¹Simon Peter, a slave and Apostle of Jesus the Anointed One, to all those who are precious to us and have received their share of faith by the righteousness of our Lord^[Syr] and Savior, Jesus the Anointed One:²May you grow in loving care and peace by coming to a higher knowledge of The God, and of our Lord Jesus.³For He’s granted us all of His Divine Power when it comes to [clean] living and godliness, through the knowledge of the one who called us to his own glory and virtue... ⁴and through whom He’s given us the most precious and greatest promises, so that through these things you might become sharers in the divine nature – now that you’ve left the corrupt desires of this system of things!⁵And then, after you’ve zealously done all of this...Add virtue to your faith, Knowledge to [your] virtue, ⁶Self-control to [your] knowledge, Endurance to [your] self-control, Piety to [your] endurance, ⁷Brotherly-love to [your] piety, And pure love to [your] brotherly love.⁸For if you’re filled and overflowing with these things, they’ll keep you from being lazy or from failing to produce fruitage when it comes to gaining a higher knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Anointed One.⁹However, there are those who don’t have these qualities; they’ve proven to be short-sighted and they’ve forgotten how they’d once been purified, so they’ve returned to their old sinful ways!¹⁰Therefore, brothers... Be zealous when it comes to making your calling and electing a sure thing!For if you can do that, you’ll never stumble, ¹¹and you’ll be richly supplied with entry into the age-long Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Anointed.¹²This is why I always want to remind you of these things, despite the fact that you already know [them] and are firmly rooted in the truth.¹³However, as long as I must live in this temporary dwelling, I’ll consider it righteous to shake you and remind you, ¹⁴since I realize that this ‘tent’ will soon be set aside – as our Lord Jesus the Anointed One has indicated to me.¹⁵Therefore, I’m going to do everything I can, whenever I can, so that you’ll keep on reminding each other of these things after I’m gone.¹⁶Now, what we’ve told you about the power and appearance of the Lord Jesus the Anointed One wasn’t some myth that we just made up... Rather, we were eyewitnesses to his magnificence!¹⁷For he was honored and glorified by God, the Father, through a voice that came to him, which glorified him in an appropriate way when it said:‘This is My Son whom I love and of whom I have approved.’ [Matthew 17:5]¹⁸Yes, we heard these words from heaven itself as we were there with him on the Holy Mountain, ¹⁹and by this, we had the prophetic words made surer to us.So... You’ll do well to pay attention to them!For [these words] are like a lamp that will illuminate the dark places until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts.²⁰Understand this:None of the prophecies in the Scriptures came from [anyone’s own] ideas, ²¹nor [were they spoken] just because some men wanted to prophesy.Rather, holy men spoke from God as they were being lead by [His] Holy Breath.

¹However, just as there were false prophets in the world, there’ll be false teachers among you! They’ll introduce ruinous heresies and deny the master who bought them, which will bring swift ruin upon themselves.²Yet, many will follow them into their disgusting ways. And because of this, the way of the truth will be slandered. ³Also, because they’ll desire whatever you have, they’ll worm their way [in among you] with carefully-planned words.However, the ancient judgment upon them won’t be delayed, and their destruction hasn’t fallen asleep.⁴Notice that God didn’t spare the [spirit] messengers who sinned, for He threw them into the dark pits of ‘Tartarus’ where they’re still awaiting His justice.⁵Nor did He spare the first system of things… Although He guarded Noah (who was a preacher of righteousness) along with seven others, when He brought a downpour upon that world of godless people.⁶Also, after He condemned the cities Sodom and GomorRah, He reduced them to ashes.And all of these things are examples of what’s going to happen to such godless people!⁷Yet, remember that [God] protected righteous Lot, who was deeply disturbed by the lewd actions of those lawless individuals. ⁸For the wicked things that this man saw and heard each day while he was living among them tortured his righteous soul.⁹So, [understand that] Jehovah knows how to rescue devout people from trials, while he keeps the unrighteous for a day of judgment when they’ll be punished.¹⁰This is especially true of those who chase after flesh in filthy acts of lust and who despise [divine] authority… The self-willed who don’t tremble when they speak ill of the glorious ones.¹¹Even the messengers [of God] (who are much stronger and more powerful than they are) wouldn’t commit such blasphemy before Jehovah!¹²So, people like that are like unreasoning animals that were born to be caught and killed. And because they speak badly of things that they don’t understand, they’ll rot in their filth.