Salutation
1:1 From Simeon1 Peter,2 a slave3 and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God4 and Savior,5 Jesus Christ, have been granted6 a faith just as precious7 as ours. 1:2 May grace and peace be lavished on you8 as you grow9 in the rich knowledge10 of God and of Jesus our Lord!11
Believers' Salvation and The Work of God
1:3 I can pray this because his divine power12 has bestowed on us everything13 necessary14 for life and godliness through the rich knowledge15 of the one who called16 us by17 his own glory and excellence. 1:4 Through these things18 he has bestowed on us his precious and most magnificent promises, so that by means of what was promised19 you may become partakers of the divine nature,20 after escaping21 the worldly corruption that is produced by evil desire.22 1:5 For this very reason,23 make every effort24 to add to your faith excellence,25 to excellence, knowledge; 1:6 to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance;26 to perseverance, godliness; 1:7 to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish27 love.28 1:8 For if29 these things are really yours30 and are continually increasing,31 they will keep you from becoming32 ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of33 knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.34 1:9 But35 concerning the one who lacks such things36--he is blind. That is to say, he is37 nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins. 1:10 Therefore, brothers and sisters,38 make every effort to be sure of your calling and election.39 For by doing this40 you will never41 stumble into sin.42 1:11 For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.
Salvation Based on The Word of God
1:12 Therefore, I intend to remind you constantly43 of these things even though you know them and are well established in the truth that you now have. 1:13 Indeed, as long as I am in this tabernacle,44 I consider it right to stir you up by way of a reminder, 1:14 since I know that my tabernacle will soon be removed,45 because46 our Lord Jesus Christ revealed this to me.47 1:15 Indeed, I will also make every effort that, after my departure, you have a testimony of these things.48
1:16 For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;49 no,50 we were51 eyewitnesses of his52 grandeur.53 1:17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that54 voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: "This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted."55 1:18 When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves56 heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain.57 1:19 Moreover,58 we59 possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing.60 You do well if you pay attention61 to this62 as you would63 to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star64 rises in your hearts.65 1:20 Above all, you do well if you recognize66 this67: no prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet's own imagination,68 1:21 for no prophecy was ever borne of human impulse; rather, men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.
The False Teachers' Ungodly Lifestyle
2:1But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.1 These false teachers2 will3 infiltrate your midst4 with destructive heresies,5 even to the point of6 denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring7 swift destruction on themselves. 2:2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles.8 Because of these false teachers,9 the way of truth will be slandered.10 2:3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their11 condemnation pronounced long ago12 is not sitting idly by;13 their14 destruction is not asleep.
2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned,15 but threw them into hell16 and locked them up17 in chains18 in utter darkness,19 to be kept until the judgment, 2:5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others,20 when God21 brought a flood on an ungodly world,22 2:6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction,23 having appointed24 them to serve as an example25 to future generations of the ungodly,26 2:7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless27 men,28 2:8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul29 by the lawless deeds he saw and heard30) 2:9 --if so,31 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials,32 and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment33 at the day of judgment, 2:10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires34 and who despise authority.
Brazen and insolent,35 they are not afraid to insult36 the glorious ones,37 2:11 yet even38 angels, who are much more powerful,39 do not bring a slanderous40 judgment against them before the Lord.41 2:12 But42 these men,43 like irrational animals--creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed44--do not understand whom45 they are insulting, and consequently46 in their destruction they will be destroyed,47 2:13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways.48 By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight49 they are stains and blemishes indulging50 in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you. 2:14 Their eyes are51 full of adultery52 that do not stop sinning;53 they entice54 unstable people.55 They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children!56 2:15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness,57 2:16 yet was rebuked58 for his own transgression (a dumb donkey, speaking with a human voice,59 restrained the prophet's madness).60
2:17 These men61 are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness62 have been reserved. 2:18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words63 they are able to entice,64 with fleshly desires and with debauchery,65 people66 who have just escaped67 from those who reside in error.68 2:19 Although these false teachers promise69 such people70 freedom, they themselves are enslaved to71 immorality.72 For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.73 2:20 For if after they have escaped the filthy things74 of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,75 they76 again get entangled in them and succumb to them,77 their last state has become worse for them than their first. 2:21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 2:22 They are illustrations of this true proverb:78 "A dog returns to its own vomit,"79 and "A sow, after washing herself,80 wallows in the mire."81
The False Teachers' Denial of the Lord's Return
3:1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written1 you, in which2 I am trying to stir up3 your pure mind by way of reminder: 3:2 I want you to recall4 both5 the predictions6 foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles.7 3:3 Above all, understand this:8 in the last days blatant scoffers9 will come, being propelled by their own evil urges10 3:4 and saying,11 "Where is his promised coming?12 For ever since13 our ancestors14 died,15 all things have continued as they were16 from the beginning of creation." 3:5 For they deliberately suppress this fact,17 that by the word of God18 heavens existed long ago and an earth19 was formed out of water and by means of water. 3:6 Through these things20 the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water. 3:7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.21
3:8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice,22 that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. 3:9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise,23 as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish24 for any25 to perish but for all to come to repentance.26 3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes,27 the heavens will disappear28 with a horrific noise,29 and the celestial bodies30 will melt away31 in a blaze,32 and the earth and every deed done on it33 will be laid bare.34 3:11 Since all these things are to melt away35 in this manner,36 what sort of people must we37 be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness,38 3:12 while waiting for and hastening39 the coming of the day of God?40 Because of this day,41 the heavens will be burned up and42 dissolve, and the heavenly bodies43 will melt away in a blaze!44 3:13 But, according to his promise, we are waiting for45 new heavens and a new earth, in which46 righteousness truly resides.47
3:14 Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting for48 these things, strive to be found49 at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into his presence.50 3:15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation,51 just as also our dear brother Paul52 wrote to you,53 according to the wisdom given to him, 3:16 speaking of these things in all his letters.54 Some things in these letters55 are hard to understand, things56 the ignorant and unstable twist57 to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures.58 3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned,59 be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men,60 and fall from your firm grasp on the truth.61 3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge62 of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on63 that eternal day.64