2 Peter 1 Cross References - Williams

¹ Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have obtained the same precious faith that we have: ² spiritual blessing and peace be to you in increasing abundance through a full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; ³ because His divine power has given us everything that is needful for life and piety, through our full knowledge of Him who through His glory and excellence has called us to Him. ⁴ It is through these that He has given us His precious and glorious promises, so that through them, after you have escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires, you may come to share in the divine nature. ⁵ Now for this very reason you must do your level best to supplement your faith with moral character, moral character with knowledge, ⁶ knowledge with self-control, self-control with patient endurance, patient endurance with piety, ⁷ piety with brotherly affection, brotherly affection with universal love. ⁸ For if you have these qualities and they continue to increase in you, they will make you neither idle nor unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is blind -- or short-sighted-- and forgetful of the cleansing that he has received from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more in earnest to make certain to yourselves God's call and choice of you. For if you cultivate these qualities, you will never slip, ¹¹ for it is in this way that to you will be generously granted a triumphant admittance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. ¹² Therefore, I will always remind you of these things, although you know them and are firmly grounded in the truth that you already have. ¹³ Yet I think it right, as long as I live in this bodily tent, to arouse you by a reminder, ¹⁴ because I know that the removal of my bodily tent is to be very soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. ¹⁵ Yes, I will be in earnest, so that every time you have occasion, after I have gone away, you may call these things to mind. ¹⁶ For it was not mere stories of fancy that we followed when we told you of the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we had been eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷ For when He received such honor and glory from God the Father, when from the majestic glory there was borne to Him a voice like this, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I take delight," ¹⁸ we heard this voice ourselves borne from heaven while we were with Him on that sacred mountain. ¹⁹ So we have the message of the prophets more certainly guaranteed. Please pay attention to this message as to a lamp that is shining in a dismal place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts; ²⁰ because you recognize this truth above all else, that no prophecy in Scripture is to be interpreted by one's own mind, ²¹ for no prophecy has ever yet originated in man's will, but men who were led by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

¹⁷ and a voice from heaven said, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am delighted!"

¹⁶ The people that were living in darkness have seen a great light, and on those that were living in the land of the shadow of death; a light has dawned."

¹⁸ As He was walking by the shore of the sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon who was summed Peter, and his brother Andrew, casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen.

²⁴ "So everyone who listens to my words and practices their teaching, will be like a prudent man who built his house on a rocky foundation. ²⁵ And the rain fell, and the rivers rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, but it did not fall, for its pillars had been laid on a rocky foundation.

² Here are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon, who was named Peter, and his brother Andrew, James the son of Zebedee and his brother John,

²⁵ At that time Jesus said, "I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for concealing these matters from wise and learned men, and for revealing them to little children. ²⁶ Yes, Father, I thank You that Your good pleasure made it so. ²⁷ All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one but the Father perfectly knows the Son, and no one but the Son perfectly knows the Father, and the one to whom the Son chooses to make Him known.

¹⁸ "Here is my Servant whom I have chosen, My Beloved, in whom my soul delights itself. I will endow Him with my Spirit, and He will announce a judgment to the heathen.

²² And what was sown among the thorns illustrates the man who hears the message, and the worries of the times and the pleasures of being rich choke the truth out, and he yields no fruit.

²⁸ I solemnly say to you, some of the people standing here will certainly live to see the Son of Man coming in His kingdom."

³ Then Moses and Elijah appeared to them and kept talking with Him.

⁵ While he was still speaking, a bright cloud cast its shadow over them, and a voice from the cloud said, "This is my Son, my Beloved, in whom I am delighted. Keep on listening to Him!" ⁶ When the disciples heard it, they fell upon their faces, for they were terribly frightened.

³ He went out again about nine o'clock and found others standing around doing nothing.

⁶ About five he went out again and found still others standing around, and he said to them, 'Why have you been standing here all day doing nothing?'

³ While He was sitting on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came up to Him by themselves, and said, "Tell us when this is to take place, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age."

²⁷ For just as the lightning starts in the east and flashes clear to the west, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.

²⁶ His master answered him, 'You wicked, lazy slave, you knew that I reaped where I had not sown and gathered where I had not threshed.

³⁴ Then the King will say to those at His right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father, take possession of the kingdom prepared for you from the creation of the world.

¹⁸ Then Jesus came up to them, and said, "Full authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Go then and make disciples of all the nations, baptize them into the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit,

¹¹ And out of the heavens came a voice, "You are my Son, my Beloved! In you I am delighted!"

¹ And He said to them, "I solemnly say to you, some of the people standing here will certainly live to see the kingdom of God come in its power." ² Six days after this, Jesus took Peter, James, and John with Him, and led them up on a high mountain, alone by themselves. And in their presence His appearance was changed,

⁷ Then a cloud came and was circling over them, and a voice came out of the cloud, "This is my Son, my Beloved; keep on listening to Him!"

²¹ Then Jesus looked at him and loved him, and said to him, "You lack one thing. Go, sell everything you have, and give the money to the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me."

³⁶ David himself, Under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, said: 'The Lord has said to my Lord, "Sit at my right hand Until I make your enemies the footstool of your feet."'

⁴⁷ my spirit exults in God my Saviour;

⁷⁰ "as He promised by the lips of His ancient prophets,

⁷⁸ Because the heart of our God is merciful. And so the day will dawn upon us from on high, ⁷⁹ to shine on those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace."

²² and the Holy Spirit came down upon Him in bodily form as a dove, and a voice came out of heaven, "You are my Son, my Beloved! In you I am delighted!"

⁴⁷ Everyone who comes to me and continues to listen to my words and practices their teachings, I will show you whom he is like. ⁴⁸ He is like a man who was building a house, who dug deep, and laid its foundation upon the rock; and when a flood came, the torrent burst upon that house but it could not shake it, because it was well built. ⁴⁹ But the man who merely hears them and does not practice them is like a man who built a house upon the ground without a foundation. The torrent burst upon it, and at once it collapsed, and the wreck of that house was complete."

¹⁵ But the portion in rich soil illustrates those who listen to the message, keep it in good and honest hearts, and in patience yield fruit.

²⁸ Now about eight days after Jesus said this, He took Peter, John, and James, and went up on the mountain to pray. ²⁹ And while He was praying, the look on His face changed, and His clothes turned dazzling white. ³⁰ And two men were talking with Him. They were Moses and Elijah, ³¹ who appeared in splendor and were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.

³¹ who appeared in splendor and were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. ³² Now Peter and his companions had been overcome by sleep, but all at once they became wide awake and saw His splendor and the two men who were standing with Him.

