2 Peter 3 Cross References - BSB

¹ Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking ² by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles. ³ Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires. ⁴ “Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which the world of that time perished in the flood. ⁷ And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men. ⁸ Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare. ¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness ¹² as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat. ¹³ But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells. ¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight. ¹⁵ Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him. ¹⁶ He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

⁴ He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear deceitfully.

¹ A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

⁸ Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

² I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone,

²² Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

⁶ For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen ² 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.

²² 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.

¹² Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are 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 my body, ¹⁴ because I know that this tent will soon be laid aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort to ensure that after my departure, you will be able to recall these things at all times.

⁷⁰ as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,

²⁷ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was written in all the Scriptures about Himself.

⁴⁴ Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

¹⁸ But in this way God has fulfilled what He foretold through all the prophets, saying that His Christ would suffer.

²¹ Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets.

²⁴ Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have proclaimed these days. ²⁵ And you are sons of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers when He said to Abraham, ‘Through your offspring all the families of the earth will be blessed.’ ²⁶ When God raised up His Servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways.”

⁴³ All the prophets testify about Him that everyone who believes in Him receives forgiveness of sins through His name.”

²³ So they set a day to meet with Paul, and many people came to the place he was staying. He expounded to them from morning to evening, testifying about the kingdom of God and persuading them about Jesus from the Law of Moses and the Prophets.

²⁰ built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully, ¹¹ 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 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.

¹⁹ We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp 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 comes from one’s own interpretation. ²¹ For no such prophecy was ever brought forth by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.

¹⁵ Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.

⁶ We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. That is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ

¹⁰ So I fell at his feet to worship him. But he told me, “Do not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brothers who rely on the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”

²² “How long, O simple ones, will you love your simple ways? How long will scoffers delight in their scorn and fools hate knowledge?

³⁴ He mocks the mockers, but gives grace to the humble.

⁶ A mocker seeks wisdom and finds none, but knowledge comes easily to the discerning.

¹⁹ to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”

¹⁴ Therefore hear the word of the LORD, O scoffers who rule this people in Jerusalem.

²⁰ For the ruthless will vanish, the mockers will disappear, and all who look for evil will be cut down—

⁵ The princes are inflamed with wine on the day of our king; so he joins hands with those who mock him.

² Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

¹ Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons, ² influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

¹ But understand this: In the last days terrible times will come.

²⁰ Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.

¹⁰ Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.

¹⁸ Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.

¹⁶ These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

¹⁸ when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.”

¹⁴ So Lot went out and spoke to the sons-in-law who were pledged in marriage to his daughters. “Get up,” he said. “Get out of this place, for the LORD is about to destroy the city!” But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

⁹ What has been will be again, and what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.

¹¹ When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

¹⁸ Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes, ¹⁹ to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”

¹² They have lied about the LORD and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine. ¹³ The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”

¹⁵ Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the LORD? Let it come now!”

³ They are saying, ‘Is not the time near to build houses? The city is the cooking pot, and we are the meat.’

²² “Son of man, what is this proverb that you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by, and every vision fails’? ²³ Therefore tell them that this is what the Lord GOD says: ‘I will put an end to this proverb, and in Israel they will no longer recite it.’ But say to them: ‘The days are at hand when every vision will be fulfilled. ²⁴ For there will be no more false visions or flattering divinations within the house of Israel, ²⁵ because I, the LORD, will speak whatever word I speak, and it will be fulfilled without delay. For in your days, O rebellious house, I will speak a message and bring it to pass, declares the Lord GOD.’” ²⁶ Furthermore, the word of the LORD came to me, saying, ²⁷ “Son of man, take note that the house of Israel is saying, ‘The vision that he sees is for many years from now; he prophesies about the distant future.’

¹⁷ You have wearied the LORD with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the LORD, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”

²⁸ Wherever there is a carcass, there the vultures will gather.

⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says in his heart, ‘My master will be away a long time.’

⁶ However, from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’

¹⁹ For those will be days of tribulation unmatched from the beginning of God’s creation until now, and never to be seen again.

⁴⁵ But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.

¹⁹ After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?

¹⁴ To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God’s creation.

⁶ And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”

⁹ And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.

² For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

⁶ By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.

⁶ He spread out the earth upon the waters. His loving devotion endures forever.

