For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow his steps,

but the inner life with the imperishable beauty of a quiet and gentle spirit; for this is very precious in God's sight.

For this is how the holy women before, who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands:

Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers.

not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but instead blessing; because to this were you called, that you may inherit a blessing.

But do this gently and respectfully, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak evil of your good conduct in the Messiah will be ashamed of slandering you.

This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you?not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Since then Christ has with respect to his mortal nature died for us, arm yourselves with this reflection, that he, who is dead with respect to sensuality, has renounced sin;

so that for the future he does not pass the rest of this life in gratifying his sensual passions, but in conformity to the divine precepts.

And they are wondering that you no longer go with them in this violent wasting of life, and are saying evil things of you:

For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.

If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God: if any man acts as a deacon, let him do this as from the strength which God supplies; that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and strength from age to age. Amen.

Dearly beloved, be not troubled in this heat, which now is come among you to try you, as though some strange thing had happened unto you:

But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name.

For this reason let those who by the purpose of God undergo punishment, keep on in well-doing and put their souls into the safe hands of their Maker.

I who am myself one of the rulers of the church, and a witness of the death of Christ, having my part in the coming glory, send this serious request to the chief men among you:

You should serve as shepherds of God's flock [i.e., the church], among whom you minister, providing careful oversight [of the people], not because you feel forced to, but because you want to, as this is in accordance with the way God wants it to be. Do not [serve as elders] simply out of a desire for the income you receive, but because your heart is in it.

For this cause make yourselves low under the strong hand of God, so that when the time comes you may be lifted up;

whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that it is for you to complete the same sufferings in this world along with your brotherhood.

Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand firm in it.

[This letter is being written by] Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith just as precious as ours, through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ.

Inasmuch as his power divine has bestowed on us every requisite for life and piety by the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence ??4 bestowing on us thereby promises precious and supreme, that by means of them you may escape the corruption produced within the world by lust, and participate in the divine nature ??5 for this very reason, do you contrive to make it your whole concern to furnish your faith with resolution, resolution with intelligence,

whereby superlatively great and precious promises are freely given to us: that by these ye might become partakers of a divine nature, having fled far away from the corruption that is in the world through inordinate concupiscence.??5 And for this very purpose employing the greatest diligence, lead up in the train of your faith courage; and with courage intelligence;

Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;

For [if] these [things] are yours and are increasing, this does not make [you] useless or unproductive in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

For this reason, my brothers, take all the more care to make your selection and approval certain; for if you do these things you will never have a fall:

Yea, and by this means an entering-in shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ.

Therefore I will always remind you of this, although you know it and are firmly grounded in the truth that you have.

I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you;

knowing that the deposition of this frail tabernacle of mine is hastily approaching, as our Lord Jesus Christ hath made evident to me.

Yes, and I will see to it that even when I am gone, you will keep this constantly in mind.

For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."

We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

And so we possess the word of prophecy made yet more sure. Unto this you do well to give heed as to a lamp shining in a dark place, till the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation.

for whilst this good man was among them, it daily pierc'd his virtuous soul, to see and hear of their detestable behaviour: this consider'd,

Since all this is so, the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from temptation, and on the other hand how to keep the unrighteous under punishment in readiness for the Day of Judgement,

[This fate will come upon] those people especially who corrupt themselves with physical desires and despise being ruled by others. They are daring, self-willed, and are not afraid to speak against glorious beings [i.e., angels],

Their eyes are filled with sexual lust, and they are never satisfied when it comes to sinning. They entice unstable people and have hearts trained to be greedy [i.e., they continually desire the possessions of others]. [In this condition] they are under God's curse.

liberty to them promising, themselves being servants of the corruption, for by whom any one hath been overcome, to this one also he hath been brought to servitude,

They are illustrations of this true proverb: "A dog returns to its own vomit," and "A sow, after washing herself, wallows in the mire."

This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you;

that ye may be mindful of the words formerly spoken by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour: knowing this first,

knowing this first, that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking and walking after their own lusts,

and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For, from since the fathers became asleep, all things continue this way from the beginning of creation.

For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God;

But do not forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief [i.e., unexpectedly]. At that time the heavens will pass away with a loud noise and the elements [Note: This refers either to the heavenly bodies or to the material components of the universe], will be dissolved with intense heat. And the earth and its works [i.e., its activities] will be burned up. [Note: Some translations render this phrase as it is in some ancient manuscripts, "will be disclosed," or "will be laid bare"].

Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness,

while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze!

Therefore, dear friends, while waiting for this, make every effort to be found by him unstained, irreproachable, and at peace.

Regard our Lord's forbearance as your one hope of Salvation. This is what our dear Brother Paul wrote to you, with the wisdom that God gave him.

He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, leading to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.

Ye therefore, beloved, knowing this before, be on your guard, that ye be not carried away with the delusion of these lawless men, and fall from your own stedfastness.

What existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands this is the Word of life!

This life was revealed to us, and we have seen it and testify about it. We declare to you this eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.

I repeat, it is what we have seen and heard that we now announce to you, so that you too may share this fellowship with us, for this fellowship that we have is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ;

and we write this to you to make your happiness complete.

This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

My dear children, I am writing you this so that you may not sin; yet if anyone does sin, we have in Jesus Christ one who is upright and will intercede for us with the Father.

This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.

The one who says "I have come to know him," and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this person.

But whoever keeps his word, God's love has truly been perfected in him. This is how we know that we are in him:

My loved ones, I do not give you a new law, but an old law which you had from the first; this old law is the word which came to your ears.

Yet, I am [also] writing to you about a new commandment [Note: This commandment was to love one another as Jesus loved them. See John 13:34]; its truth is [being demonstrated] by Christ [perfectly] and [also] by you people [in a lesser measure], because the darkness [of sin] is passing away, and the real light [of righteousness] is already shining [in people's lives].

He that saith how that he is in the light, and yet hateth his brother, is in darkness even until this time.

You should not love the [godless] world, nor the things [i.e., the materialistic values] that are part of this [present] age. If any person loves the world, a [genuine] love for the Father is not in his heart.

because this is all that is in the world; the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, which is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.

They went out from us, but they were not of us: for if they had been indeed of us, they would have continued with us; but this was done that they might be made manifest, because all, that are with us, are not indeed of us.

I have not sent you this letter because you have no knowledge of what is true, but because you have knowledge, and because that which is false has nothing in common with that which is true.

Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.

This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life.

I write you this with reference to those who are trying to mislead you.

The anointing you received from God abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this. Instead, because God's anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do.

If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of Him.

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Behold, how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God; and such we are. For this cause the world does not know us, because it did not know him.

beloved, we are now the sons of God, tho' it does not yet appear what we shall be: but we know, that when this change shall be, his immediate presence will give us a divine resemblance.

Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.

In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever does not do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who does not love his brother.

For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him?

And by this we will know that we are of the truth, and persuade our heart before him,

This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded us.

He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.

By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God,

and every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not of God; and this is that of the antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already.

They are of the world, and for this reason they speak as of the world, and the world listens to them.

We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

By this God's love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.

In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another.

By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.

In this love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so are we in this world.

Fear is not in this love; but the perfect love casteth out fear: for fear hath anguish. He that is afraid is not made perfect in love.

This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and do his commandments.

For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous.