1 Simon Peter, servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have been allotted a faith of the same standing as ours by the righteousness of our God and our Savior Jesus Christ:
2 May grace and peace be increased to you in the full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.
3 His divine power has granted us everything that has to do with life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by glory and virtue;
4 and through these he has granted us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you might come to share in the divine nature, having fled from the corruption that lust brings into the world.
5 For this very reason, bringing in every effort on your part, furnish your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge,
6 and knowledge with self-mastery, and self-mastery with patience, and patience with godliness,
7 and godliness with kindness toward the brothers, and kindness toward the brothers with love.
8 For if these things are present in you and are growing, they keep you from being useless or barren in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But the one in whom these things are missing is blind and cannot see far, having let slip from memory the cleansing of his former sins.
10 So, brothers, be all the more eager to make sure of your calling and your choosing; for if you practice these things, you will never fall.
11 For in this way you will be richly provided with an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
12 That is why I will not be careless about reminding you of these things continually, although you know them and are made firm in the truth you now have.
13 I consider it right, as long as I am in this tent, to keep you awake by reminding you,
14 since I know that the laying aside of my tent will come quickly, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me.
15 And I will take pains that after my departure you may have these things in remembrance at any time.
16 For it was not by following cleverly invented tales that we made known to you the power and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ; we had seen his majesty with our own eyes.
17 For he received from God the Father honor and glory, when this voice was carried to him by the Majestic Glory: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
18 And we ourselves heard this voice carried from heaven, since we were with him on the holy mountain.
19 And we have the word of prophecy made firmer still, to which you do well to give your attention as to a lamp shining in a dark and dingy place, until day breaks and the morning star rises in your hearts.
20 Know this first of all: no prophecy of Scripture comes from anyone's own interpretation.
21 For no prophecy was ever carried in by human will, but holy men of God spoke as the Holy Spirit carried them along.