¹⁶ Why should the fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?

¹⁹ And this is the verdict: The Light has come into the world, but men loved the darkness rather than the Light because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

²⁸ Furthermore, since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, He gave them up to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done.

¹⁷ He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.

¹⁰ and with every wicked deception directed against those who are perishing, because they refused the love of the truth that would have saved them. ¹¹ For this reason God will send them a powerful delusion so that they believe the lie, ¹² in order that judgment may come upon all who have disbelieved the truth and delighted in wickedness.

³ By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

¹⁰ And after seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth. ¹¹ In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened. ¹² And the rain fell upon the earth for forty days and forty nights. ¹³ On that very day Noah entered the ark, along with his sons Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and his wife, and the three wives of his sons— ¹⁴ they and every kind of wild animal, livestock, crawling creature, bird, and winged creature. ¹⁵ They came to Noah to enter the ark, two by two of every creature with the breath of life. ¹⁶ And they entered, the male and female of every living thing, as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD shut him in. ¹⁷ For forty days the flood kept coming on the earth, and the waters rose and lifted the ark high above the earth. ¹⁸ So the waters continued to surge and rise greatly on the earth, and the ark floated on the surface of the waters. ¹⁹ Finally, the waters completely inundated the earth, so that all the high mountains under all the heavens were covered. ²⁰ The waters rose and covered the mountaintops to a depth of fifteen cubits. ²¹ And every living thing that moved upon the earth perished—birds, livestock, animals, every creature that swarms upon the earth, and all mankind. ²² Of all that was on dry land, everything that had the breath of life in its nostrils died. ²³ And every living thing on the face of the earth was destroyed—man and livestock, crawling creatures and birds of the air; they were blotted out from the earth, and only Noah and those with him in the ark remained.

¹⁵ I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

¹⁵ If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.

³⁸ For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. ³⁹ And they were oblivious, until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

²⁷ People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

⁵ if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

³ Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.

²⁶ They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on.

⁶ Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail.

⁸ Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “until the day I rise to testify. For My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out upon them My indignation—all My burning anger. For all the earth will be consumed by the fire of My jealousy.

¹⁵ Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

²² But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you.

²⁴ But I tell you that it will be more bearable for Sodom on the day of judgment than for you.”

³⁶ But I tell you that men will give an account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken.

³⁵ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

⁴¹ Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

¹¹ If anyone will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave that place, as a testimony against them.”

⁵ But because of your hard and unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of wrath, when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

²⁸ without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a clear sign of their destruction but of your salvation, and it is from God.

⁷ and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels ⁸ in blazing fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.

³ Let no one deceive you in any way, for it will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness—the son of destruction—is revealed.

⁹ Those who want to be rich, however, fall into temptation and become ensnared by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.

⁹ if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

¹² as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.

¹⁷ In this way, love has been perfected among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment; for in this world we are just like Him.

⁷ In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ The beast that you saw—it was, and now is no more, but is about to come up out of the Abyss and go to its destruction. And those who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in the Book of Life from the foundation of the world will marvel when they see the beast that was, and is not, and yet will be.

¹¹ The beast that was, and now is not, is an eighth king, who belongs to the other seven and is going into destruction.

¹¹ Then I saw a great white throne and the One seated on it. Earth and heaven fled from His presence, and no place was found for them.

¹ Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

⁴ For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night.

²⁵ I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers, so that you will not be conceited: A hardening in part has come to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in.

¹ I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our forefathers were all under the cloud, and that they all passed through the sea.

¹ Now about spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed.

²³ If you follow this advice and God so directs you, then you will be able to endure, and all these people can go home in peace.”

³² Yet now, if You would only forgive their sin.... But if not, please blot me out of the book that You have written.”

¹¹ Thus the LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend. Then Moses would return to the camp, but his young assistant Joshua son of Nun would not leave the tent.

⁶ Then the LORD passed in front of Moses and called out: “The LORD, the LORD God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,

¹⁵ But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.

¹⁸ Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

¹³ I am bringing My righteousness near; it is not far away, and My salvation will not be delayed. I will grant salvation to Zion and adorn Israel with My splendor.

³ For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.

⁷ Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help? ⁸ I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?”

⁴ Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

²² What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?

¹⁶ But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

⁴ who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

³⁷ For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.

²⁰ who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.

²¹ Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.

⁶ Nations rage, kingdoms crumble; the earth melts when He lifts His voice.

⁵ The mountains melt like wax at the presence of the LORD, before the Lord of all the earth.

¹² For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled—

¹⁹ The earth is utterly broken apart, the earth is split open, the earth is shaken violently.

⁴ All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.

¹⁵ Alas for the day! For the Day of the LORD is near, and it will come as destruction from the Almighty.

¹ Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near—

³¹ The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.

¹⁴ Multitudes, multitudes in the valley of decision! For the Day of the LORD is near in the valley of decision.

⁵ The Lord GOD of Hosts, He who touches the earth and it melts, and all its dwellers mourn—all the land rises like the Nile, then sinks like the river of Egypt—

¹³ “Behold, the days are coming,” declares the LORD, “when the plowman will overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes, the sower of seed. The mountains will drip with sweet wine, with which all the hills will flow.

⁴ The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope. ⁵ The mountains quake before Him, and the hills melt away; the earth trembles at His presence—the world and all its dwellers.

⁵ Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD.

⁴² Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day on which your Lord will come. ⁴³ But understand this: If the homeowner had known in which watch of the night the thief was coming, he would have kept watch and would not have let his house be broken into.

³¹ Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

³⁹ But understand this: If the homeowner had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have let his house be broken into.

²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope

⁵ hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that his spirit may be saved on the Day of the Lord.

¹⁴ as you have already understood us in part, so that you may boast of us just as we will boast of you in the day of our Lord Jesus.

² For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

¹¹ They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. ¹² You will roll them up like a robe; like a garment they will be changed; but You remain the same, and Your years will never end.”

⁷ And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁶ And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.

³ Remember, then, what you have received and heard. Keep it and repent. If you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know the hour when I will come upon you.

¹⁵ “Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

¹⁴ The wicked have drawn the sword and bent the bow to bring down the poor and needy, to slay those whose ways are upright.

²³ He who sacrifices a thank offering honors Me, and to him who rights his way, I will show the salvation of God.”

³ When the earth and all its dwellers quake, it is I who bear up its pillars. Selah

³¹ Wail, O gate! Cry out, O city! Melt away, all you Philistines! For a cloud of smoke comes from the north, and there are no stragglers in its ranks.

²⁷ The men were amazed and asked, “What kind of man is this? Even the winds and the sea obey Him!”

¹² And this is our boast: Our conscience testifies that we have conducted ourselves in the world, and especially in relation to you, in the holiness and sincerity that are from God—not in worldly wisdom, but in the grace of God.

²⁷ Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending side by side for the faith of the gospel,

²⁰ But our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

⁵ because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power, in the Holy Spirit, and with great conviction—just as you know we lived among you for your sake.

¹⁶ By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.

¹² Let no one despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.

³ If anyone teaches another doctrine and disagrees with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and with godly teaching,

⁶ Of course, godliness with contentment is great gain.

¹¹ But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

⁵ Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.”

²⁴ and after observing himself goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like.

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

¹⁵ But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

¹² Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness;

¹ This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem: ² In the last days the mountain of the house of the LORD will be established as the chief of the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. ³ And many peoples will come and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us His ways so that we may walk in His paths.” For the law will go forth from Zion, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem. ⁴ Then He will judge between the nations and arbitrate for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will no longer take up the sword against nation, nor train anymore for war. ⁵ Come, O house of Jacob, let us walk in the light of the LORD. ⁶ For You have abandoned Your people, the house of Jacob, because they are filled with influences from the east; they are soothsayers like the Philistines; they strike hands with the children of foreigners. ⁷ Their land is full of silver and gold, with no limit to their treasures; their land is full of horses, with no limit to their chariots. ⁸ Their land is full of idols; they bow down to the work of their hands, to what their fingers have made. ⁹ So mankind is brought low, and man is humbled—do not forgive them! ¹⁰ Go into the rocks and hide in the dust from the terror of the LORD and the splendor of His majesty. ¹¹ The proud look of man will be humbled, and the loftiness of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day. ¹² For the Day of the LORD of Hosts will come against all the proud and lofty, against all that is exalted—it will be humbled— ¹³ against all the cedars of Lebanon, lofty and lifted up, against all the oaks of Bashan, ¹⁴ against all the tall mountains, against all the high hills, ¹⁵ against every high tower, against every fortified wall, ¹⁶ against every ship of Tarshish, and against every stately vessel. ¹⁷ So the pride of man will be brought low, and the loftiness of men will be humbled; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day, ¹⁸ and the idols will vanish completely. ¹⁹ Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth. ²⁰ In that day men will cast away to the moles and bats their idols of silver and gold—the idols they made to worship. ²¹ They will flee to caverns in the rocks and crevices in the cliffs, away from the terror of the LORD and from the splendor of His majesty, when He rises to shake the earth. ²² Put no more trust in man, who has only the breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?

