The Second Epistle General of Peter
1:1Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of
Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained a like precious faith with us in
the righteousness of our God and the Saviour Jesus Christ: 1:2Grace
to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our
Lord; 1:3seeing that his divine power hath
granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through
the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue; 1:4whereby he hath granted unto us his
precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become
partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is
in that world by lust. 1:5Yea, and for this very cause adding on
your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and in your
virtue knowledge; 1:6and in your knowledge
self-control; and in your self-control patience; and in your
patience godliness; 1:7and in your godliness brotherly
kindness; and in your brotherly kindness love. 1:8For if these things are
yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful unto the
knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1:9For he that lacketh these things is
blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his
old sins. 1:10Wherefore, brethren, give the more
diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these
things, ye shall never stumble: 1:11for thus shall be richly supplied unto
you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. 1:12Wherefore I shall be ready always to
put you in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and are
established in the truth which is with you. 1:13And I think it right,
as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in
remembrance; 1:14knowing that the putting off of my
tabernacle cometh swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ signified unto
me. 1:15Yea, I will give diligence that at
every time ye may be able after my decease to call these things to
remembrance. 1:16For we did not follow cunningly
devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. 1:17For
he received from God the Father honor and glory, when there was borne such
a voice to him by the Majestic Glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased: 1:18and this voice we ourselves
heard borne out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount. 1:19And
we have the word of prophecy made more sure; whereunto ye do well
that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day
dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts: 1:20knowing this first,
that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation. 1:21For
no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being
moved by the Holy Spirit.
2:1But there arose false prophets also
among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who
shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that
bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2:2And
many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of
the truth shall be evil spoken of. 2:3And in covetousness shall they with
feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old
lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not. 2:4For if God spared not
angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to
pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment; 2:5and spared not the
ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of
righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; 2:6and
turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an
overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live
ungodly; 2:7and delivered righteous Lot, sore
distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked 2:8(for that righteous man
dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous
soul from day to day with their lawless deeds): 2:9the
Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the
unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment; 2:10but
chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and
despise dominion. Daring, self-willed, they tremble not to rail at
dignities: 2:11whereas angels, though greater in
might and power, bring not a railing judgment against them before the
Lord. 2:12But these, as creatures without
reason, born mere animals to be taken and destroyed, railing in matters
whereof they are ignorant, shall in their destroying surely be destroyed,
2:13suffering wrong as the hire of
wrong-doing; men that count it pleasure to revel in the day-time,
spots and blemishes, revelling in their deceivings while they feast with
you; 2:14having eyes full of adultery, and that
cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised
in covetousness; children of cursing; 2:15forsaking the right
way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of
Beor, who loved the hire of wrong-doing; 2:16but he was rebuked for
his own transgression: a dumb ass spake with man's voice and stayed the
madness of the prophet. 2:17These are springs without water, and
mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness hath been
reserved. 2:18For, uttering great swelling
words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by
lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;
2:19promising them liberty, while they
themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome,
of the same is he also brought into bondage. 2:20For if, after they
have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and
overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first. 2:21For
it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than,
after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto
them. 2:22It has happened unto them according to
the true proverb, The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that
had washed to wallowing in the mire.
3:1This is now, beloved, the second
epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere
mind by putting you in remembrance; 3:2that ye should remember the words which
were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandments of the Lord
and Saviour through your apostles: 3:3knowing this first, that in the last
days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts, 3:4and
saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day that the
fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning
of the creation. 3:5For this they willfully forget, that
there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and
amidst water, by the word of God; 3:6by which means the world that then was,
being overflowed with water, perished: 3:7but the heavens that
now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire,
being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
3:8But forget not this one thing, beloved,
that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as
one day. 3:9The Lord is not slack concerning his
promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not
wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. 3:10But
the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall
pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with
fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned
up. 3:11Seeing that these things are thus all
to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy
living and godliness, 3:12looking for and earnestly desiring the
coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire
shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 3:13But, according to his promise, we look
for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness. 3:14Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye
look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace,
without spot and blameless in his sight. 3:15And account that the
longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul
also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you; 3:16as
also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein
are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast
wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own
destruction. 3:17Ye therefore, beloved, knowing
these things beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the
error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness. 3:18But
grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To
him be the glory both now and for ever. Amen.
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