A Greeting from Peter (2 Peter 1:1–2)
1 UDB I, Peter, whom Jesus Christ made an apostle, am writing this letter to you who believe in him, you whom God has chosen to belong to himself. I am writing to you who live in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, far away from your true home in heaven. BSB BSB: Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen
2 UDB God our Father chose you as he himself decided previously, and his Spirit has set you apart so that you may obey Jesus Christ and his blood may make you acceptable to God. May God act very kindly to you, and may he make you live more and more peacefully. BSB BSB: according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
A Living Hope 3 UDB We must give praise to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! We praise him because he is kind to us and has shown us great mercy. He gave us the new birth and a living hope because God raised up Jesus Christ from the dead. BSB BSB: Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 UDB He has enabled us to expect to receive things that he has kept for us in heaven, things that will last forever. BSB BSB: and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, reserved in heaven for you,
5 UDB God, by his mighty power, is guarding you as you trust in Jesus. He is guarding you so that he may, at the end of the time in which we now live, completely rescue you from Satan's power. BSB BSB: who through faith are shielded by God’s power for the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 UDB You rejoice because of what will happen then, but now you are grieving for a short time while you suffer many different hardships. God is allowing you to be tested, as precious metals are tested to see if they are pure. These trials that you are experiencing are necessary. BSB BSB: In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in various trials
7 UDB These hardships happen in order to prove that you really do trust in Jesus. This means more to God than all the gold in the world, which fire can destroy. Because you trust in Jesus, God will honor you very highly when Jesus Christ comes again. BSB BSB: so that the proven character of your faith—more precious than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
8 UDB Though you have not seen Jesus, you love him. And though you do not see him now, you trust in him and you rejoice very much with the joy that no words can express—a joy that is full of glory. BSB BSB: Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy,
9 UDB And now you are receiving the goal of your trust in God, which is the salvation of your souls. BSB BSB: now that you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.
10 UDB Long ago prophets spoke messages that God had shown to them about how he would one day save you. They investigated these things very carefully. BSB BSB: Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,
11 UDB The prophets wanted to know to what person and time Christ's Spirit within them was referring. They also wanted to know about how the Christ would suffer and die and about the glorious things that would come after his suffering and death. BSB BSB: trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.
12 UDB God told the prophets long ago that it was not for their own sakes that he was revealing these things to them, but that he was also revealing these things to you who lived must later than the prophets. The prophets were telling you ahead of time about the gospel, the same gospel that has been preached to you by the Holy Spirit whom God sent from heaven. Even angels desired to know about this message that the prophets, and now the apostles, have proclaimed to you. BSB BSB: It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, when they foretold the things now announced by those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these things.
A Call to Holiness (Hebrews 12:14–17)
13 UDB Therefore, prepare your minds to obey God. What I mean is that you should discipline your minds. Be confident that you will receive the good things that God will kindly do for you when Jesus Christ returns from heaven. BSB BSB: Therefore prepare your minds for action. Be sober-minded. Set your hope fully on the grace to be given you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.
14 UDB And because you should obey your heavenly Father just as children ought to obey their fathers here on earth, do not do the evil deeds that you did before you trusted in God, at that time when you did not know the truth about God. BSB BSB: As obedient children, do not conform to the passions of your former ignorance.
15 UDB Instead, just like God—the one who chose you to belong to him—is holy, you also must be holy in everything that you do. BSB BSB: But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,
16 UDB Be holy because it is written in the scriptures that God said, "You must be holy because I am holy." BSB BSB: for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
17 UDB God is the one who judges what each one does, and he does this very fairly. Since you call him "Father," behave in a right way while you are living here on earth. You are like people whom others have driven from their homes because you are living away from heaven, your true home. BSB BSB: Since you call on a Father who judges each one’s work impartially, conduct yourselves in reverent fear during your stay as foreigners.
18 UDB For your know that God did not purchase you from the empty way of life that you learned from your ancestors. God did not purchase you with precious metals like silver or gold that are valuable today but will lose all their value in the end. BSB BSB: For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life you inherited from your forefathers,
19 UDB Instead, God purchased you with the precious blood of Christ that flowed from his body when he died. Christ was like a perfect lamb that had no blemish or spot. BSB BSB: but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or spot.
21 UDB Because of what Christ has done, you are trusting in God. It is God who caused him to become alive again after he had died, and then God greatly honored him for what he did on the cross. As a result, God is the one in whom you are trusting, and he gives you hope that he will keep all his promises. BSB BSB: Through Him you believe in God, who raised Him from the dead and glorified Him; and so your faith and hope are in God.
The Enduring Word (Isaiah 40:6–8)
22 UDB Because you have obeyed the truth about God and have allowed him to make you pure and to love our fellow believers, continue to love each other earnestly and sincerely. BSB BSB: Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.
23 UDB I ask you to do this because you now are living a new life. It was not by means of something that will perish that you received this new life. Instead, it was by means of something that will last forever—the promises of God, which you have believed. BSB BSB: For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
25 UDB but God's message endures forever." This message that endures is the message about Christ that we proclaimed to you. BSB BSB: but the word of the Lord stands forever.” And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.