¹ If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence, ² as fire kindles the brushwood and causes the water to boil, to make Your name known to Your enemies, so that the nations will tremble at Your presence! ³ When You did awesome works that we did not expect, You came down, and the mountains trembled at Your presence. ⁴ From ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides You, who acts on behalf of those who wait for Him. ⁵ You welcome those who gladly do right, who remember Your ways. Surely You were angry, for we sinned. How can we be saved if we remain in our sins? ⁶ Each of us has become like something unclean, and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags; we all wither like a leaf, and our iniquities carry us away like the wind. ⁷ No one calls on Your name or strives to take hold of You. For You have hidden Your face from us and delivered us into the hand of our iniquity. ⁸ But now, O LORD, You are our Father; we are the clay, and You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand. ⁹ Do not be angry, O LORD, beyond measure; do not remember our iniquity forever. Oh, look upon us, we pray; we are all Your people! ¹⁰ Your holy cities have become a wilderness. Zion has become a wasteland and Jerusalem a desolation. ¹¹ Our holy and beautiful temple, where our fathers praised You, has been burned with fire, and all that was dear to us lies in ruins. ¹² After all this, O LORD, will You restrain Yourself? Will You keep silent and afflict us beyond measure?

⁷ Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁸ He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁶ being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

¹³ as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.

¹³ and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind. ¹⁴ The sky receded like a scroll being rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved from its place.

²¹ Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.

¹⁷ For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

²² “For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,” declares the LORD, “so your descendants and your name will endure.

²⁷ But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

²⁶ So if they tell you, ‘There He is in the wilderness,’ do not go out; or, ‘Here He is in the inner rooms,’ do not believe it.

²⁹ “Sovereign Lord, as You have promised, You now dismiss Your servant in peace.

⁴³ Blessed is that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.

⁸ He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹⁰ so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

¹⁵ so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world

¹³ so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

²³ Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

²⁸ so also Christ was offered once to bear the sins of many; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who eagerly await Him.

²⁷ Pure and undefiled religion before our God and Father is this: to care for orphans and widows in their distress, and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.

⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith virtue; and to virtue, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ But whoever lacks these traits is nearsighted to the point of blindness, having forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble,

³ And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.

³ And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship,

⁶ Moreover, I have selected Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, as his assistant. I have also given skill to all the craftsmen, that they may fashion all that I have commanded you:

³¹ And He has filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability, and knowledge in all kinds of craftsmanship,

³⁵ He has filled them with skill to do all kinds of work as engravers, designers, embroiderers in blue, purple, and scarlet yarn and fine linen, and as weavers—as artistic designers of every kind of craft.

¹² behold, I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there has never been nor will ever be another like you.

²⁸ When all Israel heard of the judgment the king had given, they stood in awe of him, for they saw that the wisdom of God was in him to administer justice.

²⁹ And God gave Solomon wisdom, exceedingly deep insight, and understanding beyond measure, like the sand on the seashore.

²⁵ And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God which you possess, are to appoint magistrates and judges to judge all the people west of the Euphrates—all who know the laws of your God. And you are to teach these laws to anyone who does not know them.

⁶ For the LORD gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding. ⁷ He stores up sound wisdom for the upright; He is a shield to those who walk with integrity,

²⁶ To the man who is pleasing in His sight, He gives wisdom and knowledge and joy, but to the sinner He assigns the task of gathering and accumulating that which he will hand over to one who pleases God. This too is futile and a pursuit of the wind.

