Written for Jesus’ Apostle Peter, possibly in Aramaic, sometime before his death in or near Babylon around 66-CE.
Chapter 1
1 Simon
Peter, a slave and Apostle of Jesus the Anointed One,
to all those that are precious to us and have received their share of faith
by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus
the Anointed One;
2 May you grow in loving care and peace by coming to a higher knowledge
of The God, and of
our Lord Jesus.
3 For He has
granted us all of His Divine Power when it comes to [clean] living and
godliness through the knowledge of the one that called us to his own glory and
virtue, 4 and through whom He
has 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.
5
And then, after you’ve zealously done all of this,
Add virtue to your faith,
Knowledge to [your] virtue,
6
Self-control to [your] knowledge,
Endurance to [your] self-control,
Piety to
[your] endurance,
7
Brotherly-love to [your] piety,
And pure love to
[your] brotherly love.
8 For if you’re filled and overflowing with these things, they will 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.
9 However, there are those in whom these qualities are not present, for they’ve proven to be short-sighted and they’ve forgotten how they had once been purified, so they’ve returned to their old sinful ways!
10
Therefore, 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, 11
and you’ll be richly supplied with entry into the age-long
Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the
Anointed.
12 This 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.
13 However, as long as I must
live in this temporary
dwelling, I will consider it righteous to shake you and remind you, 14 since I realize that this ‘tent’ will
soon be set aside, as our Lord Jesus the Anointed One has indicated to me.
15 Therefore, I’m going to do everything
that I can whenever I can, so that you’ll keep on reminding each other of these
things after I’m gone.
16
Now, 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!
17 For 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!’
18 Yes, we
heard these words from heaven itself as we were there with him on the Holy
Mountain!
19 And by this, we
had the prophetic words made surer to us.
So, you will 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.
20
Understand this:
None of the prophecies in the Scriptures came from [anyone’s
own] ideas, 21 nor [were they
spoken] just because some men wanted to prophesy.
Rather, men spoke from God as
they were being born along by [His] Holy Breath.
Chapter 2
1 However,
there have also been false prophets among the people, just as there will be
false teachers among you.
These will introduce destructive heresies and deny the master
that bought them, which will bring swift destruction upon them.
2 Yet, many
will follow them into their dirty deeds.
And because of this, the way of the truth will be slandered.
3 Also, since such ones will desire
whatever you have, they will worm their way [in among you] with carefully-planned
words.
However, the ancient judgment upon them will not be delayed and their
destruction hasn’t fallen asleep.
4 Notice that God didn’t spare the angels that sinned, for He threw them into the dark pits of Tartarus where they are still awaiting His justice.
5 Nor did He spare the first system of things…
Though He guarded Noah (who was a
preacher of righteousness) along with seven others, when He brought a downpour upon that world of godless people.
6 Also,
after He condemned the cities Sodom and GomorRah, He reduced them to ashes.
And
all of these things are examples of what is going to happen to such godless people!
7 Yet,
remember that [God] protected righteous Lot, who was deeply disturbed by the
lewd actions of those lawless individuals.
8
For the wicked things that this man saw and heard each day while he was living
among them tortured his righteous soul.
9 So, [understand that] the Lord knows how to rescue devout people from trials, while he keeps the unrighteous for a day of judgment when they will be destroyed.
10 This is
especially true of those that chase after flesh in filthy acts of lust and who
despise divine appointments…
the self-willed who don’t tremble when they speak ill of the glorious ones.
11 However, even the messengers [of God]
(who are much stronger and more powerful than them) wouldn’t think of looking
down on such [glorious] ones, for fear of being judged as blasphemers by the
Lord.
12 So,
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 will rot in their filth.
13 Yes, 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 are spots and flaws that enjoy doing anything that
they feel tempted to do, as they feast among you!
14 Such ones have eyes that are always full of adultery and
sins, as they try to tempt those that are weak.
Yes, their hearts have been
trained to want things that aren’t theirs, and they [give birth to] children
that are cursed.
15 For 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, 16
but was scolded for going beyond the limits by a farm animal that couldn’t
speak…
Yet it did speak in a man’s voice and it stopped that crazy prophet!
17 Such
people are like springs without any water and like clouds being blown by storms
that are reserved for the gloom of darkness.
18
Yet 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 that are fleeing [this system of things] back into doing things that are wrong.
19 They keep promising them freedom, while
they are personally slaves to filth…
For whoever is conquered by another, becomes
his slave.
20 Understand that anyone that has 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].
21 Therefore, it would be better for such
ones if they had never learned about the ways of righteousness
than to have turned from it after they’ve been taught the ways of Holiness!
22 So what happens to them is as the
proverb truthfully says:
‘The dog has returned to its own vomit, and the sow
that was bathed to rolling in its manure.’
Chapter 3
1 My 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 2 never forget what the holy Prophets used
to say, or any of the commandments that our Lord and Savior gave to us through
[his] Apostles.
3 Recognize
this:
In the last days there will be those that
will ridicule… they’ll go their own way and do whatever they want, 4 then they’ll mock you by asking,
‘So,
where is this appearance of his that they’ve been
promising since our ancestors fell asleep?
For everything is still the same as
it has been since the beginning of creation!’
5 However,
what is hidden from them is this:
Though the ancient skies
and lands were out of the water; by the Word of God, they still stood
between the waters.
6 And it
was through this that the world back then was flooded and destroyed by water.
7 Likewise, 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 destroyed.
8 But loved
ones;
Don’t overlook the fact that one day to Jehovah is as a thousand years (or, thousands of years), and a thousand years (or,
thousands of years) as just one day.
9
For the Lord 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
destroyed…
He’s allowing enough time for everyone to repent!
10 However, the Day of the Lord will come 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 will be exposed!
11 So, since
all of this is about to be dissolved;
What sort of people should you be when it comes to holy conduct and godliness?
12
Yes, 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!
13 But we’re also awaiting the new skies
and lands that He has promised in which righteousness
will dwell!
14
Therefore, loved ones;
Since we are [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!
15 You
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 has been given 16 and which he speaks about in all of his
letters.
Yes, some of [what he writes] is hard to understand, so it is being
twisted by the ignorant and unstable, the same as they are doing to the rest of
the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 So 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.
18
Rather, keep growing in the loving care and in the
knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Anointed
One.
May he be glorified now and into that age-long
Day.