³⁴ But as he was saying this, a cloud came and was circling over them, and they were frightened as the two visitors entered into the cloud. ³⁵ Then a voice came out of the cloud and said, "This is my Son, my Chosen One; continue to listen to Him!"

²² All things have been entrusted to me by my Father, and no one knows who the Son is but the Father, and who the Father is but the Son, and anyone to whom the Son chooses to make Him known."

⁴⁹ This is why the Wisdom of God said, 'I will send to them prophets and apostles, and some of them they will kill, and some they will persecute';

²⁶ Besides all this, between you and us there stands fixed a great chasm, so that those who want to cross from this side to you cannot, nor can they cross from your side to us.'

²⁹ But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the prophets; let them listen to them.' ³⁰ But he pleaded, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone went to them from the dead, they would repent.' ³¹ Then he answered, 'If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, they will not be convinced, even if someone rises from the dead.'"

²² When Jesus heard this, He said to him, "One thing you still lack. Sell everything you have, and distribute the money among the poor, and you will have riches in heaven; then come back and follow me."

¹⁹ By your endurance you will win your souls.

³¹ "Simon, Simon, listen! Satan has asked permission to sift all of you like wheat, ³² but I have prayed especially for you that your own faith may not utterly fail. And you yourself, after you have turned, must strengthen your brothers." ³³ But Peter said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go even to prison and to death with you!" ³⁴ But He said, "I tell you, Peter, the cock will not crow today before you deny three times that you know me!"

²¹ But we kept hoping that He was the One who was coming to set Israel free. Moreover, besides all this, it is now the third day since these things occurred.

⁷ He came for the purpose of testifying, to testify to the light, so that everyone through him might come to believe. ⁸ He was not the light; he came to testify to the light. ⁹ The real light, which sheds light upon everyone, was just coming into the world.

¹² But to all who did accept Him, and trust in His name, He gave the right to become the children of God, ¹³ who were born of God and not of natural blood nor of physical or human impulse. ¹⁴ So the Word became human and lived a little while among us, and we actually saw His glory, the glory of One who is an only Son from His Father, and He was full of spiritual blessing and truth.

⁴² Then he took him to Jesus. Jesus looked him over and said, "You are Simon, son of John. From now on your name shall be Cephas" (which means Peter, or Rock).

³⁵ The Father loves His Son and has put everything in His hands.

²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and makes them live on, so the Son too makes alive any whom He chooses to. ²² For the Father passes sentence on no one, but He has committed all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all men may honor the Son as they do the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

²⁶ For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted to the Son to have life in Himself.

³⁵ John was the lamp that kept on burning and shining, and you decided for a time to delight yourselves in his light. ³⁶ But I have testimony that is higher than John's, for the works which my Father has committed to me to finish, the very works that I am doing, testify to me that the Father has sent me; ³⁷ yes, the Father who has sent me has testified to me Himself. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form;

³⁹ "You keep on searching the Scriptures, for you yourselves suppose that you will get possession of eternal life through them; and yet they are witnesses that testify to me,

⁴² but I am sure that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.

²⁷ Stop toiling for the food that perishes, but toil for the food that lasts for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you, for God the Father has given Him authority to do so."

³⁷ All that my Father gives to me will come to me, and I will never, no, never reject anyone who comes to me,

³⁹ Now the will of Him who sent me is this, that I should lose none of all that He has given me, but should raise them to life on the last day.

¹² Then Jesus again addressed them and said, "I am the light of the world. Whoever continues to follow me need never walk in darkness, but he will enjoy the light that means life."

⁴⁰ Some of the Pharisees who were with Him heard this, and asked Him, "We are not blind, are we?" ⁴¹ Jesus answered them, "If you were blind, you would not be guilty, but now you keep on claiming, 'We can see'; so your sin remains."

¹⁰ A thief does not come for any purpose but to steal and kill and destroy; I have come for people to have life and have it till it overflows.

¹⁵ just as the Father knows me and I know the Father, and I am giving my own life for my sheep.

³⁶ do you now say to me whom my Father has set apart to it and sent into the world, 'You are a blasphemer,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?

²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must continue to follow me, and my servant also must go wherever I go. If anyone serves me, my Father will show him honor.

²⁸ Father, glorify your name." Then a voice came out of heaven, "I have already glorified it and I will again glorify it." ²⁹ The crowd of bystanders on hearing it said that it was thunder; others, however, said, "An angel has spoken to Him!"

¹ Before the Passover feast started, Jesus knew that His time had come for Him to leave the world and go to the Father, and as He had loved His own in the world He loved them to the last. ² So Jesus, while supper was on -- although He knew that the devil had suggested to Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, to betray Him -- ³ because He was sure that the Father had put everything into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going back to God,

³⁴ I give you a new command, to love one another. Just as I have loved you, you too must love one another. ³⁵ By this everybody will know that you are my disciples, if you keep on showing love for one another."

⁶ Jesus answered him, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

⁸ Philip said to Him, "Lord, let us see the Father, and that will satisfy us." ⁹ Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you disciples so long, and yet you, Philip, have not recognized me? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Let us see the Father'?

¹¹ You must believe me, that I am in union with the Father and that the Father is in union with me, or else you must do so because of the very things that I am doing.

² He cuts away any branch on me that stops bearing fruit, and He repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more.

⁶ If anyone does not remain in union with me, he is thrown away as a mere branch and is dried up; then it is picked up and thrown into the fire and burned up. ⁷ If you remain in union with me and my words remain in you, you may ask whatever you please and you shall have it. ⁸ By your continuously bearing abundant fruit and in this way proving yourselves to be real disciples of mine, my Father is glorified.

² just as you have given Him authority over all mankind to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him.

² just as you have given Him authority over all mankind to give eternal life to all whom you have given Him. ³ Now eternal life means knowing you as the only true God and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ.

³ Now eternal life means knowing you as the only true God and knowing Jesus your messenger as Christ.

²¹ for them all to be one, just as you, Father, are in union with me and I in union with you, for them to be in union with us, so that the world may be convinced that you have sent me.

¹⁷ Jesus said to her, "Stop clinging to me so, for I have not yet gone up to my Father; but go to my brothers and tell them that I am going up to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God."

²¹ Jesus again said to them, "Peace be with you! Just as my Father has sent me forth, so I am now sending you."

