II Peter 1

2Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of

Jesus our Lord.

3His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness

through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

4Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that

through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the

corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

II Peter 1

10Therefore, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and

election sure. For if you do these things, you will never fall, 11and you

will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior

Jesus Christ.

II Peter 2

3In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made

up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their

destruction has not been sleeping.

4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,

putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment; 5if he did not

spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but

protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; 6if he

condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and

made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; 7and if he

rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of

lawless men 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was

tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9if

this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to

hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their

punishment. 10This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire

of the sinful nature and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;

11yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not

bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the

Lord. 12But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are

like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and

destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.

13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea

of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes,

reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. 14With eyes full of

adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are

experts in greed—an accursed brood! 15They have left the straight way and

wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of

wickedness. 16But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—a beast

without speech—who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's

madness.

17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest

darkness is reserved for them. 18For they mouth empty, boastful words and,

by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice

people who are just escaping from those who live in error. 19They promise

them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for a man is a

slave to whatever has mastered him. 20If they have escaped the corruption of

the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again

entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were

at the beginning. 21It would have been better for them not to have known the

way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on

the sacred command that was passed on to them. 22Of them the proverbs are

true: "A dog returns to its vomit,"and, "A sow that is washed goes back to

her wallowing in the mud."

2 Peter 3

14So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every

effort to be found spotless, blameless and at peace with him. 15Bear in mind

that our Lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also

wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16He writes the same way in all

his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some

things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people

distort, as they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17Therefore, dear friends, since you already know this, be on your guard so

that you may not be carried away by the error of lawless men and fall from

your secure position. 18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and

Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.