) 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 that was handed on to them.(AK) 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb,

“The dog turns back to its own vomit,”

and,

“The sow is washed only to wallow in the mud.”(AL)

Footnotes

  1. 5.2 Other ancient authorities lack exercising the oversight
  2. 5.2 Or in a godly manner; other ancient authorities lack as God would have you do it
  3. 5.5 Or of those who are older
  4. 5.10 Other ancient authorities read Christ Jesus
  5. 5.11 Other ancient authorities read glory and power
  6. 5.13 Gk She who is
  7. 5.14 Other ancient authorities add Jesus or Amen or Jesus. Amen
  8. 1.1 Other ancient authorities read Simon
  9. 1.3 Other ancient authorities read through
  10. 1.13 Gk tent
  11. 1.14 Gk the putting off of my tent
  12. 1.17 Other ancient authorities read my beloved Son
  13. 1.20 Or the prophet’s
  14. 1.21 Other ancient authorities read but, moved by the Holy Spirit, saints of God spoke
  15. 2.2 Gk because of them
  16. 2.4 Other ancient authorities read pits
  17. 2.6 Other ancient authorities lack to destruction
  18. 2.6 Other ancient authorities read an example to those who were to be ungodly
  19. 2.10 Or angels; Gk glories
  20. 2.11 Other ancient authorities add from the Lord or before the Lord
  21. 2.12 Gk in their destruction
  22. 2.13 Other ancient authorities read receiving
  23. 2.13 Other ancient authorities read love feasts
  24. 2.14 Gk adulteress; or longing for an adulteress
  25. 2.15 Other ancient authorities read Beor
  26. 2.18 Or debauched
  27. 2.18 Other ancient authorities read actually
  28. 2.20 Other ancient authorities read our
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New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition (NRSVUE)

New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.