¹⁵ After they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, are you more devoted to me than you are to these things?" Peter answered Him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I tenderly love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my lambs." ¹⁶ Jesus again said to him a second time, "Simon, son of John, are you really devoted to me?" He said to Him, "Yes, Lord, you know that I tenderly love you." Jesus said to him, "Then be a shepherd to my sheep." ¹⁷ For the third time Jesus asked him, "Simon, son of John, do you really tenderly love me?" Peter was hurt because Jesus the third time asked him, "Do you really tenderly love me?" So he answered Him, "Lord, you know everything; you know that I do tenderly love you." Jesus said to him, "Then feed my sheep. ¹⁸ I most solemnly say to you, when you were young, you used to put on your own belt and go where you pleased, but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands and someone else will put a belt on you and you will go where you do not please to go." ¹⁹ He said this to point out the sort of death by which Peter was to glorify God. So after He had said this, He said to Peter, "Keep on following me!"

¹⁶ "Brothers, that Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit uttered by the mouth of David in the former times about Judas who became the guide to those who arrested Jesus;

¹⁸ But in this way God fulfilled what He by the lips of all the prophets foretold, that the Christ should suffer.

⁸ And God who knows men's hearts testifies for them by giving them the Holy Spirit, as He did us, ⁹ and in this way He put no difference between us and them, because He cleansed their hearts by faith.

¹⁴ Symeon has told how God at first graciously visited the heathen to take from among them a people to bear His name.

²⁹ that you abstain from everything that is offered to idols, from tasting blood, from the meat of animals that have been strangled, and from sexual immorality. If you keep yourselves free from these things, you will prosper. Good-by."

⁵ So the churches through faith continued to grow in strength and to increase in numbers from day to day.

¹¹ The Jews there were better disposed than those in Thessalonica, for they welcomed the message with all eagerness and carried on a daily study of the Scriptures to see if Paul's message was true.

²⁴ But now I count as nothing the sacrifice of my life, if only I can finish my race and render the service entrusted to me by the Lord Jesus, of faithfully telling the good news of God's favor. ²⁵ And now I know that none of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will ever see my face again.

²⁵ And now I know that none of you among whom I went about preaching the kingdom will ever see my face again.

²⁵ But as he continued to talk about uprightness, self-control, and the coming judgment, Felix became alarmed, and said, "For the present you may go, but when I find a good opportunity, I will send for you."

²⁵ Because they could not agree among themselves, they started to leave, when Paul had spoken one word more: "The Holy Spirit beautifully expressed it in speaking to your forefathers through the prophet Isaiah:

¹ Paul, a slave of Jesus Christ, called as an apostle, set apart to preach God's good news,

⁴ proved to be God's Son in power by the resurrection from the dead -- I mean, Jesus Christ, our Lord,

⁷ to all those in Rome who are God's loved ones, called to be His people: spiritual blessing and peace be yours from God our Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹² in other words, that we may be mutually encouraged, while I am with you, by one another's faith, yours and mine.

¹⁷ For in the good news God's Way of man's right standing with Him is uncovered, the Way of faith that leads to greater faith, just as the Scripture says, "The upright man must live by faith."

⁷ eternal life to those who patiently continue doing good and striving for glory, honor, and immortality,

²¹ But now God's way of giving men right standing with Himself has come to light; a way without connection with the law, and yet a way to which the law and the prophets testify. ²² God's own way of giving men right standing with Himself is through faith in Jesus Christ. It is for everybody who has faith, for no distinction at all is made. ²³ For everybody has sinned and everybody continues to come short of God's glory, ²⁴ but anybody may have right standing with God as a free gift of His undeserved favor, through the ransom provided in Christ Jesus. ²⁵ For God once publicly offered Him in His death as a sacrifice of reconciliation through faith, to demonstrate His own justice (for in His forbearance God had passed over men's former sins); ²⁶ yes, to demonstrate His justice at the present time, to prove that He is right Himself, and that He considers right with Himself the man who has faith in Jesus.

³ And not only that, but this too: let us continue exulting in our sufferings, for we know that suffering produces endurance, ⁴ and endurance, tested character, and tested character, hope,

¹ What is our conclusion then? Are we to continue to sin for His unmerited favor to multiply? ² Not at all! Since we have ended our relation to sin, how can we live in it any longer? ³ Or, do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into union with Christ Jesus have been baptized into His death? ⁴ So through baptism we have been buried with Him in death, so that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father's glorious power, so we too should live an entirely new life.

⁶ for we know that our former self was crucified with Him, to make our body that is liable to sin inactive, so that we might not a moment longer continue to be slaves to sin.

¹¹ So you too must consider yourselves as having ended your relation to sin but living in unbroken relation to God.

²⁵ But a hope that is seen is not real hope, for who hopes for what he actually sees? But if we hope for something we do not see, we keep on patiently waiting for it.

²⁸ Yes, we know that all things go on working together for the good of those who keep on loving God, who are called in accordance with God's purpose.

²⁸ Yes, we know that all things go on working together for the good of those who keep on loving God, who are called in accordance with God's purpose. ²⁹ For those on whom He set His heart beforehand He marked off as His own to be made like His Son, that He might be the eldest of many brothers;

²⁹ For those on whom He set His heart beforehand He marked off as His own to be made like His Son, that He might be the eldest of many brothers; ³⁰ and those whom He marked off as His own He also calls; and those whom He calls He brings into right standing with Himself; those whom He brings into right standing with Himself He also glorifies.

³⁰ and those whom He marked off as His own He also calls; and those whom He calls He brings into right standing with Himself; those whom He brings into right standing with Himself He also glorifies. ³¹ What are we then to say to facts like these? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² Since He did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, will He not with Him graciously give us everything else?

⁴ For they are Israelites; to them belong the privileges of sonship, God's glorious presence, the special covenants, the giving of the law, the temple service, the promises,

²⁴ even us whom He has called, not only from among the Jews but from among the heathen too?

⁶ As we have gifts that differ in accordance with the favor God has shown us, if it is that of preaching, let it be done in proportion to our faith;

¹⁰ In brotherly love be affectionate to one another, in personal honors put one another to the fore, ¹¹ never slack in earnestness, always on fire with the Spirit, always serving the Lord,

¹¹ Do this in particular because you know the present crisis, that it is high time for you to wake up out of your sleep, for our salvation is now nearer to us than when we first believed.

⁴ For everything that was written in the earlier times was written for our instruction, so that by our patient endurance and through the encouragement the Scriptures bring we might continuously cherish our hope.

⁶ that with united hearts and lips you may praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁴ As far as I am concerned about you, my brothers, I am convinced that you especially are abounding in the highest goodness, richly supplied with perfect knowledge and competent to counsel one another. ¹⁵ And yet, to refresh your memories, I have written you rather freely on some details, because of the unmerited favor shown me by God

⁷ so that there is no spiritual gift in which you consciously come short, while you are waiting for the unveiling of our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁹ God is entirely trustworthy, and it is He through whom you have been called into this fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

¹⁷ For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the good news -- but not by means of wisdom and rhetoric, so that the cross of Christ may not be emptied of its power.

