2 Peter
Chapter 1
Overview
Peter writes to people who share the same faith as he and the other apostles. Knowing that his death is near, he wants to leave them a durable reminder: God has given them what they need to live well, but they must actively develop strong character, self-control, endurance, and love. Peter then explains why his message about Jesus deserves trust. It rests neither on clever stories nor private imagination, but on what the apostles witnessed and on the message spoken by God’s prophets. Truth, he suggests, is like a lamp before sunrise: its light guides people while they wait for full daylight.
1Simeon Peter, a servant and appointed messenger of Jesus the Messiah, writes to those who, through the justice of our God and Savior Jesus the Messiah, have received a faith as precious as ours.
2May you receive more and more grace and peace as you come to know God and Jesus our Lord fully.
3Jesus’ divine power has given us everything we need for life and devotion to God. We receive these things by knowing him, the one who called us through his own glory and moral excellence.
4Through these qualities, he has given us his precious and very great promises. Through them, you may share in God’s nature after escaping the corruption in the world that comes from wrong desires.
5For this very reason, make every effort to add moral excellence to your faith, and knowledge to moral excellence.
6Add self-control to knowledge, endurance to self-control, and devotion to God to endurance.
7Add affection for fellow believers to devotion, and love to that affection.
8If these qualities belong to you and continue to grow, they will keep you from being ineffective or unproductive as you come to know our Lord Jesus the Messiah fully.
9But anyone who lacks these qualities is blind and cannot see clearly. Such a person has forgotten being cleansed from former sins.
10Therefore, brothers and sisters, work even harder to confirm that God has called and chosen you. If you practice these qualities, you will never fall away.
11In this way, you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah.
12Therefore, I will always remind you about these things, even though you already know them and stand firmly in the truth you now possess.
13I think it is right to keep stirring up your memory as long as I remain in this body, which is like a temporary tent.
14I know that I will soon put aside this tent—that is, I will die—just as our Lord Jesus the Messiah made clear to me.
15I will also make every effort to ensure that, after my departure from this life, you will always be able to remember these things.
16When we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, we were not following cleverly invented stories. We had seen his majesty with our own eyes.
17He received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to him from God’s majestic glory: “This is my Son, whom I love. I am delighted with him.”
18We ourselves heard this voice come from heaven while we were with Jesus on the mountain made holy by God’s presence.
19As a result, the message of the prophets is even more certain for us. You do well to pay attention to it, because it is like a lamp shining in a dark place until daylight dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
20Above all, understand this: no prophecy in Scripture comes from someone’s own interpretation.
21Prophecy was never produced by human choice. Instead, people spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.