Historical

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 But prophets who were not true were also among the people of Israel. Also there will be teachers who will not be true among you. They will bring in wrong teaching that leads to death. They will even say that they do not belong to the Master who bought them. And so they will quickly bring themselves to death.

² Many people will do the same wrong things they do. And because of them, men will say wrong things about the true way.

³ Because they are greedy for money, they will trick you with lies. For a long time God has planned to punish them. They will be punished at the right time.

⁴ God punished the angels who did wrong. He put them into the darkest part of hell. They must be kept there until the time when they will be judged.

⁵ In the days long ago, God punished the world. But he saved Noah who told people what was right. And God saved seven other people. But he made water cover the world full of bad people.

⁶ God burned up the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He punished them so that no cities were left. He did this to show what would happen to bad people.

⁷ But God saved Lot out of the trouble. Lot was a good man. He did not like the wrong way the bad people lived.

⁸ That good man lived among the bad people and he saw and heard what they did. Day after day, the bad things they did troubled his heart because he was a good man.

⁹ The Lord knows how to save good people out of the trouble that tests them. And he knows how to keep bad people until the day when he will judge them. And they are being punished even now.

¹⁰ Most of all, he will punish people who do the wrong things they want to do and who will not obey the men who rule over them. They are very bold and proud. They do not fear to say wrong things about those who are great, even about the angels.

¹¹ Angels have more strength and power than they. And yet the angels do not judge them and say wrong things about them to the Lord.

¹² These people are like animals that cannot think. They are like animals that are born to be caught and killed. They say wrong things about things they do not understand. They will die like the animals.

¹³ Bad things will happen to them because they have done wrong things. They think it is fun to have a good time during the day. They are like spots and sores. They like to eat and drink at the love feasts with you. They are trying to fool you.

¹⁴ They are always looking for women to have sex with them. They never stop their wrong ways. They fool people whose hearts are not strong to do right. They always want more and more money. God's curse is on them!

¹⁵ They have left the right road and have done wrong. They follow the same road that Balaam walked. He was the son of Beor. He loved the pay he would get for doing a wrong thing.

¹⁶ But he was told to stop doing wrong. The animal he was riding talked with a man's voice. It tried to make the prophet stop his foolish way.

¹⁷ These men are like wells with no water in them. They are like fog that is blown away by a strong wind. A very dark place has been kept to put them in.

¹⁸ They say big and foolish things. They fool people who have just left those who live in wrong ways. They fool them by making them want to do wrong things with their bodies.

¹⁹ They promise them that they will be free. But they themselves are slaves of death. A man is a slave of anything that rules over him.

²⁰ They left the wrong ways of the world because they knew our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Then when they went back to the wrong ways again, they were ruled by them. Then they will have more trouble than they had at first.

²¹ It would have been better for them if they had never known the right way! Because they knew the right way, it was very wrong for them to turn from the holy law God gave them.

²² They show that this saying is true, `The dog goes back to eat what his own stomach threw up!' and, `A pig that is washed rolls in the mud again!'

3 My dear brothers, this is my second letter to you. In both of my letters I have tried to bring some things to your good minds.

² I want you to remember what God's prophets said would happen. And I want you to remember what we apostles told you that our Lord and Saviour said.

³ Here is the first thing. In the last days, men will come who will make fun of holy things. They will do what they themselves want to do.

⁴ They will say, `He promised to come. Where is he? Our fathers have died. And since then everything is just the same as it has been since the world was made.'

⁵ They do not want to remember that long ago God spoke and made the sky. He made the land come up from the water.

⁶ But later on these same waters covered the world in a flood and the people died.

⁷ The sky and the earth that are here now are being kept because God spoke. They are kept to be burned up. This will happen on the day when God judges people and they will die.

⁸ My dear brothers, do not forget this one thing. One day is like a thousand years to the Lord. And a thousand years are like one day.

⁹ God will do what he promised. He is not slow though, as some people think he is. But he is waiting a long time for you. He does not want anyone to die, but he wants all people to stop their wrong ways.

¹⁰ The day of the Lord will come like a man who wants to steal. There will be a loud noise and the sky will go away. The elements will melt with fire and they will be gone. The earth and everything on it will be burned up.

¹¹ That is the way the whole world will go. So think what kind of people you should be! Think how holy and true to God your lives should be!

¹² You should look for the day of God and do everything you can to make it come quickly. On that day the sky will be on fire and go away. The elements will burn and melt away.

¹³ But we are looking for a new sky and a new earth which God has promised. Only good things will be in them.