²³ we are preaching the Christ who was crucified -- a message that is a trap-stick to the Jews and nonsense to the Greeks,

³⁰ So you owe it all to Him through union with Christ Jesus, whom God has made our wisdom, our means of right standing, our consecration, and our redemption,

¹ Now when I came to you, brothers, I did not come and tell you God's uncovered secret in rhetorical language or human philosophy,

⁴ and my language and the message I preached were not adorned with pleasing words of worldly wisdom, but they were attended with proof and power given by the Spirit,

²¹ So let no one boast in men. For everything belongs to you -- ^{22 (46:21)} Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life, death, the present, the future -- they all belong to you. ²³ Yes, you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

⁴ for when you met I too met with you in spirit by the power of our Lord Jesus --

¹ Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen Jesus our Lord? Are you not the product of my work for the Lord?

²⁵ Any man who enters an athletic contest practices rigid self-control in training, only to win a wreath that withers, but we are in to win a wreath that never withers.

¹ If I could speak the languages of men, of angels too, and have no love, I am only a rattling pan or a clashing cymbal. ² If I should have the gift of prophecy, And know all secret truths, and knowledge in its every form, and have such perfect faith that I could move mountains, but have no love, I am nothing. ³ If I should dole out everything I have for charity, and give my body up to torture in mere boasting pride, but have no love, I get from it no good at all. ⁴ Love is so patient and so kind; love never boils with jealousy; it never boasts, is never puffed with pride; ⁵ It does not act with rudeness, or insist upon its rights; it never gets provoked, it never harbors evil thoughts; ⁶ Is never glad when wrong is done, but always glad when truth prevails; ⁷ It bears up under anything; it exercises faith in everything; it keeps up hope in everything; it gives us power to endure in anything. ⁸ Love never fails; if there are prophecies, they will be set aside; if now exist ecstatic speakings, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will soon be set aside;

²⁰ Brothers, stop being children in intelligence, but as to evil keep on being babies; and yet as to intelligence be men of maturity.

⁹ For I belong to the lowest rank of the apostles, and am not fit to bear the title apostle, because I once persecuted the church of God.

⁵⁸ So, my dear brothers, continue to be firm, incapable of being moved, always letting the cup run over in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the service of the Lord is never thrown away.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the merciful Father and the all-comforting God,

²⁰ But with Him it is always "Yes," for, as many as the promises of God may be, through Him they are always "Yes." This is why our "Amen" through Him is for the glory of God when spoken by us.

¹⁷ Now who is qualified for such a task? I am, for I am not a peddler of God's message, like the most of them, but like a man of sincerity, like a man that is sent from God and living in His presence, in union with Christ I speak His message.

¹⁸ And all of us, with faces uncovered, because we continue to reflect like mirrors the splendor of the Lord, are being transformed into likeness to Him, from one degree of splendor to another, since it comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

² On the other hand, I have renounced all underhanded, disgraceful methods; I neither practice cunning nor do I tamper with God's message, but by clear and candid statements of truth I try to commend myself to every human conscience in God's sight. ³ If the meaning of the good news I preach is covered up at all, it is so only in the case of those who are on the way to destruction. ⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the eyes of the unbelievers, to keep the glorious light of the good news of Christ, who is the likeness of God, from dawning upon them.

⁴ In their case, the god of this world has blinded the eyes of the unbelievers, to keep the glorious light of the good news of Christ, who is the likeness of God, from dawning upon them. ⁵ For I am not proclaiming myself but Christ Jesus as Lord, and myself a slave of yours for Jesus' sake. ⁶ For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God's glory, reflected on the face of Christ.

⁶ For God who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," is the One who has shone in my heart, to give me the light of the knowledge of God's glory, reflected on the face of Christ.

¹³ Now since I have the same spirit of faith as he who said in the Scriptures, "I believed, and so I spoke," I too believe, and so I speak,

¹ For I know that if this earthly tent in which I live is taken down, I have a building in heaven which comes from God, a house not built by human hands but eternal.

¹ For I know that if this earthly tent in which I live is taken down, I have a building in heaven which comes from God, a house not built by human hands but eternal. ² For in this one I am sighing, because I long to put on, like a robe, my heavenly body, my future home, ³ and if I do put it on, I shall not find myself to be disembodied. ⁴ For I who am still in my tent am sighing beneath my burdens, because I do not want it to be put off but to put on the other over it, so that my dying body may be absorbed in life.

⁸ and yet I am cheerful and confident, but really I prefer to be away from home in the body and to be at home with the Lord.

¹³ For if I did go crazy, it was for God's glory; and if I am keeping my head cool, it is for your good. ¹⁴ For the love of Christ continuously constrains me, because I am convinced that as One died for all, all have died, ¹⁵ and He died for all, that those who live might live no longer for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again. ¹⁶ So from this moment on, I do not estimate anybody by the standard of outward appearances. Although I once did estimate Christ by this standard, I do not do so any longer. ¹⁷ For if anybody is in union with Christ, he is the work of a new creation; the old condition has passed away, a new condition has come.

²¹ He made Him who personally knew nothing of sin to be a sin-offering for us, so that through union with Him we might come into right standing with God.

⁴ On the contrary, I am trying in everything to prove to people that I am a true servant of God: by my tremendous endurance in sorrows, distresses, difficulties;

¹⁷ Therefore: "'Come out of company with them, and separate from them,' the Lord has said, 'And stop touching what is unclean; then I will welcome you,

² because in spite of a terrible test of trouble, the mighty flood of their gladness mingling with the depths of their poverty has overflowed and resulted in the abundance of their liberality.

⁷ Yes, just as you are growing rich in everything else, in faith, expression, knowledge, perfect enthusiasm, and the love inspired in you by us, you must see to it that you grow rich in this gracious contribution too.

¹⁴ and so in their prayers for you they will continue longing for you, because of God's surpassing favor shown you.

³¹ The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is blessed forever, knows that I am telling the truth.

⁹ but He said to me, "My spiritual strength is sufficient, for it is only by means of conscious weakness that perfect power is developed."

¹⁶ But let it be granted, you say, that I never received from you financial support, yet, you say, by being a trickster I cheated you by my cunning. ¹⁷ I did not make any money out of you through anybody that I sent to you, did I?

⁵ You yourselves must continue testing yourselves to see whether you are continuing in the faith. You must continue standing the test. Do you not know by a growing experience that Jesus Christ is in you? -- provided you stand the test.

⁸ for He who had been at work in Peter for his apostleship to the Jews had been at work in me too for the apostleship to the heathen --

¹⁶ Now the promises were made to Abraham and his descendant. It does not say, "and to your descendants," in the plural, but in the singular, "and to your descendant," that is, Christ.

