From: Simeon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus, the Messiah. To: Those who have received faith that is as valuable as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.

Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires.

For the person who lacks these qualities is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing that he has received from his past sins.

Therefore, I intend to keep on reminding you about these things, even though you already know them and are firmly established in the truth that you now have.

because I know that the removal of my bodily tent will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, has shown me.

And I will make every effort to see that you will always remember these things after I am gone.

We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

Therefore we regard the message of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp that is shining in a gloomy place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions

These people, like irrational animals, are mere creatures of instinct that are born to be caught and killed. They insult what they don't understand, and like animals they, too, will be destroyed,

But he was rebuked for his offense. A donkey that normally cannot talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's insanity.

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them.

The proverb is true that describes what has happened to them: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud."

But they deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed by God's word out of water and with water,

by which the world at that time was deluged with water and destroyed.

Now by that same word, the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will disappear with a roaring sound, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed.

Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah. Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen.