¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience^(A) means salvation,^(B) just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.^{(C) 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^(D) people distort,^(E) as they do the other Scriptures,^(F) to their own destruction.

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.

⁸ Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”^[a](A)

¹² For the word of God^(A) is alive^(B) and active.^(C) Sharper than any double-edged sword,^(D) it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.^(E)

¹⁹ We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable,^(A) and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light^(B) shining in a dark place, until the day dawns^(C) and the morning star^(D) rises in your hearts.^{(E) 20} Above all, you must understand^(F) that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. ²¹ For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from God^(G) as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.^(H)