⁶ For in union with Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor lack of it counts for anything; but only faith that is spurred on to action by love.

¹³ For you, brothers, were called to freedom; only you must not let your freedom be an excuse for the gratification of your lower nature, but in love be slaves to one another.

²³ gentleness, self-control. There is no law against such things.

⁸ The person who sows to gratify his lower nature will reap destruction from that lower nature, and the person who sows to gratify his higher nature will reap eternal life from the Spirit.

¹⁰ So then whenever we have an opportunity, let us practice doing good to everybody, but especially to the members of the family of faith.

¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may grant you the Spirit to give wisdom and revelation which come through a growing knowledge of Him, ¹⁸ by having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, so that you may know what the hope is to which He calls you, how glorious rich God's portion in His people is, ¹⁹ and how surpassingly great is His power for us who believe, measured by His tremendously mighty power ²⁰ when He raised Christ from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in heaven, ²¹ far above every other government, authority, power, and dominion, yea, far above every other title that can be conferred, not only in this world but in the world to come.

⁵ which in the earlier ages, so different from the present, was not made known to mankind as fully as now, but through the Spirit it has been revealed to His Holy apostles and prophets --

²⁰ To Him who by His power that is at work within us can do surpassingly more than all we ask or imagine,

¹ So I, a prisoner for the Lord's sake, entreat you to live lives worthy of the call you have received,

⁴ There is but one body and one Spirit, just as there is but one hope resulting from the call you have received; ⁵ there is but one Lord, one faith, one baptism,

¹¹ And He has given some men to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, some to be pastors and teachers,

¹⁴ so that we may not be babies any longer, or like sailors tossed about and driven around by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men through their cunning in inventing new methods of error.

²³ and to have a new attitude of mind ²⁴ and put on the new self which has been created in the likeness of God, which fruits in right and holy living inspired by the truth.

⁷ So you must stop having anything to do with them. ⁸ For at one time you were darkness itself, but now in union with the Lord you are light itself. You must live like children of light,

¹⁷ So stop becoming senseless, but understand what the Lord's will is.

²⁶ to consecrate her, after cleansing her through His word, as pictured in the water bath,

⁹ And it is my prayer that your love may overflow still more and more, directed by fuller knowledge and keener insight,

²⁹ For it has been graciously granted to you for Christ's sake, not only to trust in Him but also to suffer for Him,

⁵ Keep on fostering the same disposition that Christ Jesus had.

¹² So, my dearly loved friends, as you have always been obedient, so now with reverence and awe keep on working clear down to the finishing point of your salvation not only as though I were with you but much more because I am away;

¹ Finally, my brothers, continue to be glad that you are in union with the Lord. I am not tired of writing you the same things over and over: it means your safety.

⁸ Yes, indeed, I certainly do count everything as loss compared with the priceless privilege of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have lost everything, and value it all as mere refuse, in order to gain Christ ⁹ and be actually in union with Him, not having a supposed right standing with God which depends on my doing what the law commands, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the real right standing with God which originates from Him and rests on faith.

²¹ He will so change the outward appearance of our lowly bodies that they will be like His glorious body, by the exertion of the power He has to subject everything to Himself.

⁸ Now, brothers, practice thinking on what is true, what is honorable, what is right, what is pure, what is lovable, what is high-toned, yes, on everything that is excellent or praiseworthy.

⁹ This is why, ever since I heard of it, I have never ceased praying for you and asking God to fill you, through full wisdom and spiritual insight, with a clear knowledge of His will,

¹¹ then you will be perfectly empowered by His glorious might for every sort of joyous endurance and forbearance,

¹⁶ for it was through Him that everything was created in heaven and on earth, the seen and the unseen, thrones, dominions, principalities, authorities; all things have been created through Him and for Him.

³ in whom all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are stored up.

⁷ with your roots deeply planted in Him, being continuously built up in Him, and growing stronger in faith, just as you were taught to do, overflowing through it in your gratitude.

¹⁰ and have put on the new self which is in the process of being made new in the likeness of its Creator, so that you may attain a perfect knowledge of Him.

¹⁴ And over all these qualities put on love, which is the tie of perfection that binds us together.

¹⁶ Let the message of Christ continue to live in you in all its wealth of wisdom; keep on teaching it to one another and training one another in it with thankfulness, in your hearts singing praise to God with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

³ for we can never for a moment before our God forget your energizing faith, your toiling love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ.

³ for we can never for a moment before our God forget your energizing faith, your toiling love, and your enduring hope in our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁴ For we know, brothers so beloved by God, that He has chosen you,

¹² to live lives worthy of God who calls you into His kingdom and His glory.

¹⁹ For what is our hope or happiness or crown of boasting, except you, in the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ when He comes?

¹² May the Lord make you increase and overflow in love for one another and for all men, as my love for you does,

¹ Now, brothers, we ask and beg you, in the face of our union with the Lord Jesus, as you once received from us how you ought to live so as to please God -- as indeed you are living -- to continue to live this life better and better.

⁷ For God did not call us to a life of immorality, but to one of personal purity.

⁹ Now as to brotherly love, you have no need of anyone's writing you, for you have yourselves been taught by God to love one another, ¹⁰ as you are practicing it toward all the brothers all over Macedonia. We beg you, brothers, to continue to live better and better;

¹⁵ Take care that none of you ever pays back evil for evil, but always keep looking for ways to show kindness to one another and everybody.

³ We always ought to be thanking God for you, brothers, as it is right to do so, because your faith is growing so much and the love of every one of you for one another is increasing ⁴ so that we are always boasting of you among the churches of God for your patient endurance and faith, in spite of your persecutions and crushing sorrows which you are enduring.

⁹ that is, the representative of lawlessness, whose coming is in accordance with the working of Satan, with his plenitude of power and pretended signs and wonders,

¹³ We ought always to be thanking God for you, brothers dearly loved by the Lord, because God chose you from the beginning for salvation through the Spirit's consecration of you and through your faith in the truth, ¹⁴ and to this end He called you by our preaching of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁴ and to this end He called you by our preaching of the good news, so that you may obtain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵ May the Lord guide you into a realization of God's love for you and into a patient endurance like Christ's.

⁴ to stop devoting themselves to myths and never-ending pedigrees, for such things lead to controversies rather than stimulate our trusteeship to God through faith.

⁹ that is, if he understands that law is not enacted for upright people but for the lawless and disorderly, the godless and sinful, the ignorant and profane, people who kill their fathers or mothers, murderers,

² for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead peaceful, quiet lives in perfect piety and seriousness.

