For if you people have a lot of these [qualities] they will keep you from being unproductive and unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

So, brothers, be diligent to make sure of your calling and election [i.e., of your status as being selected by God], for when you do, you will never stumble [and fall away from God].

For Jesus had received honor and glory from God, the Father, when [God's] voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory saying, "This is my dearly loved Son, and I am very pleased with Him."

And we heard this voice coming from heaven when we were with Him in the holy mountain.

Above all, [you should realize] that no prophecy of Scripture originates from a person's own initiative [Note: This passage is discussing the source of Scripture, not the understanding of it].

For prophecy was never produced by the will of man, but people spoke from God, as they were carried along [i.e., inspired] by the Holy Spirit.

and if He did not spare the ancient world of Noah's day, when He brought a flood on those ungodly people (though Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven other people, were saved from it);

then the Lord [surely] knows how to rescue godly people from trying situations, and to keep unrighteous people under [a sentence of] punishment [to be received] on the judgment day.

They strayed away [from God] by taking the wrong road like Balaam, the son of Bosor did, who loved the reward for doing wrong.

But Balaam was rebuked for his own wrongdoing by a speechless donkey, who spoke out in a man's voice and prevented the prophet from continuing his foolishness.

[Although] their talk is big, what they say is worthless, and by [offering people] fleshly desires [i.e., sexual gratification], they lead people astray, who are barely escaping from the error of the world.

For if people who have escaped from the defiling practices of the world by coming to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, become tangled up in them again, and are overcome by them, these people are worse off than before they were converted.

It would have been better for them if they had not known the right way [to God] than, after knowing it, to turn back from the sacred message that had been presented to them.

Therefore, dearly loved ones, since you know about these things ahead of time, be on your guard so that you are not led astray by the error of lawless people, and [thus] fall from your own stability [i.e., your safe or secure position in Christ].