King James Version KJV
The Message Bible MSG
1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
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I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God's straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ.
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
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Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
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Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received!
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
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We were also given absolutely terrific promises to pass on to you - your tickets to participation in the life of God after you turned your back on a world corrupted by lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
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So don't lose a minute in building on what you've been given, complementing your basic faith with good character, spiritual understanding,
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
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alert discipline, passionate patience, reverent wonder,
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
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warm friendliness, and generous love, each dimension fitting into and developing the others.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
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With these qualities active and growing in your lives, no grass will grow under your feet, no day will pass without its reward as you mature in your experience of our Master Jesus.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
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Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
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So, friends, confirm God's invitation to you, his choice of you. Don't put it off; do it now. Do this, and you'll have your life on a firm footing,
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
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the streets paved and the way wide open into the eternal kingdom of our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ.
12 Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
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Because the stakes are so high, even though you're up-to-date on all this truth and practice it inside and out, I'm not going to let up for a minute in calling you to attention before it.
13 Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;
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This is the post to which I've been assigned - keeping you alert with frequent reminders - and I'm sticking to it as long as I live.
14 Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.
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I know that I'm to die soon; the Master has made that quite clear to me.
15 Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.
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And so I am especially eager that you have all this down in black and white so that after I die, you'll have it for ready reference.
16 For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
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We weren't, you know, just wishing on a star when we laid the facts out before you regarding the powerful return of our Master, Jesus Christ. We were there for the preview! We saw it with our own eyes:
17 For he received from God the Father honour and glory, when there came such a voice to him from the excellent glory, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.
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Jesus resplendent with light from God the Father as the voice of Majestic Glory spoke: "This is my Son, marked by my love, focus of all my delight."
18 And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.
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We were there on the holy mountain with him. We heard the voice out of heaven with our very own ears.
19 We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:
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We couldn't be more sure of what we saw and heard - God's glory, God's voice. The prophetic Word was confirmed to us. You'll do well to keep focusing on it. It's the one light you have in a dark time as you wait for daybreak and the rising of the Morning Star in your hearts.
20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
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The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion.
21 For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man: but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.
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And why? Because it's not something concocted in the human heart. Prophecy resulted when the Holy Spirit prompted men and women to speak God's Word.
The King James Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.