Study Desk

^[a]Simon Peter, a ^(a)bond-servant and ^(b)apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received ^(c)a faith of the same ^[b]kind as ours, ^[c]by ^(d)the righteousness of ^(e)our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

^(f)Grace and peace be multiplied to you in ^(g)the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

seeing that His ^(h)divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true ⁽ⁱ⁾knowledge of Him who ^(j)called us ^[d]by His own glory and ^[e]excellence.

^[f]For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent ^(k)promises, so that by them you may become ^(l)partakers of the divine nature, having ^(m)escaped the ⁽ⁿ⁾corruption that is in ^(o)the world by lust.

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith ^(p)supply ^(q)moral ^[g]excellence, and in your moral excellence, ^(r)knowledge,

and in your knowledge, ^(s)self-control, and in your self-control, ^(t)perseverance, and in your perseverance, ^(u)godliness,

and in your godliness, ^(v)brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor ^(w)unfruitful in the true ^(x)knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For he who lacks these qualities is ^(y)blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his ^(z)purification from his former sins.

Therefore, brethren, be all the more diligent to make certain about His ^(aa)calling and ^(ab)choosing you; for as long as you practice these things, you will never ^(ac)stumble;

for in this way the entrance into ^(ad)the eternal kingdom of our ^(ae)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be ^(af)abundantly ^(ag)supplied to you.

Therefore, ^(ah)I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in ^(ai)the truth which is present with you.

I consider it ^(aj)right, as long as I am in ^(ak)this earthly dwelling, to ^(al)stir you up by way of reminder,

knowing that ^(am)the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, ^(an)as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

And I will also be diligent that at any time after my ^(ao)departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

For we did not follow cleverly devised ^(ap)tales when we made known to you the ^(aq)power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were ^(ar)eyewitnesses of His majesty.

For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an ^[h](as)utterance as this was ^[i]made to Him by the ^(at)Majestic Glory, "This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased"—

and we ourselves heard this ^[j]utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the ^(au)holy mountain.

^[k]So we have ^(av)the prophetic word made more ^(aw)sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to ^(ax)a lamp shining in a dark place, until the ^(ay)day dawns and the ^(az)morning star arises ^(ba)in your hearts.

But ^(bb)know this first of all, that ^(bc)no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one's own interpretation,

for ^(bd)no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men ^(be)moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

But ^(a)false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be ^(b)false teachers ^(c)among you, who will ^(d)secretly introduce ^(e)destructive heresies, even ^(f)denying the ^(g)Master who ^(h)bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves.

Many will follow their ⁽ⁱ⁾sensuality, and because of them ^(j)the way of the truth will be ^(k)maligned;

and in their ^(l)greed they will ^(m)exploit you with ⁽ⁿ⁾false words; ^(o)their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

For ^(p)if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and ^(q)committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;

and did not spare ^(r)the ancient world, but preserved ^(s)Noah, a ^[a]preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a ^(t)flood upon the world of the ungodly;

and if He ^(u)condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an ^(v)example to those who would ^(w)live ungodly lives thereafter;

and if He ^(x)rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the ^(y)sensual conduct of ^(z)unprincipled men

(for by what he saw and heard that ^(aa)righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds),

^(ab)then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from ^[b]temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the ^(ac)day of judgment,

and especially those who ^[c](ad)indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and ^(ae)despise authority. Daring, ^(af)self-willed, they do not tremble when they ^(ag)revile angelic ^[d]majesties,

^(ah)whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.

But ^(ai)these, like unreasoning animals, ^(aj)born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in ^[e]the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed,

suffering wrong as ^(ak)the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to ^(al)revel in the ^(am)daytime. They are stains and blemishes, ^(an)reveling in their ^[f]deceptions, as they ^(ao)carouse with you,

having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, ^(ap)enticing ^(aq)unstable souls, having a heart trained in ^(ar)greed, ^(as)accursed children;

forsaking ^(at)the right way, they have gone astray, having followed ^(au)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(av)the wages of unrighteousness;

but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, ^(aw)for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

These are ^(ax)springs without water and mists driven by a storm, ^(ay)for whom the ^[g]black darkness has been reserved.

For speaking out ^(az)arrogant words of ^(ba)vanity they ^(bb)entice by fleshly desires, by ^(bc)sensuality, those who barely ^(bd)escape from the ones who live in error,

promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for ^(be)by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

For if, after they have ^(bf)escaped the defilements of the world by ^(bg)the knowledge of the ^(bh)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again ^(bi)entangled in them and are overcome, ^(bj)the last state has become worse for them than the first.

^(bk)For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from ^(bl)the holy commandment ^(bm)handed on to them.

^[h]It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "^(bn)A dog returns to its own vomit ," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire."

This is now, ^(a)beloved, the second letter I am writing to you in which I am ^(b)stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

that you should ^(c)remember the words spoken beforehand by ^(d)the holy prophets and ^(e)the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

^(f)Know this first of all, that ^(g)in the last days ^(h)mockers will come with their mocking, ⁽ⁱ⁾following after their own lusts,

and saying, "^(j)Where is the promise of His ^(k)coming? For ever since the fathers ^(l)fell asleep, all continues just as it was ^(m)from the beginning of creation."

For ^[a]when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that ⁽ⁿ⁾by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was ^(o)formed out of water and by water,

through which ^(p)the world at that time was ^(q)destroyed, being flooded with water.

But by His word ^(r)the present heavens and earth are being reserved for ^(s)fire, kept for ^(t)the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

But do not let this one fact escape your notice, ^(u)beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and ^(v)a thousand years like one day.

^(w)The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but ^(x)is patient toward you, ^(y)not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

But ^(z)the day of the Lord ^(aa)will come like a thief, in which ^(ab)the heavens ^(ac)will pass away with a roar and the ^(ad)elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and ^(ae)the earth and ^[b]its works will be ^[c]burned up.

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

^(af)looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which ^(ag)the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the ^(ah)elements will melt with intense heat!

But according to His ^(ai)promise we are looking for ^(aj)new heavens and a new earth, ^(ak)in which righteousness dwells.

^(al)Therefore, ^(am)beloved, since you look for these things, be diligent to be ^(an)found by Him in peace, ^(ao)spotless and blameless,

and regard the ^(ap)patience of our Lord as salvation; just as also ^(aq)our beloved brother Paul, ^(ar)according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you,

as also in all his letters, speaking in them of ^(as)these things, ^(at)in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and ^(au)unstable distort, as they do also ^(av)the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

You therefore, ^(aw)beloved, knowing this beforehand, ^(ax)be on your guard so that you are not carried away by ^(ay)the error of ^(az)unprincipled men and ^(ba)fall from your own steadfastness,

but grow in the grace and ^(bb)knowledge of our ^(bc)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ^(bd)To Him be the glory, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.