A "Grain Of Wheat" Ministries publication

Translated by David W. Dyer

INDEX

Previous: The First Letter of Peter

Next: The First Letter of John

The Second Letter of Peter

SECOND PETER CHAPTER 1

1:1Simon Peter, a servant and sent one of Jesus the Anointed One, to those who through the equitable justice of our God and Savior Jesus the Anointed One are equally honored with us because of having obtained faith:

1:2May grace and peace be increased to you through the full knowledge of God – namely Jesus our Lord – 1:3since his divine power has provided us with everything that is necessary by the development of his life within us and the holiness which it produces, through fully knowing him who calls us to his own glory and virtuous character.

1:4With this objective, he has presented to us these tremendous and precious promises through which we can be becoming co-participants of his divine nature, escaping from the moral decay that operates in the world through carnal cravings.

1:5And for this very reason you should be becoming ever more diligent to add to your faith God’s virtuous character; and to virtuous character, increased understanding; 1:6and to understanding, self-control; and to self-control, patience; and to patience, holiness; 1:7and to holiness, brotherly affection; and to brotherly affection, God’s perfect love.

1:8For if these things are yours and are super abundant in your life, you will be neither idle nor unfruitful as a result of fully knowing our Lord Jesus the Anointed One. 1:9For he who lacks these things is blind, not seeing into the distant future, having forgotten the cleansing from his earlier sins.

1:10Therefore, brethren, be diligent to make your calling – even your having been divinely chosen – well established. For if you do these things, you will never fall short of it. 1:11In this way, an entrance into the age-lasting [Millennial] kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Anointed One will be made abundantly available to you.

1:12Therefore, I will not neglect to continually remind you of these things, though you know them and are established in the present truth. 1:13For I think it is right as long as I am in this earthly “tent” to stir you up by reminding you, 1:14knowing that the putting off of my “tent” is coming soon, even as our Lord Jesus the Anointed One has shown me. 1:15Therefore, I will be diligent so that after my decease you will always be able to remember these things.

1:16For we did not follow cleverly invented fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One but we were eyewitnesses of his glorious splendor.

1:17For he received from God the Father honor and radiant brightness. It was during that event that a voice came to him from the Majestic Glory saying, “This is my Son, the Beloved, in whom I take pleasure.” 1:18And we ourselves heard this voice which came out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

1:19And we also have the sure word of prophecy [the scriptures] to which you should pay attention, as if to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

1:20We should understand this first of all: that no prophecy of scripture came from personal inspiration. 1:21For no prophecy ever came by the choice of man but selected men spoke for God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

SECOND PETER CHAPTER 2

2:1But there also arose false prophets among the people, just as among you too there will be false teachers who will craftily take others captive as their own followers, bringing ruin. These even refuse the authority of the One who bought them, thus bringing abrupt destruction upon themselves.

2:2And many will follow their destructive ways and because of this, people will speak badly about the way of the truth. 2:3And in their greediness for money, using carefully crafted words, they will use you for their personal gain. Their judgment, even though delayed, has not been cancelled and their destruction will not be postponed.

2:4For since God did not spare the angels when they sinned but chained them up in the darkness of Tartarus [probably Hades] to be reserved for judgment 2:5and did not spare the ancient world but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, along with seven others when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly, neither will he spare those of you who walk in sin.

2:6Furthermore, he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, judging them with a catastrophe, thus making them an example for those who would live sinfully. 2:7But he rescued righteous Lot who was very distressed by the unrestrained, lustful behavior of the wicked. 2:8(For the soul of that righteous man was tormented daily by seeing and hearing their sinful acts while he lived among them).

2:9By all this we see that the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of trials and to reserve the sinful for punishment on the day of judgment.

2:10This is especially so for those who walk following the flesh, giving themselves over to their cravings for what is sexually impure, who reject the lordship of the Anointed One over them. These do not observe God’s limits, are arrogant, and are not even afraid to insult the glorious ones.* 2:11In contrast to this, angels, though greater in might and power than such carnal men, do not bring slanderous accusations against them [the fallen angels] before the Lord.

*Probably the fallen angles. See Jude 1:8,9.

2:12But these men, like wild animals without the ability to reason which are made to be captured and destroyed, shout reproachfully against those beings about which they are actually ignorant. But they will be destroyed in their depravity, 2:13receiving the “reward” of their evil ways.

