2 Peter 1
“Simon
Peter, a servant and apostle of JESUS CHRIST,
To those who THROUGH
THE RIGHTEOUSNESS OF OUR GOD AND SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST HAVE RECEIVED A FAITH AS
PRECIOUS AS OURS:
2 GRACE AND PEACE be yours in abundance through the
knowledge of GOD
and of JESUS OUR LORD.
Confirming One’s Calling and Election
3 HIS DIVINE POWER HAS GIVEN US
EVERYTHING WE NEED FOR A GODLY LIFE THROUGH OUR KNOWLEDGE OF HIM WHO CALLED US
BY HIS OWN GLORY AND GOODNESS.
4 Through
these HE HAS
GIVEN US HIS VERY GREAT
AND PRECIOUS PROMISES, SO THAT THROUGH THEM WE MAY PARTICIPATE IN THE DIVINE
NATURE, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by
evil desires.
5 For this
very reason, make every effort to add to your FAITH GOODNESS;
and to GOODNESS,
KNOWLEDGE;
6 and to KNOWLEDGE, SELF-CONTROL;
and to SELF-CONTROL,
PERSEVERANCE;
and to PERSEVERANCE,
GODLINESS;
7 and to GODLINESS, MUTUAL AFFECTION;
and to MUTUAL AFFECTION, LOVE.
8 For if
you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from
being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST.
9 But
whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they
have been cleansed from their past sins.
10 Therefore,
my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and
election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble,
11 and you
will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of OUR LORD AND SAVIOR JESUS
CHRIST.
Prophecy of Scripture
12 So I
will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are
firmly established in THE
TRUTH you now have.
13 I think
it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this
body,
14 because
I know that I will soon put it aside, as OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST has made clear to me.
15 And I
will make every effort to see that after my departure 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, but we were eyewitnesses of HIS MAJESTY.
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.’
18 We
ourselves heard THIS VOICE THAT CAME FROM HEAVEN when we were with HIM
on the sacred mountain.
19 We also
have the prophetic message as something completely reliable, and you will
do well to pay attention to it, as to A LIGHT SHINING IN A DARK PLACE, until the day
dawns and THE
MORNING STAR rises in your hearts.
20 Above
all, you must understand 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 GOD as they were carried along by THE HOLY SPIRIT.”
