2 Peter

In contrast to Peter’s first letter, this one focused on problems that sprang up from inside the church. Its warning against false teachers is a teaching that is still applicable today.

1 Simon Peter, a servanta and apostle of Jesus Christ,b

To those who through the righteousnessc of our God and Savior Jesus Christd have received a faith as precious as ours:

2 Grace and peace be yours in abundancee through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.f

Confirming One’s Calling and Election

3 His divine powerg has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of himh who called usi by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises,j so that through them you may participate in the divine nature,k having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.l

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge;m 6 and to knowledge, self-control;n and to self-control, perseverance;o and to perseverance, godliness;p 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.q 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductiver in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.s 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind,t forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.u

10 Therefore, my brothers and sisters,a make every effort to confirm your callingv and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,w 11 and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdomx of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.y

Prophecy of Scripture

12 So I will always remind you of these things,z even though you know them and are firmly established in the trutha you now have. 13 I think it is right to refresh your memoryb as long as I live in the tent of this body,c 14 because I know that I will soon put it aside,d as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.e 15 And I will make every effort to see that after my departuref you will always be able to remember these things.

16 For we did not follow cleverly devised stories when we told you about the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ in power,g but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.h 17 He received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”b i 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.j

19 We also have the prophetic message as something completely reliable,k and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lightl shining in a dark place, until the day dawnsm and the morning starn rises in your hearts.o 20 Above all, you must understandp that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation of things. 21 For prophecy never had its origin in the human will, but prophets, though human, spoke from Godq as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.r

False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 But there were also false prophetss among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.t They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lordu who bought themv—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conductw and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greedx these teachers will exploit youy with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,z but sent them to hell,a putting them in chains of darknessb to be held for judgment;a 5 if he did not spare the ancient worldb when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,c but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;d 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,e and made them an examplef of what is going to happen to the ungodly;g 7 and if he rescued Lot,h a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawlessi 8 (for that righteous man,j living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trialsk and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.l 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desirem of the fleshc and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;n 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them fromd the Lord.o 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.p

13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.q They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.e r 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduces the unstable;t they are experts in greedu—an accursed brood!v 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaamw son of Bezer,f who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.x

17 These people are springs without watery and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.z 18 For they mouth empty, boastful wordsa and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escapingb from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”c 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowingd our Lord and Savior Jesus Christe and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.f 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.g 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”g h and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”