¹⁰ but with good deeds; for this is appropriate for women who profess to be pious.

¹⁶ Undoubtedly the mystery of our religion is a great wonder: "He was made visible in human form; He was vindicated by the Spirit; He was seen by angels; He was proclaimed among the heathen; He was trusted in throughout the world; He was taken up to glory."

⁶ If you continue to put these things before the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, ever feeding your own soul on the truths of the faith and of the fine teaching which you have followed. ⁷ But make it your habit to let worldly and old women's stories alone. Continue training yourself for the religious life.

⁷ But make it your habit to let worldly and old women's stories alone. Continue training yourself for the religious life. ⁸ Physical training, indeed, is of some service, but religion is of service for everything, for it contains a promise for the present life as well as the future.

⁸ Physical training, indeed, is of some service, but religion is of service for everything, for it contains a promise for the present life as well as the future.

¹³ Besides, as they get the habit of gadding about from house to house, they learn to be idle, and not only idle but gossips and busybodies, talking of things they ought not to mention.

³ If anyone teaches different doctrines and refuses to agree with the wholesome messages of our Lord Jesus Christ, the teaching that is in accordance with true religion,

⁶ Now the fact is, religion with contentment is a means of great gain.

¹¹ But you, as a man of God, must be fleeing always from these things; you must constantly strive for uprightness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness.

⁵ on being reminded of your genuine faith, a faith that first found a home in the heart of your grandmother Lois, then in the heart of your mother Eunice, and now in yours too, I am sure. ⁶ For this reason I now remind you to rekindle and keep burning the fire of the divine gift which came upon you when I laid my hands upon you.

⁹ For He saved us and called us with a holy call, not in accordance with anything that we had done, but in accordance with His own purpose and unmerited favor which was shown us through union with Christ Jesus eternal ages ago,

² The things you learned from me before many witnesses you must commit to trustworthy men who will be competent to teach others too.

¹⁹ But God's foundation stands unshaken, with these inscriptions: "The Lord knows the people who belong to Him" and "Everyone who bears the name of the Lord must abstain from evil."

⁵ keeping up the forms of religion but not giving expression to its power. Avoid such people.

¹⁵ and that from childhood you have known the sacred Scriptures which can give you wisdom that leads to salvation through the faith that leans on Christ Jesus. ¹⁶ All Scripture is inspired by God, and useful for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in doing what is right, ¹⁷ so that the man of God may be perfectly fit, thoroughly equipped for every good enterprise.

⁶ My life, indeed, is already ebbing out, and the time has come for me to sail away.

⁸ Now the crown for doing right awaits me, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award me on that day, and not only me but also all who have loved His appearing.

¹ Paul, a slave of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to stimulate faith in God's chosen people and to lead them on to a full knowledge of religious truth,

⁴ to Titus, my genuine child in our common faith: be spiritual blessing and peace from God our Father and Christ Jesus our Saviour.

⁸ but hospitable, a lover of goodness, sensible, upright, of pure life, self-controlled,

¹⁴ by ceasing to give attention to Jewish myths and to the commands of men who turn their backs on the truth.

² the older men to be temperate, serious, and sensible, healthy in faith, in love, and in steadfastness;

¹³ while we are waiting for the realization of our blessed hope at the glorious appearing of our great God and Saviour Christ Jesus, ¹⁴ who gave Himself for us to ransom us from all iniquity and purify for Himself a people to be His very own, zealous of good works.

¹⁴ Our people too must set examples of doing good, so as to meet the necessary demands and not to live unfruitful lives.

⁶ and I pray that their sharing of your faith may result in their recognition in us of everything that is right with reference to Christ.

³ He is the reflection of God's glory and the perfect representation of His being, and continues to uphold the universe by His mighty word. After He had procured man's purification from sins, He took His seat at the right hand of God's majesty,

⁷ Therefore, as the Holy Spirit says: "If you but hear His voice today,

¹¹ And we desire each one of you to continue to show the same earnestness to the very end, that you may enjoy your hope to the fullest, ¹² so that you may not grow careless, but may follow the example of those who through their faith and patient endurance are now possessors of the blessings promised.

¹⁵ And so by patiently waiting he obtained what God had promised him.

¹⁷ Therefore, because God wanted to make the strongest demonstration of the unchangeable character of His purpose, He interposed with an oath,

¹⁹ This hope we have as an anchor for our souls, secure and safe, which reaches up behind the heavenly veil,

⁶ But, as the case with Him now stands, He has entered upon a priestly service as much superior to theirs as the covenant of which He is the Mediator is superior to theirs, superior because it has been enacted upon superior promises. ⁷ For if the first covenant had been faultless, there could have been no room for a second one. ⁸ For, because He was dissatisfied with His people, He said: "'See; the time is coming,' says the Lord, 'When I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and the house of Judah, ⁹ Unlike the one that I made with their forefathers the day I took them by the hand to lead them out from the land of Egypt, for they did not abide by their covenant with me, so I did not care for them,' says the Lord. ¹⁰ 'For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel in those days,' says the Lord; 'I will put my laws into their minds, and write them on their hearts, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. And nevermore will each one need to teach his fellow-citizen, ¹¹ And each one teach his brother, saying, "Know the Lord," For all will know me, from the lowest to the highest. ¹² For I will be merciful to their deeds of wrong, and never, never any more will I recall their sins,'"

⁸ By this the Holy Spirit was showing that there was as yet no access to the real sanctuary while the outer tent was still in existence,

¹⁴ how much more surely will the blood of Christ, who with an eternal Spirit gave Himself a spotless offering to God, purify your consciences from works that mean mere death, to serve the ever living God? ¹⁵ And this is why He is the Mediator of a new covenant, in order that, after He had suffered death for securing redemption from the offenses committed under the first covenant, those who had been invited to share it might obtain the eternal inheritance promised them.

¹⁵ Now the Holy Spirit, too, gives us the testimony, for after saying:

³² But you must continue to remember those earlier days when first you received the light and then endured so great a struggle with persecution,

³⁶ Indeed, to carry out the will of God and to receive the blessing He has promised, you need endurance, for:

⁴ By faith Abel offered a sacrifice more acceptable to God than Cain did, for by it he was approved as an upright man, since God approved him for the offering he made; and by it he still continues to speak, though dead.

⁶ but without faith it is impossible to please Him, for anyone who approaches God must believe that there is a God and that He gives rewards to all who earnestly try to find Him.

¹ Therefore, as we have so vast a crowd of spectators in the grandstands, let us throw off every impediment and the sin that easily entangles our feet, and run with endurance the race for which we are entered,

¹⁰ For they disciplined us only a short time, as it seemed proper to them, but He does it for our good, in order that we may share His holy character.

