2 Peter

2 Peter

Greeting in Full Trust

From Simon Peter,

a servant and sent one of Jesus the Anointed One,

to those who have received a trust as precious as ours,

through the rightness of our God and Rescuer,

Jesus the Anointed One:

May favor and peace be multiplied to you

through the knowledge of God

and of Jesus our Master.

Everything We Need for Life

His divine power has granted us everything we need

for life and set-apart living,

through the true knowledge of the One who called us

by His own glory and excellence.

Through these,

He has given us His precious and great promises,

so that through them

you may share in the divine nature,

having escaped the corruption

that is in the world through misplaced desire.

For this very reason,

make every effort to add to your trust:

goodness,

and to goodness, knowledge;

and to knowledge, self-control;

and to self-control, endurance;

and to endurance, reverence;

and to reverence, family affection;

and to family affection, love.

For if these qualities are yours and increasing,

they will keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful

in the knowledge of our Master, Jesus the Anointed One.

But whoever lacks these things

is blind or short-sighted,

forgetting that they were cleansed

from their former wrongdoings.

Make Your Calling Sure

Therefore, brothers and sisters,

be even more diligent

to confirm your calling and choosing.

For if you do these things,

you will never stumble,

and a rich welcome will be provided for you

into the age-enduring kingdom

of our Master and Rescuer, Jesus the Anointed One.

We Were Eyewitnesses

So I will always remind you of these things,

even though you know them

and are established in the truth you have.

I think it is right,

as long as I am in this body-tent,

to stir you up by way of reminder.

For I know that the laying aside of my tent is soon,

as our Master Jesus the Anointed One

has revealed to me.

And I will make every effort

so that after my departure

you will always be able to remember these things.

For we did not follow cleverly crafted stories

when we made known to you

the power and coming of our Master, Jesus the Anointed One,

but we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

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.”

We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven

when we were with Him on the sacred mountain.

A Lamp Shining in the Darkness

And we have the prophetic word made even more certain,

to which you will do well to pay attention—

as to a lamp shining in a dark place,

until the day dawns

and the morning star rises in your hearts.

Above all, understand this:

No prophecy of Scripture

comes from the prophet’s own interpretation.

For prophecy was never brought forth by human will,

but people spoke from God

as they were carried along by the Set-Apart Spirit.

———

Secret Destruction

But there were false prophets among the people,

just as there will be false teachers among you.

They will secretly bring in destructive deviations,

even denying the Master who bought them—

bringing swift ruin upon themselves.

Many will follow their unrestrained ways,

and because of them

the way of truth will be slandered.

In greed, they will exploit you with deceptive words.

Their condemnation, long ago spoken, is not idle,

and their ruin is not asleep.

The Pattern of Ruin and Rescue

For if God did not spare the messengers who sinned,

but cast them into Tartarus,

holding them in gloomy darkness

until the time of restoration,

and if He did not spare the ancient world

but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of rightness,

with seven others,

when He brought a flood upon a world of irreverence—

and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes,

making them an example of what is to come

for those who live without restraint—

and if He rescued Lot, a man distressed

by the lawless conduct of the wicked

(for that righteous one, dwelling among them,

was tormented in his righteous being

day after day by what he saw and heard)—

then the Master knows how to rescue the reverent from trials

and to hold the unjust until the time of setting things right—

especially those who follow the corrupt cravings of the flesh

and despise authority.

Bold and Unthinking

Bold and self-willed,

they do not tremble when speaking against celestial glories—

whereas messengers, though greater in strength and power,

do not bring slanderous accusations against them before the Master.

But these people, like unreasoning creatures of instinct,

born to be caught and destroyed,

slander what they do not understand.

They will perish in their own corruption,

receiving the wages of unrighteousness.

Feasting Without Fear

They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime.

They are stains and blemishes,

delighting in their deception

even while feasting with you.

They have eyes full of desire for what is forbidden,

never ceasing to seduce the unstable.

They have trained their hearts in greed—

cursed children.

They have wandered from the straight path

and gone astray,

following the way of Balaam son of Beor,

who loved the wages of wrongdoing

but was rebuked for his transgression.

A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice

and restrained the prophet’s madness.

Wells Without Water

These people are wells without water,

clouds driven by a storm.

Gloomy darkness has been reserved for them.

With boastful and empty words,

they entice by fleshly cravings

those who are barely escaping from lives of corruption.

They promise freedom,

but they themselves are enslaved to ruin.

For one is enslaved by whatever overpowers them.

If, after escaping the corruption of the world

through the knowledge of our Master and Rescuer, Jesus the Anointed One,

they are entangled again and overcome,

their latter state is worse than the first.

It would have been better for them

not to have known the way of rightness

than, having known it,

to turn back from the sacred instruction delivered to them.

What has happened to them reflects this proverb:

“A dog returns to its own vomit,”

and:

“A washed pig returns to wallow in the mud.”

———

A Stirred-Up Mind

Beloved, this is now my second letter to you.

In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind

by way of reminder,

so that you recall the words previously spoken

by the set-apart prophets,

and the command of our Master and Rescuer

delivered through your sent ones.

Know this first of all:

In the last days, mockers will come—

living according to their own desires, saying,

“Where is the promise of His coming?

Ever since our ancestors died,

everything continues as it has since the beginning.”

They deliberately forget

that long ago, by the word of God,

the heavens existed

and the earth was formed from water and through water.

Through these, the world of that time

was flooded and destroyed.

By the same word,

the present heavens and earth are reserved for refining fire,

kept for the day of setting things right

and the unveiling of all that must be renewed.

Time and Mercy

But do not overlook this one thing, beloved:

With the Master, one day is like a thousand years,

and a thousand years are like one day.

The Master is not slow in fulfilling His promise,

as some understand slowness.

Instead, He is patient with you,

not wanting anyone to be ruined,

but for all to come to change their thinking.

But the Day of the Master will come like a thief.

The heavens will pass away with a great sound.

The elements will be dissolved with intense heat.

The earth and everything done in it

will be laid bare.

Live as People of the Coming Day

Since everything is going to be dissolved in this way,

what kind of people ought you to be?

Live in set-apartness and reverence,

as you look for and hasten the coming of the day of God.

On that day, the heavens will be dissolved with fire,

and the elements will melt in the heat.

But according to His promise,

we look for new heavens and a new earth,

where rightness lives.

So then, beloved,

as you wait for these things,

make every effort to be found by Him

in peace—without stain or blame.

Consider also that the patience of our Master

means rescue—

just as our beloved brother Paul

also wrote to you,

according to the wisdom given to him.

He speaks about these matters in all his letters.

Some things are hard to understand,

which the ignorant and unstable twist—

as they do with the rest of the Writings—

to their own ruin.

Stay Steady and Growing

So then, beloved,

knowing this in advance,

be on guard

so that you are not led away

by the error of the lawless

and fall from your own secure standing.

But grow in the favor and knowledge

of our Master and Rescuer,

Jesus the Anointed One.

To Him be the glory,

both now and to the Day of the Age to Come.

Amen.