These are those who are always the first to indulge themselves, daily seeking for all kinds of carnal pleasures. They are stains and blemishes when they eat together with you, taking pleasure in their delusions.

2:14They have eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, catching unstable souls in their traps. They have a heart which is trained in the desire for wealth, and consequently are children who are cursed. 2:15Turning their backs on the true way, they have fallen into error, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the “wages” [i.e. money and fame] of what was morally wrong. 2:16But he was rebuked for his sin by a dumb donkey which spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the insanity of the prophet.

2:17These are like springs without water and clouds driven by a storm for whom the blackness of darkness* has been reserved for the kingdom age {singular, Gk}.

*See Matthew 8:12; 25:30 and Jude 1:13.

2:18Using exaggerated, empty words, they seduce into sexual sin those who have just barely escaped from a life of error by appealing to their fleshly cravings. 2:19These talk about “liberty” but really they are slaves of carnal passion, for when someone is dominated by something, he is actually a slave to it.

2:20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus the Anointed One, they are again entangled in them and overcome, their last condition has become worse than the first.

2:21For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment which was given to them. 2:22It has happened to them according to the true proverb: “The dog returns to his own vomit and the pig that is washed to wallowing in the mud.”

SECOND PETER CHAPTER 3

3:1Beloved, this is now the second letter which I have written to you and in both of them I strive to reawaken your sincerity of purpose by reminding you 3:2that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the precepts of the Lord and Savior given to you through the sent ones.

3:3It is of primary importance to know that in the last days scoffers will come who will follow their own fleshly desires 3:4and say, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, since the time that the fathers passed away, everything has just gone on the same way as it always has since the beginning of creation.”

3:5But there is something they haven’t wanted to see: i.e. that a long time ago, there were heavens and an earth, which was partly out of the water and partly covered with water, which were held together by the word of God.

3:6And, by that same word, the world that then existed was destroyed by a flood of water. 3:7But the present heavens and the earth have been reserved for destruction by fire by the same word, waiting until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

3:8But concerning this subject there is one thing of which you must not be unaware, beloved: i.e. that one day with the Lord is like one thousand years and one thousand years like one day.

3:9The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some consider slowness but is very patient with respect to us, not wishing that anyone would be utterly destroyed but that everyone would have a chance for repentance.

3:10But the day* of the Lord will come as a thief in the night during which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, the elements will be dissolved by being set on fire, and the earth along with the works that are in it will be incinerated.

*This “day” which is the “day of the Lord,” is a one-thousand-year-long “day” and is also known as the “seventh day” and as the “millennium” or the “Millennial Kingdom.” Many different things will happen during that extended “day.”

3:11In view of the fact that these things are all going to be destroyed, what kind of persons ought you to be in all holy behavior and reverent respect for God, 3:12looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, during which the heavens being on fire will be dissolved and the elements will melt, being burned up?

3:13But according to his promise, we look expectantly for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness makes its home. 3:14Therefore, beloved, since you are eagerly expecting these things, be diligent so that you may be found by him without defect, blameless, and in peace.

3:15And consider that the great patience of our Lord is an opportunity for more salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, also wrote to you. 3:16This is what he also has written in all his letters, speaking in them about these points, in which there are some things which are hard to understand and which the unenlightened and unstable distort to their own destruction, as they also do with the other scriptures.

3:17You then, beloved, knowing these facts beforehand, be on your guard so that you don’t fall from your own faithfulness, being carried away with the deceit of those who are without God’s restraint.

3:18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Master and Savior, Jesus the Anointed One. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

Words in this translation found in italics are words which are implied by the Greek text but do not represent actual words in the Greek text. This practice is common in almost all modern translations. Occasionally, this translator has added words to the translation which represent his own ideas and opinions which, although they are based on his own biblical understanding, are not part of the actual Greek text. Such words are enclosed in brackets, like this [ ]. The reader should understand these words as being the opinion of the translator. In contrast to this, the words in these braces { } indicate legitimate, alternative translations or explanations. Words within parentheses () are part of the original Greek text. Such parentheses are often used in other New Testament translations also.

End of The Second Letter of Peter

Read other chapters online:

Previous: The First Letter of Peter

Next: The First Letter of John