¹³Yes, the payback for their unrighteousness is the mistreatment of themselves!For what brings pleasure to these people is just spending their days in luxury… They’re spots and flaws that enjoy doing anything that they feel tempted to do, as they feast among you!¹⁴Such ones have eyes that are always full of adultery and sins, as they try to tempt those who are weak.Yes, their hearts have been trained to want things that aren’t theirs, and they [give birth to] children who are cursed. ¹⁵For they’ve been led away from the straight path and are directed onto the course of BalaAm [the son] of BeOr, who loved the reward for doing what was wrong, ¹⁶but was scolded for going beyond the limits by a farm animal which couldn’t speak… Yet it did speak in a man’s voice – and it stopped that crazy prophet!¹⁷Such people are like springs without any water, and like clouds being blown by storms that are reserved for the gloom of darkness.¹⁸Yet they talk in big ways about stupid things, as they try to tempt [people] into following human desires and loose lifestyles… Yes, they turn the little ones who are fleeing [this system of things] back into doing things that are wrong.¹⁹They keep promising them freedom, while they’re personally slaves to filth… For whoever is conquered by another, becomes his slave.²⁰Understand that anyone who’s escaped from the filth of this system of things by coming to an accurate knowledge of our Lord and Savior (Jesus the Anointed) and then turns back to it, is conquered by it again and is worse off than he was before [he became a Christian]!²¹Therefore, it would be better for such ones if they’d never learned about the ways of righteousness than to have turned from it after they’ve been taught the ways of Holiness!²²So what happens to them is just as the proverb truthfully says, that the dog...‘returned to its vomit’ [Proverbs 26:11]... and the washed pig [returns] to wallowing in the filth!

¹My loved ones:This is now the second letter that I’ve written to you.In the first letter, I tried to shake you into thinking clearly and remind you to ²never forget what the holy prophets used to say, or any of the commandments that our Lord and Savior gave to us through [his] Apostles.³Recognize this:In the last days there’ll be those who’ll ridicule… They’ll go their own way and do whatever they want, ⁴then they’ll mock you by asking:‘So, where is his appearance that they’ve been promising since our ancestors fell asleep?‘For everything is still the same as it’s been since the beginning of creation!’⁵However, what’s hidden from them is this:Even though the ancient skies and lands were out of the water, by the Word of God, they still stood between the waters. ⁶And it was through this that the world back then was flooded and destroyed by water.⁷Likewise, it’s by this same Word that what’s in store for the skies and the lands today is the fire of the Judgment Day, when those godless men will be ruined!⁸But loved ones:Don’t overlook the fact that one day to Jehovah is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day [paraphrase of Psalm 90:4].⁹For Jehovah isn’t slow when it comes to His promises, as some people think. Rather, He’s being patient with you, because He doesn’t want anyone to be lost… He’s allowing enough time for everyone to repent!¹⁰However, the Day of the Lord will come [unexpectedly] just like a thief! And then the skies will become extremely hot, their basic parts will melt, and they will all pass away with a hissing noise…Then the earth and everything that’s being done on it’ll be exposed!¹¹So, since all of this is about to be dissolved, what sort of people should you be when it comes to holy conduct and godliness?¹²Yes, we’re awaiting and anticipating the appearance of the Day of the Lord, during which...‘...the skies will burn and dissolve and their basic parts will melt...’...due to the intense heat. [paraphrase of Isaiah 34:4]¹³But we’re also awaiting the new skies and lands that He’s promised in which righteousness will dwell!¹⁴Therefore, loved ones:Since we’re [truly] expecting these things, we should be swift about making ourselves flawless and spotless, so we’ll be found to be at peace with him!¹⁵You should think about the patience that our Lord is showing when it comes to our salvation… Which is something that our beloved brother Paul wrote to you about through the [special] wisdom that he’s been given ¹⁶and which he speaks about in all of his letters.Yes, some of [what he writes] is hard to understand, so it’s being twisted by the ignorant and unstable, the same as they’re doing to the rest of the Scriptures, to their own ruin.¹⁷So to you, my loved ones:Since you’ve been warned, be careful that you aren’t led astray by the bad things that these lawless people are doing and then lose your grip on your firm convictions!¹⁸Rather, keep growing in the loving care and knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Anointed One.May he be glorified now and into that age-long Day.May it be so!