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The New Testament › 2 Peter

2 Peter 1

1Simeon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith of equal honor with ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.

3His divine power has given us everything needed for life and devotion to God through the knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. 4Through these he has given us precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become sharers in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through desire. 5For this very reason, make every effort to supply excellence in your faith, knowledge in your excellence, 6self-control in your knowledge, endurance in your self-control, devotion to God in your endurance, 7brotherly affection in your devotion to God, and love in your brotherly affection. 8For if these things are yours and increasing, they make you neither idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9For whoever lacks these things is blind, shortsighted, having forgotten the cleansing of past sins. 10Therefore, brothers, make all the more effort to confirm your calling and choosing, for if you do these things, you will never stumble. 11For in this way entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you.

12Therefore, I intend always to remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you have. 13I consider it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by a reminder, 14knowing that the putting off of my tent will be soon, just as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15I will also make every effort so that after my departure you can recall these things at any time.

16For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; we became eyewitnesses of his majesty. 17For he received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice like this was carried to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my Son, my beloved, in whom I am well pleased.” 18And we ourselves heard this voice carried from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. 19And we have the prophetic word made more certain. You do well to pay attention to it as to a lamp shining in a murky place, until day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. 20Know this above all: no prophecy of Scripture comes from one's own interpretation, 21for prophecy was never carried along by human will, but people spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Translation notes 6

1:1–2 — Simeon and divine titles. “Simeon” follows the form of the name in the Greek base; another reading has “Simon.” The construction “our God and Savior Jesus Christ” most naturally applies both titles to Jesus. Verse 2 separately names God and Jesus our Lord. “Faith of equal honor” emphasizes equal standing or value without specifying whether “ours” distinguishes apostles from other believers or one group of believers from another.

1:3–4 — Divine nature. The strong language of sharing in divine nature is retained without substituting either “becoming gods” or merely “becoming better people.” The context joins God's gift, promises, and escape from corruption. The identity of “the one who called us” is not made more explicit than in the Greek.

1:5–11 — Effort and confirmation. Excellence repeats the word used of the caller in verse 3. “Supply” in verse 5 recurs as “supplied” in verse 11. “Brothers” and “brotherly affection” include women in the community. “Confirm your calling and choosing” retains the demand without adding a doctrinal explanation of how conduct relates to divine choice. “Stumble” is not expanded into a claim of sinless perfection.

1:13–15 — Tent and departure. The tent pictures bodily life; putting it off and departure refer to death. “Soon” can alternatively mean “swift” or “sudden.” The text says Jesus made this known without identifying the occasion here.

1:16–19 — Witness and prophetic word. The heavenly speech is translated as this letter gives it, without harmonizing its exact wording with the Gospels. “Made more certain” takes the mountain experience as confirming the prophetic word; “we have the more certain prophetic word” and “we have the fully reliable prophetic word” are other interpretations. The lamp, dawn, and morning star remain distinct images.

1:20–21 — Interpretation and origin. “One's own interpretation” leaves the possessive general, but verse 21's explanation favors the origin of prophecy rather than a ban on individual readers interpreting Scripture. “The prophet's own interpretation” makes that preferred sense explicit; a reference to a reader's private interpretation is also defended. “Carried” connects the voice in verses 17–18 with the account of prophecy here.