2 Peter 1
Worldwide English (New Testament)
1 I am Simon Peter. I am a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ. I send greetings to you who have believed as we have. Believing is worth just as much to you as it is to us. This is because our God and Saviour, Jesus Christ, is right and good.
2 May the loving kindness of God bless you and give you more and more peace because you know God and Jesus our Lord.
3 Christ is God and by his own power he has given us everything that we need to live and to please God. He has given this to us because we know him, and he has called us because he is great and good.
4 Because of these things, he has promised us things that are worth very much and are very great. He has promised these things to us so that by them you may become like God too. By them you will be kept free from the selfish desires of the people in the world. These desires lead to death.
5 So now you believe, try to live a good life. When you live a good life, try to learn more about God.
6 When you have learned more, be strong to do what is right. Then go on doing what is right, even if it is hard. As you go about doing right, keep close to God.
7 As you keep close to God, love your Christian brothers. When you love your Christian brothers, love everyone!
8 If you do these things and you do them more and more, you will be good Christians and you will know more and more about our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But the man who does not do these things is like a blind man. He can see only a little way. He has forgotten that he was made clean from the wrong things he used to do.
10 So my brothers, try to show that God has called you and chosen you. If you do these things, you will never fall.
11 That will make it easy for you to go into the kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. His kingdom will be for ever.
12 I do want always to bring these things to your minds. I will do this even though you know them, and even though you are strong in the true way that you already have.
13 I think it is right, as long as I live, to keep these things in your minds.
14 I know that I will not live long now. Our Lord Jesus Christ has told me about that.
15 But I will try to see that you have something to bring these things to your minds, even after I am gone.
16 We have told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and that he is coming again. We did not tell you stories someone told us. We ourselves saw how great he is.
17 God the Father praised him and showed that he is great. A voice came from the bright cloud and said to him, `This is my Son. I love him and he pleases me very much.'
18 We heard this voice which came from heaven. It happened when we were on the holy hill with Jesus.
19 And so we are more sure about what the prophets of God said long ago. You will do well to listen to them. It is like a lamp shining in a dark place. Then the daylight will come and the morning star will shine in your hearts.
20 First you must understand this. The words from the prophets in the holy writings did not come from their own minds.
21 The prophets did not say what they wanted to say. But the Holy Spirit made them speak. And they spoke God's message.
2 Peter 1
Living Bible
1 From: Simon Peter, a servant and missionary of Jesus Christ.
To: All of you who have our kind of faith. The faith I speak of is the kind that Jesus Christ our God and Savior gives to us. How precious it is, and how just and good he is to give this same faith to each of us.
2 Do you want more and more of God’s kindness and peace? Then learn to know him better and better. 3 For as you know him better, he will give you, through his great power, everything you need for living a truly good life: he even shares his own glory and his own goodness with us! 4 And by that same mighty power he has given us all the other rich and wonderful blessings he promised; for instance, the promise to save us from the lust and rottenness all around us, and to give us his own character.
5 But to obtain these gifts, you need more than faith; you must also work hard to be good, and even that is not enough. For then you must learn to know God better and discover what he wants you to do. 6 Next, learn to put aside your own desires so that you will become patient and godly, gladly letting God have his way with you. 7 This will make possible the next step, which is for you to enjoy other people and to like them, and finally you will grow to love them deeply. 8 The more you go on in this way, the more you will grow strong spiritually and become fruitful and useful to our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But anyone who fails to go after these additions to faith is blind indeed, or at least very shortsighted and has forgotten that God delivered him from the old life of sin so that now he can live a strong, good life for the Lord.
10 So, dear brothers, work hard to prove that you really are among those God has called and chosen, and then you will never stumble or fall away. 11 And God will open wide the gates of heaven for you to enter into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 I plan to keep on reminding you of these things even though you already know them and are really getting along quite well! 13-14 But the Lord Jesus Christ has shown me that my days here on earth are numbered, and I am soon to die. As long as I am still here I intend to keep sending these reminders to you, 15 hoping to impress them so clearly upon you that you will remember them long after I have gone.
16 For we have not been telling you fairy tales when we explained to you the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and his coming again. My own eyes have seen his splendor and his glory: 17-18 I was there on the holy mountain when he shone out with honor given him by God his Father; I heard that glorious, majestic voice calling down from heaven, saying, “This is my much-loved Son; I am well pleased with him.”
19 So we have seen and proved that what the prophets said came true. You will do well to pay close attention to everything they have written, for, like lights shining into dark corners, their words help us to understand many things that otherwise would be dark and difficult. But when you consider the wonderful truth of the prophets’ words, then the light will dawn in your souls and Christ the Morning Star will shine in your hearts. 20-21 For no prophecy recorded in Scripture was ever thought up by the prophet himself. It was the Holy Spirit within these godly men who gave them true messages from God.
© 1969, 1971, 1996, 1998 by SOON Educational Publications
The Living Bible copyright © 1971 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.