2 Peter 1:12-2:12: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (37)

[12] So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have.

[13] I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body,

[14] because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.

[15] And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able to remember these things.

[16] We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

[17] For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

[18] We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.

[19] And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

[20] Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.

[21] For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

[2:1] But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them —bringing swift destruction on themselves.

[2] Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.

[3] In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

[4] For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;

[5] if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;

[6] if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

[7] and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men

[8] (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—

[9] if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.

[10] This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;

[11] yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.

[12] But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.