2 Peter 1–3

Simon Peter, ^aa servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained ^blike precious faith with us ^cthrough the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ: ^2dGrace and peace be multiplied unto you ^ethrough the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord.

³According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and ^fgodliness, ^egthrough the knowledge of ^hhim that hath called us to ⁱglory and ^hvirtue: ⁴whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these you might be ^kpartakers of the divine nature, ^lhaving escaped ^mthe corruption that is in the world through lust: ⁵and beside this, giving all diligence, ⁿadd to your faith virtue; and to virtue ^oknowledge; ⁶and to knowledge ^ptemperance; and to temperance ^qpatience; and to patience ^fgodliness; ⁷and to ^fgodliness ^rbrotherly kindness; and ^sto brotherly kindness ^tcharity. ⁸For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor ^uunfruitful in ^ethe knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹But he that lacketh these things ^vis blind, and cannot see far off, and hath forgotten that he was ^wpurged from his old sins. ¹⁰Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence ^xto make your ^ycalling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ^zye shall never fall: ¹¹for so an entrance shall be ^aministered unto you abundantly ^binto the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

¹²Wherefore I will not be negligent ^cto put you always in remembrance of these things, ^dthough ye know them, and be ^established in the present truth. ¹³Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in ^fthis tabernacle, ^gto stir you up ^cgby putting you in remembrance; ^14hknowing that shortly I must ⁱput off this ^fmy tabernacle, even as ^kour Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me. ¹⁵Moreover I will endeavour that you may be able after my ^ldecease to have these things always in remembrance. ¹⁶For we have not followed ^mcunningly devised ⁿfables, when we made known unto you ^othe power and ^pcoming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but ^qwere ^reyewitnesses of his ^smajesty. ¹⁷For he received from God the Father ^thonour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the ^uexcellent glory, ^wThis is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. ¹⁸And this voice which came from heaven ^qwe heard, when we were with him in ^xthe holy mount. ¹⁹We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ^yye do well that ye take heed, as unto ^za light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and ^athe day star ^barise in your hearts: ²⁰knowing this first, that ^cno prophecy of the scripture is of any private ^dinterpretation. ²¹For the ^eprophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but ^fholy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.

II.But ^athere were false prophets also among ^bthe people, even as ^cthere shall be false teachers among you, who ^dprivily shall bring in damnable ^eheresies, even ^fdenying ^gthe Lord ^hthat bought them, and ⁱbring upon themselves swift destruction. ²And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom ^jthe way of truth ^kshall be evil spoken of. ³And ^lthrough covetousness shall they ^mwith feigned words ⁿmake merchandise of you: ^owhose judgment now ^pof a long time lingereth not, and ⁱtheir damnation ^qslumbereth not. ⁴For if God spared not ^rthe angels ^sthat sinned, but ^tcast them down to hell, and delivered them into ^uchains of darkness, to be ^rvreserved unto judgment; ⁵and ^wspared not the old world, but ^xsaved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, ^ybringing in ^zthe flood upon ^athe world of the ungodly; ⁶and ^bturning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with ^can overthrow, ^dmaking them an ^eensample unto those that after should ^flive ungodly; ⁷and ^gdelivered ^hjust Lot, vexed with the ⁱfilthy ^kconversation of ^lthe wicked: ⁸(for that ^hrighteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, ^mvexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;) ⁹ⁿthe Lord knoweth how to deliver ^othe godly out of temptations, and ^pto reserve the unjust unto ^qthe day of judgment to be punished: ¹⁰but chiefly them ^rthat walk ^safter the flesh in the lust of ^tuncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, ^uselfwilled, they are not afraid to ^wspeak evil of dignities. ¹¹Whereas ^xangels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord. ¹²But these, ^yas natural brute beasts, ^zmade to be taken and destroyed, ^yaspeak evil of the things that they understand not; and ^yshall utterly perish in their own ^bcorruption; ¹³and shall receive ^cthe reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure ^dto riot in the day time. ^eSpots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings ^fwhile ^gthey feast with you; ¹⁴having eyes full of adultery and ^hthat cannot cease from sin; ⁱbeguiling ^kunstable souls: a heart they have ^lexercised with ^mcovetous practices; ⁿcursed children: ¹⁵which have forsaken ^othe right way, and are gone astray, following the way of ^pBalaam the son of Bosor, who loved ^cthe wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶but was rebuked for his iniquity: ^qthe dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. ¹⁷These are wells ^rswithout water, ^rclouds that are carried with a tempest; ^tto whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. ¹⁸For when ^uthey speak great swelling words of vanity, they ⁱallure through the lusts of the flesh, through ^vmuch wantonness, ^wthose that were ^xclean escaped from them who live in error. ¹⁹While they promise them ^yliberty, they themselves are ^zthe servants of ^bcorruption: for ^zof whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. ²⁰For if after they ^whave escaped the ^apollutions of the world ^bthrough the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again ^centangled therein, and overcome, ^dthe latter end is worse with them than the beginning. ²¹For ^eit had been better for them not ^fto have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, ^gto turn from ^hthe holy commandment delivered unto them. ²²But it is happened unto them according to the true ⁱproverb, ^kThe dog is turned to his own vomit again; and, The sow that was washed to her ^lwallowing in the mire.

III.This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which ^aI stir up your ^bpure minds by way of remembrance: ²that ^cye may be mindful of the words ^dwhich were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us ^cthe apostles of the Lord and Saviour: ³knowing this first, that there shall come ^ein the last days scoffers, ^fwalking after their own lusts, ⁴and saying, ^gWhere is the promise of ^hhis coming? for since the fathers ⁱfell asleep, all things continue as they were ^jfrom the beginning of the creation. ⁵For this they willingly are ignorant of, that ^kby the word of God the heavens were ^lof old, and the earth ^mstanding out of the water and in the water: ⁶whereby the world that then was, ⁿbeing overflowed with water, perished: ⁷but ^othe heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto ^pfire against ^qthe day of judgment and ^rperdition of ungodly men. ⁸But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and ^sa thousand years as one day. ^9tThe Lord is not slack concerning his promise, ^uas some men count slackness; but ^vis longsuffering to us-ward, ^wnot willing that any should perish, but ^xthat all should come to repentance. ¹⁰But ^ythe day of the Lord will come as ^za thief in the night; in the which ^athe heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and ^bthe elements shall melt with fervent heat, ^cthe earth also and the works that are therein shall be burnt up. ¹¹Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, ^dwhat manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy ^econversation and ^fgodliness, ^12glooking for and hasting unto ^hthe coming of ⁱthe day of God, wherein ^cthe heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and ^bthe elements ^cshall melt with fervent heat? ¹³Nevertheless we, according to his promise, ^glook for ^knew heavens and a new earth, ^lwherein dwelleth righteousness. ^14mWherefore, beloved, seeing that ye ^glook for such things, be diligent ⁿthat ye may be found of him in peace, ^owithout spot, and ^pblameless. ¹⁵And account that ^qthe longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you; ¹⁶as also in all his epistles, ^rspeaking in them of these things; in which are some things ^shard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and ^tunstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. ¹⁷Ye therefore, beloved, ^useeing ye know these things before, ^vbeware lest ye also, being led away with the error of ^wthe wicked, ^xfall from your own stedfastness. ^18yBut grow in grace, and in the ^zknowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ^aTo him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.