- 2 Peter
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The Apostle Peter wrote letters to his fellow believers. We call this letter
2 Peter
2 Peter 1:1-2
I, Simon Peter, am writing this letter to you whom God has caused to believe in Christ just like we apostles believe in Christ. I pray that God will bless you greatly.
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1 I, Simon Peter, am writing this letter to you. I serve Jesus Christ, and am an apostle appointed by him. I am sending this letter to you whom God has caused to believe in Christ just like he caused us(exc) apostles to believe in Christ. You and we have ◄equally been given the/both been given the same► privilege of believing in Jesus Christ. He is God, he is righteous, he is the one whom we worship, and he is our Savior. 2 I pray that God will continue to act very kindly towards you, and give you ◄a deep/very much► inner peace, because you truly know God and Jesus, who is our Lord.
2 Peter 1:3-4
God has given us everything that we need to receive eternal life and to live godly lives.
3 God [PRS] has given us everything that we need in order that we might receive eternal life and in order that we might conduct our lives ◄in a godly way/in a way that pleases him►. He gives us that by the power that he has because he is God, and he has also given it to us as a result of our knowing him. He is the one who by his own glorious/wonderful and perfect nature chose us to be his people. 4 By means of this glorious and perfect nature, he has promised us that he will do very great and ◄priceless/very precious► things for us. He has also promised to you that by believing what he has promised you will be able to act righteously, just like God acts righteously, and that you will be free from being morally depraved/corrupted, and that you will not be like those who do not believe in Christ and are morally depraved because of their desire to do what is evil.
2 Peter 1:5-11
Exert yourselves to the utmost to develop a stable Christian character.
5 Because God has done all that, ◄by exerting yourselves strenuously/by trying very hard►, make sure that you not only believe in Christ, but that you are also living morally good lives. And make sure that you are not only living morally good lives, but that you also know what God desires (OR, behave wisely). 6 And make sure that you not only know what God desires (OR, behave wisely) but that you also control what you say and do. And make sure that you not only control what you say and do, but that you are also steadfast. And make sure that you are not only ◄steadfast/patient when you suffer►, but that you are also godly. 7 And make sure that you not only ◄are godly/conduct your lives in a way that pleases God►, but that you also have a concern for your fellow believers, as brothers and sisters ought to have for each other. And make sure that you not only have a concern for your fellow believers, but that you also love others. 8 If you do these things, and if you do them more and more, that demonstrates that knowing our Lord Jesus Christ ◄is very effective/produces good results► [LIT] in your lives. 9 If these qualities are not present in people, it means they are not aware that these things are important, just like a blind person is not aware of what is around him. They think only about earthly matters, just like [MET] a shortsighted person sees clearly only things that are near. It seems that they have forgotten that God has forgiven them for their former sinful lives. 10 Instead of acting like those people, try to confirm/prove by the way you conduct your lives that you are among those whom God has chosen [DOU] to be his people. If you do that, you will certainly never become separated from God, 11 and God will very wholeheartedly welcome you into the place where our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will rule his people forever.
2 Peter 1:12-15
I intend to keep reminding you very frequently about these matters.
12 I intend to keep on reminding you very frequently [HYP] about these matters, even though you already know them and are firmly convinced that they are true. 13 I consider it right that I should help you to continually think about these matters by reminding you about them as long as I am alive [EUP], 14 because I know that I shall die [EUP] soon, just like our Lord Jesus Christ clearly has revealed to me. 15 Moreover, I will ◄make every effort/try hard► by writing these things down to enable you to remember them at all times after I have died [EUP].
2 Peter 1:16-21
You can be sure that these matters are true, because we apostles ourselves witnessed that our Lord Jesus Christ is supremely great, and also because what the prophets say about him is completely reliable.
16 We apostles told you that our Lord Jesus Christ acts powerfully and that he is coming back some day. We were not basing what we told you on stories that we had cleverly ◄invented/made up►. Instead, we told you what we ourselves saw with our own eyes, that the Lord Jesus is supremely great. 17 God, our Father, greatly honored him when God's great glory/brightness surrounded him, and God [MTY] said, “This is my Son, whom I love very much; I am very pleased with him.” 18 We (exc) ourselves heard God [MTY] say that from heaven, when we were with Christ on that holy/sacred mountain. 19 We also have what the prophets wrote about Christ long ago, which is completely reliable/trustworthy. You should ◄pay attention to/think carefully about► what they wrote, because what they wrote enables you to know whether what is taught to you is true or whether it is false [SIM], like a lamp that is shining in a dark place enables people to see where they are going. [SIM] You should ◄ pay attention to/think carefully about► what they wrote until our Lord Jesus Christ comes back and enables you [SYN] to know God fully, which will be like when [MET] ◄a day dawns/daylight comes► and the morning star rises and we can see it clearly. 20 It is important that you realize that no one can interpret/explain by himself the meaning of what the prophets wrote in the Scriptures without the help of God's Spirit (OR, no part of the Scriptures originated with the prophet himself), 21 because no human beings decided to make those prophecies. On the contrary, those who spoke messages from God did that because it was the Holy Spirit who caused them to do it, and therefore the Spirit must help us to interpret/understand their meaning.

- 2 Peter
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Note: The Old Testament in this translation is still being worked on, and is in draft form. Updates will be posted at eBible.org/t4t/.

© 2008-2017 Ellis W. Deibler, Jr.