The
Book of 2 Peter with Commentary
Content added weekly
New King James Version
2 Peter 1
Greeting the Faithful
1 Simon Peter, a bondservant and apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who have obtained like precious faith with us by the
righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of
Jesus our Lord, 3 as His divine power has given to us all things that
pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called
us by glory and virtue, 4 by which have been given to us exceedingly
great and precious promises, that through these you may be partakers of
the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world
through lust.
Fruitful Growth in the Faith
5 But also for this very reason, giving all diligence, add to your
faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, 6 to knowledge self-control, to
self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, 7 to godliness
brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. 8 For if these
things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful
in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 For he who lacks these
things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he
was cleansed from his old sins.
10 Therefore, brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and
election sure, for if you do these things you will never stumble; 11
for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the
everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Peter’s Approaching Death
12 For this reason I will not be negligent to remind you always of
these things, though you know and are established in the present truth.
13 Yes, I think it is right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you
up by reminding you, 14 knowing that shortly I must put off my tent,
just as our Lord Jesus Christ showed me. 15 Moreover I will be careful
to ensure that you always have a reminder of these things after my
decease.
The Trustworthy Prophetic Word
16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to
you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were
eyewitnesses of His majesty. 17 For He received from God the Father
honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory:
“This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well
pleased.” 18 And we heard this voice which came from heaven
when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed,[a] which you do well to
heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and
the morning star rises in your hearts; 20 knowing this first, that no
prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,[b] 21 for
prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God[c] spoke as
they were moved by the Holy Spirit.
2 Peter 2
Destructive Doctrines
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as
there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in
destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring
on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their
destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a
long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction
does[a] not slumber.
Doom of False Teachers
4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to
hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for
judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of
eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the
world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah
into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to
those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and delivered righteous Lot,
who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that
righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from
day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then the
Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve
the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially
those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and
despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not
afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater
in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them
before the Lord.
Depravity of False Teachers
12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and
destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will
utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages
of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the
daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own
deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery
and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a
heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They
have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of
Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but
he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a
man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds[b] carried by a tempest, for
whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.[c]
Deceptions of False Teachers
18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure
through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have
actually escaped[d] from those who live in error. 19 While they promise
them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a
person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if,
after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the
knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled
in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the
beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known
the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy
commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according
to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,”[e]
and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”
2 Peter 3
God’s Promise Is Not Slack
1 Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of
which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), 2 that you may be
mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and
of the commandment of us,[a] the apostles of the Lord and Savior, 3
knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking
according to their own lusts, 4 and saying, “Where is the promise
of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue
as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For this they
willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and
the earth standing out of water and in the water, 6 by which the world
that then existed perished, being flooded with water. 7 But the heavens
and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved
for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.
8 But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one
day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord
is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is
longsuffering toward us,[b] not willing that any should perish but that
all should come to repentance.
The Day of the Lord
10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which
the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will
melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it
will be burned up.[c] 11 Therefore, since all these things will be
dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and
godliness, 12 looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God,
because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the
elements will melt with fervent heat? 13 Nevertheless we, according to
His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which
righteousness dwells.
Be Steadfast
14 Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to
be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; 15 and consider
that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our
beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written
to you, 16 as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these
things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and
unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the
rest of the Scriptures.
17 You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest
you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the
error of the wicked; 18 but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ.
To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.
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