¹⁴ My dear brothers, you are looking for these things. So do all you can so that the Lord will find you without any bad or wrong thing in your lives. Let him find you at peace with one another.

¹⁵ Think of this. He is waiting a long time so that people will be saved. Our dear brother Paul also wrote these things to you, because God has made him wise.

¹⁶ He also tells about them in all his letters. Some things in his letters are hard to understand. Some people do not know about these things and they are not strong in their faith. They change the meaning of the things Paul wrote. They do this to other things in the holy writings also. Because they do this, they will die.

¹⁷ My dear brothers, you know about these things before they happen. Take care that you do not do the same things that bad people do. Take care that you do not stop believing the right way.

¹⁸ Have more and more of God's blessing and kindness. Learn more and more about our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. He is great now, and he will be great for ever! Amen! Yes he will!

¹ I am Jude. I am a servant of Jesus Christ and I am a brother of James. I send greetings to you whom God the Father has called. He has loved you and kept you safe for Jesus Christ.

² May God be kind to you. May he give you peace. May he love you very much.

³ My dear brothers, I wanted very much to write to you and tell you how we all are saved. But then I saw that I must write and tell you to hold very strongly to what you do believe. Fight against those who want to change it. The right way to believe has been given to God's people once for all times.

⁴ Some men have come in quietly. They are bad men. The holy writings told us long ago that they would be punished. These men change the blessing of our God to do the wrong things they want to do. They show by their lives that they do not belong to Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord

⁵ You know all these things for all times. But I want to bring them to your minds. First, the Lord saved his people from the country of Egypt. At a time after that, he killed those who did not believe in him.

⁶ Remember the angels also. Some of them did not keep the high place they had. But they left their home. God has them tied in chains for ever, and he is keeping them in a very dark place. He will keep them there until that big day when they will be judged.

⁷ Also Sodom and Gomorrah and the other cities near them show what will happen. The people there had wrong ways of using sex and did wrong things that people should not do with each other. They were punished and are in fire that burns for ever. God did this to show what will happen to others.

⁸ And yet these men do the same wrong things. They think of and do wrong things with their bodies. They will not obey the men who rule over them. And they say wrong things about those who are great, even about the angels.

⁹ At one time Michael the chief angel had a quarrel with the devil about who should have the body of Moses. But he did not dare to judge the devil and say wrong things about him. He said, `May the Lord tell you to stop!'

¹⁰ But these men say wrong things about everything they do not understand. They know some things just like animals that cannot think. And they will die because they do those wrong things.

¹¹ They will have trouble! They have lived like Cain. They have done wrong things for pay like Balaam. They have talked against those who are over them. Korah did that. And so they will die as he did.

¹² These men spoil your love feasts. They are not afraid to eat and drink with you. They take care only of themselves. They are like clouds that do not give rain, and are blown around by the winds. They are like trees when their leaves are gone and they have no fruit. These trees are also dead because they have been pulled up by the roots.

¹³ These men are like big waves on the sea. Big waves cause much trouble. And these men also show the wrong things they do. They are like stars that have fallen from their place in the sky. A very dark place has been kept for ever in which to put these men.

¹⁴ Enoch was the seventh in Adam's family line. He spoke words from God to these men also. He said, `Listen! The Lord came with many thousands of his angels.

¹⁵ He came to judge all people and to punish all the bad people for all the wrong things they have done. And he came to punish bad people for all the wrong things that they have said against him.'

¹⁶ These men complain about the way things are. They do not like it. They do what they themselves want to do. They say big things. They say nice things to people to get what they want from them.

¹⁷ But, my dear brothers, you must remember what the apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ said would happen.

¹⁸ They said to you, `At the end of time, men will come who will make fun of holy things. They will do the wrong things they themselves want to do.'

¹⁹ These are the men who make people go into different groups in the church meetings. They have only a man's heart. They do not have the Holy Spirit.

²⁰ But you, my dear brothers, must make your lives better in the holy things you believe. Talk to God in the Holy Spirit.

²¹ Keep yourselves in God's love. Wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to come and help you. He will give you life that will live for ever.

²² Some people are not sure what they believe. Be kind to them by sharing in their troubles.

²³ Pull them out of the fire and save them. There are other people to whom you must be kind, but be careful about it. But you must hate even the clothes that bad people have worn.

²⁴ God can keep you from doing anything wrong. He can bring you to the place where he is great and you will be all good. You will be very happy.

²⁵ He is the only God. And he is our Saviour through our Lord Jesus Christ. He is great! He is wonderful! He has power! He has the right to rule! He was like that before time began! He is like that now! And he will be like that for ever. Yes, he will!