2 Peter 1:12-3:18

Contemporary English Version

¹² You are holding firmly to the truth you were given. But I am still going to remind you of these things. ¹³ In fact, I think I should keep on reminding you until I leave this body. ¹⁴ And our Lord Jesus Christ has already told me that I will soon leave it behind. ¹⁵ This is why I am doing my best to make sure that each of you remembers all of this after I am gone.

The Message about the Glory of Christ

¹⁶ When we told you about the power and the return of our Lord Jesus Christ, we were not telling clever stories someone had made up. But with our own eyes we saw his true greatness. ^17 (A) God, our great and wonderful Father, truly honored him by saying, “This is my own dear Son, and I am pleased with him.” ¹⁸ We were there with Jesus on the holy mountain and heard this voice speak from heaven.

¹⁹ All of this makes us even more certain that what the prophets said is true. So you should pay close attention to their message, as you would to a lamp shining in some dark place. You must keep on paying attention until daylight comes and the morning star rises in your hearts. ²⁰ But you need to realize that no one alone can understand any of the prophecies in the Scriptures. ²¹ The prophets did not think these things up on their own, but they were guided by the Spirit of God.

False Prophets and Teachers

2 Sometimes false prophets spoke to the people of Israel. False teachers will also sneak in and speak harmful lies to you. But these teachers don't really belong to the Master who paid a great price for them, and they will quickly destroy themselves. ² Many people will follow their evil ways and cause others to tell lies about the true way. ³ They will be greedy and cheat you with smooth talk. But long ago God decided to punish them, and God doesn't sleep.

⁴ God did not have pity on the angels that sinned. He had them tied up and thrown into the dark pits of hell until the time of judgment. ^5 (B) And during Noah's time, God did not have pity on the ungodly people of the world. He destroyed them with a flood, though he did save eight people, including Noah, who preached the truth.

^6 (C) God punished the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah^[a] by burning them to ashes, and this is a warning to anyone else who wants to sin.

^7-8 (D) Lot lived right and was greatly troubled by the terrible way those wicked people were living. He was a good man, and day after day he suffered because of the evil things he saw and heard. So the Lord rescued him. ⁹ This shows that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their sufferings and to punish evil people while they wait for the day of judgment.

¹⁰ The Lord is especially hard on people who disobey him and don't think of anything except their own filthy desires. They are reckless and proud and are not afraid of cursing the glorious beings in heaven. ¹¹ Although angels are more powerful than these evil beings,^[b] even the angels don't dare to accuse them to the Lord.

¹² These people are no better than senseless animals that live by their feelings and are born to be caught and killed. They speak evil of things they don't know anything about. But their own corrupt deeds will destroy them. ¹³ They have done evil, and they will be rewarded with evil.

They think it is fun to have wild parties during the day. They are immoral, and the meals they eat with you are spoiled by the shameful and selfish way they carry on.^{[c] 14} All they think about is having sex with someone else's husband or wife. There is no end to their wicked deeds. They trick people who are easily fooled, and their minds are filled with greedy thoughts. But they are headed for trouble!

^15 (E) They have left the true road and have gone down the wrong path by following the example of the prophet Balaam. He was the son of Beor and loved what he got from being a crook. ¹⁶ But a donkey corrected him for this evil deed. It spoke to him with a human voice and made him stop his foolishness.

¹⁷ These people are like dried up water holes and clouds blown by a windstorm. The darkest part of hell is waiting for them. ¹⁸ They brag out loud about their stupid nonsense. And by being vulgar and crude, they trap people who have barely escaped from living the wrong kind of life. ¹⁹ They promise freedom to everyone. But they are merely slaves of filthy living, because people are slaves of whatever controls them.

²⁰ When they learned about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they escaped from the filthy things of this world. But they are again caught up and controlled by these filthy things, and now they are in worse shape than they were at first. ²¹ They would have been better off if they had never known about the right way. Even after they knew what was right, they turned their backs on the holy commandments they were given. ^22 (F) What happened to them is just like the true saying,

The Lord Will Return

3 My dear friends, this is the second letter I have written to encourage you to do some honest thinking. I don't want you to forget ² what God's prophets said would happen. You must never forget what the holy prophets taught in the past. And you must remember what the apostles told you our Lord and Savior has commanded us to do.

^3 (G) But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you ⁴ and say, “Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit.”

^5 (H) They will say this because they want to forget that long ago the heavens and the earth were made at God's command. The earth came out of water and was made from water. ^6 (I) Later it was destroyed by the waters of a mighty flood. ⁷ But God has commanded the present heavens and earth to remain until the day of judgment. Then they will be set on fire, and ungodly people will be destroyed.

^8 (J) Dear friends, don't forget that for the Lord one day is the same as 1,000 years, and 1,000 years is the same as one day. ⁹ The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.

^10 (K) The day of the Lord's return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe.^[d] Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are.^[e]

¹¹ Everything will be destroyed. So you should serve and honor God by the way you live. ¹² You should look forward to the day when God judges everyone, and you should try to make it come soon.^[f] On that day the heavens will be destroyed by fire, and everything else will melt in the heat. ^13 (L) But God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth, where justice will rule. We are really looking forward to this!

¹⁴ My friends, while you are waiting, you should make certain the Lord finds you pure, spotless, and living at peace. ¹⁵ Don't forget that the Lord is patient because he wants people to be saved. This is also what our dear friend Paul said when he wrote you with the wisdom God had given him. ¹⁶ Paul talks about these same things in all his letters, but part of what he says is hard to understand. Some ignorant and unsteady people even destroy themselves by twisting what he said. They do the same thing with other Scriptures too.

¹⁷ My dear friends, you have been warned ahead of time! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance. ¹⁸ Let the gift of undeserved grace and the understanding that come from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ help you keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and forever! Amen.^[g]