1 ¶ Simon Peter, slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those that have obtained like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:

This letter is from Simon Peter. I am a missionary of Jesus Christ and a servant owned by Him. I am writing to those who have received the same faith as ours which is of great worth and which no amount of money can buy. This faith comes from our God and Jesus Christ, the One Who saves.

2 G race and peace be multiplied unto you in the knowledge of God and of our Lord Jesus,

May you have more and more of His loving-favor and peace as you come to know God and our Lord Jesus Christ better. Christians Are to Grow

3 a s all things that pertain to life and to godliness are given us of his divine power, through the knowledge of him that has called us by his glory and virtue,

He gives us everything we need for life and for holy living. He gives it through His great power. As we come to know Him better, we learn that He called us to share His own shining-greatness and perfect life.

4 w hereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye might be made participants of the divine nature, having fled the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Through His shining-greatness and perfect life, He has given us promises. These promises are of great worth and no amount of money can buy them. Through these promises you can have God’s own life in you now that you have gotten away from the sinful things of the world which came from wrong desires of the flesh.

5 ¶ Ye also, giving all diligence to the same, show forth virtue in your faith; and in virtue, knowledge;

Do your best to add holy living to your faith. Then add to this a better understanding.

6 a nd in knowledge, temperance; and in temperance, patience; and in patience, fear of God;

As you have a better understanding, be able to say no when you need to. Do not give up. And as you wait and do not give up, live God-like.

7 a nd in fear of God, brotherly love; and in brotherly love, charity.

As you live God-like, be kind to Christian brothers and love them.

8 F or if these things are in you and abound, they shall not let you be idle nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

If you have all these things and keep growing in them, they will keep you from being of no use and from having no fruit when it comes to knowing our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 B ut he that lacks these things is blind and walks feeling the way with his hand, having forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

But if you do not have these things, you are blind and cannot see far. You forget God saved you from your old life of sin.

10 T herefore, brethren, give all the more diligence to make your calling and election sure; for doing these things, ye shall never fall.

Christian brothers, make sure you are among those He has chosen and called out for His own. As long as you do these things, you will never trip and fall.

11 B ecause in this manner the entrance shall be abundantly administered unto you in the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In this way, the road will be made wide open for you. And you will go into the holy nation that lasts forever of our Lord Jesus Christ, the One Who saves.

12 ¶ For this reason, I will not leave off reminding you always of these things, although ye know them and are established in the present truth.

You already know about these things but I want to keep telling you about them. You are strong in the faith now.

13 B ecause I have the right (as long as I am in this tabernacle) to stir you up by reminding you,

I think it is right as long as I am alive to keep you thinking about these things.

14 k nowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ has declared unto me.

I know that I will soon be leaving this body. Our Lord Jesus Christ has told me this.

15 I will also make sure with diligence that after my decease ye might remember these things.

I will try to make a way for you to remember these things after I am gone.

16 ¶ For we have not made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, following cunningly devised fables, but as eyewitnesses of his majesty.

We had nothing to do with man-made stories when we told you about the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and of His coming again. We have seen His great power with our own eyes.

17 F or he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

When He received honor and shining-greatness from God the Father, a voice came to Him from the All-powerful God, saying, “This is My much-loved Son. I am very happy with Him.”

18 A nd we heard this voice which came from heaven, when we were together with him in the holy mount.

We heard this voice come from heaven when we were with Christ on the holy mountain.

19 ¶ We have also the most sure word of the prophets, unto which ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star arises in your hearts,

All this helps us know that what the early preachers said was true. You will do well to listen to what they have said. Their words are as lights that shine in a dark place. Listen until you understand what they have said. Then it will be like the morning light which takes away the darkness. And the Morning Star (Christ) will rise to shine in your hearts.

20 u nderstanding this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

Understand this first: No part of the Holy Writings was ever made up by any man.

21 F or the prophecy did not come in times past by the will of man, but the holy men of God spoke being inspired by the Holy Spirit.

No part of the Holy Writings came long ago because of what man wanted to write. But holy men who belonged to God spoke what the Holy Spirit told them.