¹⁵ Continue to look after one another, that no one fails to gain God's spiritual blessing; or some evil like a bitter root may spring up and trouble you, and many of you be contaminated by it --

¹ You must let your brotherly love continue.

³ Continue to remember those who are in prison, as though you were in prison with them, and those who are being ill-treated, since you, too, are liable to similar physical punishment.

⁹ You must stop being carried away with varied and strange teachings. For it is a good thing for the heart to be strengthened by God's spiritual strength, not by special kinds of food, from which those adhering to them have gotten no good.

³ for you surely know that what is genuine in your faith produces the patient mind that endures;

³ for you surely know that what is genuine in your faith produces the patient mind that endures; ⁴ but you must let your endurance come to its perfect product, so that you may be fully developed and perfectly equipped, without any defects.

⁸ But if you really observe the law of the King in accordance with the Scripture, "You must love your neighbor as you do yourself," you are doing right;

¹⁴ My brothers, what good is there in a man's saying that he has faith, if he has no good deeds to prove it? Such faith cannot save him, can it? ¹⁵ If some brother or sister is thinly clad and has no food for the day, ¹⁶ and one of you says to him, "Blessings on you, keep warm, eat until you have aplenty," without giving him the things that are needed for the body, what good does it do? ¹⁷ So faith by itself, if it has no deeds to back it up, is dead. ¹⁸ But someone may say, "You have faith, and I have good deeds. Show me your faith without any good deeds, but I will show you mine by my good deeds." ¹⁹ Do you believe in one God? Very well; the demons, too, believe that, and shudder. ²⁰ But, O senseless man, are you willing to learn that faith without good deeds is worthless? ²¹ Was not our forefather Abraham shown to be upright by his good deeds, namely, by offering Isaac his son upon the altar? ²² You see that faith cooperated with his good deeds, and by his good deeds faith was made complete; ²³ and so the Scripture was fulfilled which says, "Abraham put his faith in God, and it was credited to him for uprightness, and he was called God's friend." ²⁴ You see that a man is shown to be upright by his good deeds, and not merely by his faith. ²⁵ Was not even Rahab the prostitute shown to be upright by her good deeds, namely, by entertaining the scouts and sending them off by a different road? ²⁶ Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without good deeds is dead.

¹ What causes wars and quarrels among you? Is it not your different desires which are ever at war within your bodies? You desire things and cannot have them, and so you commit murder. ² You covet things, but cannot acquire them, and so you quarrel and fight. You do not have them, because you do not ask for them. ³ You ask and fail to get them, because you ask with evil, selfish motives, to spend them on your pleasures.

⁷ So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer keeps on waiting and waiting for the precious crop from his land; how he keeps up his patience over it until he gets the early and late rains, ⁸ You must be patient, too; you must put iron into your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is close at hand. ⁹ Stop muttering against one another, brothers, so as to keep from being judged yourselves. Look! The Judge is standing at the very door. ¹⁰ As an example of ill-treatment and patience, brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord.

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the foreign-born Jews who are scattered over Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² the people chosen in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the consecration of the Spirit, to obey Jesus Christ and to be sprinkled with His blood: spiritual blessing and peace to you in increasing abundance.

⁵ who are always guarded by the power of God through faith, in order that you may receive that final salvation which will be ready to be uncovered for you at the last time.

⁷ so that the genuineness of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even after it is shown by the test of fire to be genuine, may result in your praise and glory and honor at the unveiling of Jesus Christ.

¹⁰ Even the prophets, who prophesied about the spiritual blessing meant for you, made careful investigations and persistent research about this salvation, ¹¹ earnestly trying to find out the time, and the nature of the times, which the Spirit of the Christ within them pointed to, in foretelling the sufferings of the Christ and the glory that should follow them.

¹⁵ but in accordance with the Holy Being who has called you, you must prove to be holy too,

²² Since you have purified your souls by obeying the truth, in sincere love for the brotherhood you must love one another heartily and fervently,

⁷ So to you who put your trust in Him the honor belongs, but to those who fail to trust Him: "That stone which then the builders threw away Has now become the cornerstone,"

⁹ But you are the chosen race, the royal priesthood, the consecrated nation, the people to be His very own, to proclaim the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His wonderful light.

¹⁷ Show honor to everyone. Practice love for the brotherhood; practice reverence to God and honor to the Emperor.

²¹ Indeed, it was to this kind of living that you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example that you might follow His footsteps.

⁷ You married men, in the same way, must live with your wives in an intelligent consideration of them; you must show them deference, too, as the weaker sex, as they share with you the gracious gift of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered. ⁸ Finally, you must all live in harmony, be sympathetic, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, humble, ⁹ never returning evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but blessing instead, because it was for this that you were called, to obtain the blessing of heirs.

²¹ Baptism, which corresponds to this figure, now saves you, too -- I do not mean the mere removal of physical stains, but the craving for a clear conscience toward God -- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

² so that he no longer can spend the rest of his earthly life in harmony with human desires but in accordance with God's will. ³ For the time that is past is enough for you to have accomplished what the heathen like to do, leading lives that are steeped in sensuality, lustful desires, drunkenness, carousing, revelry, dissipation, and idolatry that leads to lawlessness,

¹ So, as a joint-elder with them, a witness of the suffering borne by Christ, and a sharer of the glory that is to be uncovered, I beg the elders among you,

¹⁰ And God, the giver of every spiritual blessing, who through your union with Christ has called you to His eternal glory, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself make you perfect, firm, and strong,

¹² By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I regard him, I have written you this short letter, to encourage you and to testify that this is the true, unmerited favor of God. Stand firm in it.

¹ Simon Peter, a slave and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ have obtained the same precious faith that we have: ² spiritual blessing and peace be to you in increasing abundance through a full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

² spiritual blessing and peace be to you in increasing abundance through a full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord; ³ because His divine power has given us everything that is needful for life and piety, through our full knowledge of Him who through His glory and excellence has called us to Him.

³ because His divine power has given us everything that is needful for life and piety, through our full knowledge of Him who through His glory and excellence has called us to Him. ⁴ It is through these that He has given us His precious and glorious promises, so that through them, after you have escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires, you may come to share in the divine nature.

