2 Peter 1-3

Holman Christian Standard Bible

Greeting

1 Simeon^[a] Peter,^(A) a slave and an apostle^(B) of Jesus Christ:

To those who have obtained a faith of equal privilege with ours^[b] through the righteousness^(C) of our God and Savior^(D) Jesus Christ.

² May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of God^(E) and of Jesus our Lord.

Growth in the Faith

³ His^[c] divine power^(F) has given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledge^(G) of Him who called^(H) us by^[d] His own glory and goodness. ⁴ By these He has given us very great and precious promises,^(I) so that through them you may share in the divine nature,^(J) escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, ⁶ knowledge with self-control,^(K) self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, ⁷ godliness with brotherly affection,^(L) and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being useless^(M) or unfruitful^(N) in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election,^(O) because if you do these things you will never stumble. ¹¹ For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom^(P) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you.

¹² Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth^(Q) you have. ¹³ I consider it right, as long as I am in this bodily tent,^[e](R) to wake you up with a reminder, ¹⁴ knowing that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has also shown me.^{(S) 15} And I will also make every effort that you may be able to recall these things at any time after my departure.^[f]

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;^(T) instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.^{(U) 17} For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, a voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory:

¹⁸ And we heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain.^{(W) 19} So we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place,^(X) until the day dawns^(Y) and the morning star^(Z) rises in your hearts. ²⁰ First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation, ²¹ because no prophecy ever came by the will of man;^(AA) instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.^(AB)

The Judgment of False Teachers

2 But there were also false prophets^(AC) among the people, just as there will be false teachers^(AD) among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought^(AE) them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them.^{(AF) 3} They will exploit^(AG) you in their greed^(AH) with deceptive words. Their condemnation,^(AI) pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.

⁴ For if God didn’t spare^(AJ) the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus^[i](AK) and delivered them to be kept in chains^[j] of darkness until judgment;^{(AL) 5} and if He didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah,^(AM) a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,^[k](AN) when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah^(AO) to ashes and condemned them to ruin,^[l] making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly;^{[m](AP) 7} and if He rescued righteous Lot,^(AQ) distressed by the unrestrained behavior of the immoral ⁸ (for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard^(AR))— ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue^(AS) the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,^{(AT) 10} especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority.^(AU)

Bold, arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones; ¹¹ however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.^{[n] 12} But these people, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed—speak blasphemies about things they don’t understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed, ¹³ suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions^[o] as they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery^(AV) and are always looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse!^{(AW) 15} They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path^(AX) and have followed the path of Balaam,^(AY) the son of Bosor,^[p] who loved the wages of unrighteousness^{(AZ) 16} but received a rebuke for his transgression: A donkey that could not talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s irrationality.^(BA)

¹⁷ These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.^{(BB) 18} For by uttering boastful, empty words,^(BC) they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped^[q] from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.^{(BD) 20} For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,^(BE) they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.^{(BF) 21} For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness^(BG) than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command^(BH) delivered^(BI) to them.^{(BJ) 22} It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit,^(BK)[r] and, “a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud.”

The Day of the Lord

3 Dear friends, this is now the second letter^(BL) I have written to you; in both letters, I want to develop a genuine^(BM) understanding with a reminder, ² so that you can remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles. ³ First, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last days^(BN) to scoff, living according to their own desires, ⁴ saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?^(BO) Ever since the fathers fell asleep,^(BP) all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.” ⁵ They willfully ignore this: Long ago the heavens and the earth were brought about from water and through water^(BQ) by the word of God.^{(BR) 6} Through these waters the world of that time perished when it was flooded.^{(BS) 7} But by the same word,^(BT) the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment^(BU) and destruction of ungodly men.

⁸ Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.^{(BV) 9} The Lord does not delay His promise,^(BW) as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting any^(BX) to perish^(BY) but all to come to repentance.^(BZ)

¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord^(CA) will come like a thief;^[s](CB) on that day the heavens will pass away^(CC) with a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved,^(CD) and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.^{[t] 11} Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness ¹² as you wait for and earnestly desire the coming^[u] of the day of God.^(CE) The heavens will be on fire and be dissolved because of it, and the elements will melt with the heat. ¹³ But based on His promise, we wait for the new heavens and a new earth,^(CF) where righteousness will dwell.^(CG)

Conclusion

¹⁴ Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be found at peace with Him without spot or blemish.^{(CH) 15} Also, regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him.^{(CI) 16} He speaks about these things in all his letters in which there are some matters that are hard to understand. The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction,^(CJ) as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard,^(CK) so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stability. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge^(CL) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.^[v](CM) Amen.^[w]