1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and Apostle of Jesus Christ, to those

who with us have a part in the same holy faith in the

righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:

1:2 May grace and peace ever be increasing in you, in the

knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

1:3 Because by his power he has given us everything necessary

for life and righteousness, through the knowledge of him who

has been our guide by his glory and virtue;

1:4 And through this he has given us the hope of great rewards

highly to be valued; so that by them we might have our part in

God's being, and be made free from the destruction which is in

the world through the desires of the flesh.

1:5 So, for this very cause, take every care; joining virtue to

faith, and knowledge to virtue,

1:6 And self-control to knowledge, and a quiet mind to

self-control, and fear of God to a quiet mind,

1:7 And love of the brothers to fear of God, and to love of the

brothers, love itself.

1:8 For if you have these things in good measure, they will make

you fertile and full of fruit in the knowledge of our Lord

Jesus Christ.

1:9 For the man who has not these things is blind, seeing only

what is near, having no memory of how he was made clean from

his old sins.

1:10 For this reason, my brothers, take all the more care to

make your selection and approval certain; for if you do these

things you will never have a fall:

1:11 For so the way will be open to you into the eternal kingdom

of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

1:12 For this reason I will be ready at all times to keep your

memory of these things awake, though you have the knowledge of

them now and are well based in your present faith.

1:13 And it seems right to me, as long as I am in this tent of

flesh, to keep your minds awake by working on your memory;

1:14 For I am conscious that in a short time I will have to put

off this tent of flesh, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear

to me.

1:15 And I will take every care so that you may have a clear

memory of these things after my death.

1:16 For when we gave you news of the power and the coming of

our Lord Jesus Christ, our teaching was not based on stories

put together by art, but we were eye-witnesses of his glory.

1:17 For God the Father gave him honour and glory, when such a

voice came to him out of the great glory, saying, This is my

dearly loved Son, with whom I am well pleased.

1:18 And this voice came from heaven even to our ears, when we

were with him on the holy mountain.

1:19 And so the words of the prophets are made more certain; and

it is well for you to give attention to them as to a light

shining in a dark place, till the dawn comes and the morning

star is seen in your hearts;

1:20 Being conscious in the first place that no man by himself

may give a special sense to the words of the prophets.

1:21 For these words did not ever come through the impulse of

men: but the prophets had them from God, being moved by the

Holy Spirit.

2:1 But there were false prophets among the people, as there

will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward

wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from

the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come

quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it.

2:2 And a great number will go with them in their evil ways,

through whom the true way will have a bad name.

2:3 And in their desire for profit they will come to you with

words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls: whose

punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction

is watching for them.

2:4 For if God did not have pity for the angels who did evil,

but sent them down into hell, to be kept in chains of eternal

night till they were judged;

2:5 And did not have mercy on the world which then was, but only

kept safe Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others,

when he let loose the waters over the world of the evil-doers;

2:6 And sent destruction on Sodom and Gomorrah, burning them up

with fire as an example to those whose way of life might in the

future be unpleasing to him;

2:7 And kept safe Lot, the upright man, who was deeply troubled

by the unclean life of the evil-doers

2:8 (Because the soul of that upright man living among them was

pained from day to day by seeing and hearing their crimes):

2:9 The Lord is able to keep the upright safe in the time of

testing, and to keep evil-doers under punishment till the day

of judging;

2:10 But specially those who go after the unclean desires of the

flesh, and make sport of authority. Ready to take chances,

uncontrolled, they have no fear of saying evil of those in high

places:

2:11 Though the angels, who are greater in strength and power,

do not make use of violent language against them before the

Lord.

2:12 But these men, like beasts without reason, whose natural

use is to be taken and put to death, crying out against things

of which they have no knowledge, will undergo that same

destruction which they are designing for others;

2:13 For the evil which overtakes them is the reward of their

evil-doing: such men take their pleasure in the delights of the

flesh even in the daytime; they are like the marks of a

disease, like poisoned wounds among you, feasting together with

you in joy;

2:14 Having eyes full of evil desire, never having enough of

sin; turning feeble souls out of the true way; they are

children of cursing, whose hearts are well used to bitter envy;

2:15 Turning out of the true way, they have gone wandering in

error, after the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who was

pleased to take payment for wrongdoing;

2:16 But his wrongdoing was pointed out to him: an ass, talking

with a man's voice, put a stop to the error of the prophet.

2:17 These are fountains without water, and mists before a

driving storm; for whom the eternal night is kept in store.

2:18 For with high-sounding false words, making use of the

attraction of unclean desires of the flesh, they get into their

power those newly made free from those who are living in error;

2:19 Saying that they will be free, while they themselves are

the servants of destruction; because whatever gets the better

of a man makes a servant of him.

2:20 For if, after they have got free from the unclean things of

the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus

Christ, they are again taken in the net and overcome, their

last condition is worse than their first.

2:21 For it would have been better for them to have had no

knowledge of the way of righteousness, than to go back again

from the holy law which was given to them, after having

knowledge of it.

2:22 They are an example of that true saying, The dog has gone

back to the food it had put out, and the pig which had been

washed to its rolling in the dirty earth.

3:1 My loved ones, this is now my second letter to you, and in

this as in the first, I am attempting to keep your true minds

awake;

3:2 So that you may keep in mind the words of the holy prophets

in the past, and the law of the Lord and Saviour which was

given to you by his Apostles.

3:3 Having first of all the knowledge that in the last days

there will be men who, ruled by their evil desires, will make

sport of holy things,

3:4 Saying, Where is the hope of his coming? From the death of

the fathers till now everything has gone on as it was from the

making of the world.

3:5 But in taking this view they put out of their minds the

memory that in the old days there was a heaven, and an earth

lifted out of the water and circled by water, by the word of

God;

3:6 And that the world which then was came to an end through the

overflowing of the waters.

3:7 But the present heaven and the present earth have been kept

for destruction by fire, which is waiting for them on the day

of the judging and destruction of evil men.

3:8 But, my loved ones, keep in mind this one thing, that with

the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a

thousand years are no more than one day.

3:9 The Lord is not slow in keeping his word, as he seems to

some, but he is waiting in mercy for you, not desiring the

destruction of any, but that all may be turned from their evil

ways.

3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; and in that

day the heavens will be rolled up with a great noise, and the

substance of the earth will be changed by violent heat, and the

world and everything in it will be burned up.

3:11 Seeing then that all these things are coming to such an

end, what sort of persons is it right for you to be, in all

holy behaviour and righteousness,

3:12 Looking for and truly desiring the coming of the day of

God, when the heavens will come to an end through fire, and the

substance of the earth will be changed by the great heat?

3:13 But having faith in his word, we are looking for a new

heaven and a new earth, which will be the resting-place of

righteousness.

3:14 For this reason, my loved ones, as you are looking for

these things, take great care that when he comes you may be in

peace before him, free from sin and every evil thing.

3:15 And be certain that the long waiting of the Lord is for

salvation; even as our brother Paul has said in his letters to

you, from the wisdom which was given to him;

3:16 And as he said in all his letters, which had to do with

these things; in which are some hard sayings, so that, like the

rest of the holy Writings, they are twisted by those who are

uncertain and without knowledge, to the destruction of their

souls.

3:17 For this reason, my loved ones, having knowledge of these

things before they take place, take care that you are not

turned away by the error of the uncontrolled, so falling from

your true faith.

3:18 But be increased in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord

and Saviour Jesus Christ. May he have glory now and for ever.

So be it.