⁴ It is through these that He has given us His precious and glorious promises, so that through them, after you have escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires, you may come to share in the divine nature. ⁵ Now for this very reason you must do your level best to supplement your faith with moral character, moral character with knowledge,

⁵ Now for this very reason you must do your level best to supplement your faith with moral character, moral character with knowledge, ⁶ knowledge with self-control, self-control with patient endurance, patient endurance with piety, ⁷ piety with brotherly affection, brotherly affection with universal love. ⁸ For if you have these qualities and they continue to increase in you, they will make you neither idle nor unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more in earnest to make certain to yourselves God's call and choice of you. For if you cultivate these qualities, you will never slip,

¹² Therefore, I will always remind you of these things, although you know them and are firmly grounded in the truth that you already have. ¹³ Yet I think it right, as long as I live in this bodily tent, to arouse you by a reminder, ¹⁴ because I know that the removal of my bodily tent is to be very soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me. ¹⁵ Yes, I will be in earnest, so that every time you have occasion, after I have gone away, you may call these things to mind.

¹⁸ For by uttering arrogant nonsense, through base desires of the lower nature, they entice into immorality men who are just escaping from those who live in error, ¹⁹ promising them freedom, though they are slaves of destruction themselves; for a man is the slave of anything that conquers him. ²⁰ For if, after men have escaped the corrupting ways of the world through a full knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are conquered by them, then their last condition is worse than their former one.

²⁰ For if, after men have escaped the corrupting ways of the world through a full knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them and are conquered by them, then their last condition is worse than their former one.

¹ This is the second letter, dearly beloved, that I have already written to you, in both of which I am trying by reminders to stir up your unsullied minds

³ First of all, you must understand this, that in the last days mockers will come with their mockeries, living in accordance with their evil passions,

³ First of all, you must understand this, that in the last days mockers will come with their mockeries, living in accordance with their evil passions, ⁴ and saying, "Where is His promised coming? For ever since our forefathers fell asleep everything has remained exactly as it was from the beginning of creation!"

¹¹ If all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what men you ought to be! What holy and pious lives you ought to lead,

¹⁴ Therefore, dearly beloved, since you are expecting this, be in earnest to be found by Him without a blot, without reproach, and at peace.

¹⁷ So, dearly beloved, since you have been forewarned, you must always be on your guard against being led astray by the errors of lawless men, and so against falling away from your present firmness; ¹⁸ but instead, you must continue to grow in the spiritual strength and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To Him be glory now and forever!

¹ It is what existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have beheld, what our own hands have touched, about the very message of life -- ² and that life has been unveiled to us, and we have seen it and now testify to it and we now announce it to you, yea, the eternal life that was with the Father and has been unveiled to us. ³ 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;

⁷ But if we continue to live in the light, just as He is in the light, we have unbroken fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son continues to cleanse us from every sin.

⁹ Whoever claims to be in the light, and yet continues to hate his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever continues to love his brother is always in the light, and he is no hindrance to others. ¹¹ But whoever continues to hate his brother is in darkness and is living in darkness, and he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹⁵ Stop loving the world, or the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, there is no love for the Father in his heart, ¹⁶ because everything that is in the world, the things that our lower nature and eyes are longing for, and the proud pretensions of life, do not come from the Father, but from the world;

²¹ I do not write to you because you do not know it, but because you do know it.

²⁵ And the very thing that He Himself has promised us is eternal life.

² Dearly beloved, we are now God's children, but what we are going to be has not been unveiled. We know that if it is unveiled, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him as He is.

¹⁴ We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love our brothers. Whoever does not continue to love continues still in death.

¹⁶ We know what love is from the fact that He laid down His life for us; and so we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

¹⁹ In this way we shall know by experience that we are on the side of the truth, and satisfy our consciences in God's sight, ²⁰ because if our consciences do condemn us, God is greater than our consciences, and He knows everything. ²¹ Dearly beloved, if our consciences do not condemn us, we come with perfect confidence to God,

¹⁴ We have seen and now testify that the Father has sent His Son to be the Saviour of the world.

²¹ This is the command that we get from Him, that whoever loves God loves his brother too.

¹⁰ Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his own heart. Whoever does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has borne to His Son.

²⁰ And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us insight to recognize the True One; and we are in union with the True One through His Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. ²¹ Dear children, once for all put yourselves beyond the reach of idols.

² because of the truth that lives on in our hearts and will be with us forever: ³ spiritual blessing, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, in truth and love.

⁶ They have testified before the church to your love. You will please send them off on their journey in a way befitting the service of God.

¹ Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ, and a brother of James, to those who have been called, who are beloved by God the Father and have been kept through union with Jesus Christ: ² may mercy, peace, and love in abundance be given you. ³ Dearly beloved, while I was doing my best to begin writing you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write and urge you to carry on a vigorous defense of the faith that was once for all entrusted to God's people.

⁵ Now I want to remind you, though you know it all already, that although the Lord had saved a people out of the land of Egypt, He afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

¹⁴ It was about such men also that Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied when he said: "See! The Lord comes with myriads of His people

¹⁷ But you, dearly beloved, must remember the words that have already been spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,

⁴ John to the seven churches in Asia: spiritual blessing and peace to you from Him who is and was and is to come, and from the seven spirits that are before His throne,

⁷ See! He is coming on the clouds, and every eye will see Him, even the men who pierced Him, and all the tribes of the earth will lament over Him. Even so. Amen.

⁹ I, John, your brother and companion with you in the trouble, the kingdom, and the patient endurance which Jesus gives, found myself on the island called Patmos, for preaching God's message and testifying to Jesus.

² "I know what you have done; your hard work and patient endurance; that you cannot tolerate wicked persons; that you have tested those who claimed to be apostles although they were not, and have found them to be imposters,

²⁸ and I will give him the morning star.

¹⁰ Because you have kept my message with the patient endurance that I give you, I also will keep you from the time of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test the inhabitants of the earth. ¹¹ I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one may take away your crown.

¹⁷ Because you say, 'I am rich, I have already become rich, I need nothing,' and you do not know that you are the very one that is wretched, pitiable, poor, blind, and naked;

²¹ I will give to him who conquers the privilege of taking his seat with me on my throne, just as I have conquered and taken my seat with my Father on His throne.

¹⁰ and have made them a kingdom of priests for our God; and they will rule over the earth."

¹⁰ Whoever leads others into captivity will go into captivity himself. Whoever kills with the sword must be killed with the sword himself. In this way will be shown the patient endurance and the fidelity of God's people.

¹² In this way is shown the patient endurance of God's people, who always cling to God's commands and their faith in Jesus.

¹⁰ Then I fell before his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "You must take care not to do that. I am only a fellow-slave of yours and of your brothers who hold to the testimony borne by Jesus. Worship God. For the testimony borne by Jesus is the inspiring spirit of prophecy."

¹⁴ Blessed are those who wash their robes, so as to have a right to the tree of life and to enter the gates of the city.

¹⁶ "I, Jesus, sent my angel to bear this testimony to you for the churches. I belong to the line and family of David; I am the bright morning star."