²⁰ and declared: “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power belong to Him. ²¹ He changes the times and seasons; He removes kings and establishes them. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to the discerning.

¹⁵ For I will give you speech and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.

¹⁰ and rescued him from all his troubles. He granted Joseph favor and wisdom in the sight of Pharaoh king of Egypt, who appointed him ruler over Egypt and all his household.

²⁵ So we all agreed to choose men to send to you along with our beloved Barnabas and Paul,

¹³ And this is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom, but in words taught by the Spirit, expressing spiritual truths in spiritual words.

¹⁰ By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.

⁸ To one there is given through the Spirit the message of wisdom, to another the message of knowledge by the same Spirit,

³ that is, the mystery made known to me by revelation, as I have already written briefly.

⁵ Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

¹⁷ But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

⁹ The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

⁴ Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.

² You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.

⁶ You shall not deny justice to the poor in their lawsuits.

¹⁹ Do not deny justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the righteous.

¹ Now when the queen of Sheba heard about the fame of Solomon concerning the name of the LORD, she came to test him with difficult questions.

¹ After the death of Ahab, Moab rebelled against Israel. ² Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers and instructed them: “Go inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron, whether I will recover from this injury.” ³ But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, “Go up to meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, ‘Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are on your way to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?’ ⁴ Therefore this is what the LORD says: ‘You will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” So Elijah departed. ⁵ When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, “Why have you returned?” ⁶ They replied, “A man came up to meet us and said, ‘Go back to the king who sent you and tell him that this is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending these men to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.’” ⁷ The king asked them, “What sort of man came up to meet you and spoke these words to you?” ⁸ “He was a hairy man,” they answered, “with a leather belt around his waist.” “It was Elijah the Tishbite,” said the king. ⁹ Then King Ahaziah sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. So the captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on top of a hill, and said to him, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down!’” ¹⁰ Elijah answered the captain, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And fire came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men. ¹¹ So the king sent to Elijah another captain with his fifty men. And the captain said to Elijah, “Man of God, the king declares, ‘Come down at once!’” ¹² Again Elijah replied, “If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” And the fire of God came down from heaven and consumed the captain and his fifty men. ¹³ So the king sent a third captain with his fifty men. And the third captain went up, fell on his knees before Elijah, and begged him, “Man of God, may my life and the lives of these fifty servants please be precious in your sight. ¹⁴ Behold, fire has come down from heaven and consumed the first two captains of fifty, with all their men. But now may my life be precious in your sight.” ¹⁵ Then the angel of the LORD said to Elijah, “Go down with him. Do not be afraid of him.” So Elijah got up and went down with him to the king. ¹⁶ And Elijah said to King Ahaziah, “This is what the LORD says: Is there really no God in Israel for you to inquire of His word? Is that why you have sent messengers to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not get up from the bed on which you are lying. You will surely die.” ¹⁷ So Ahaziah died according to the word of the LORD that Elijah had spoken. And since he had no son, Jehoram succeeded him in the second year of the reign of Jehoram son of Jehoshaphat over Judah. ¹⁸ As for the rest of the acts of Ahaziah, along with his accomplishments, are they not written in the Book of the Chronicles of the Kings of Israel?

⁵ All day long they twist my words; all their thoughts are on my demise.

³⁶ But refer no more to the burden of the LORD, for each man’s word becomes the burden, so that you pervert the words of the living God, the LORD of Hosts, our God.

⁴ Therefore the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked hem in the righteous, so that justice is perverted.

³ Jesus replied, “And why do you break the command of God for the sake of your tradition?

⁶ he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

²⁹ Jesus answered, “You are mistaken because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.

¹ Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. ² For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death. ³ For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful man, as an offering for sin. He thus condemned sin in the flesh, ⁴ so that the righteous standard of the law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. ⁵ Those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh; but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit. ⁶ The mind of the flesh is death, but the mind of the Spirit is life and peace, ⁷ because the mind of the flesh is hostile to God: It does not submit to God’s law, nor can it do so. ⁸ Those controlled by the flesh cannot please God. ⁹ You, however, are controlled not by the flesh, but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ. ¹⁰ But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. ¹¹ And if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit, who lives in you. ¹² Therefore, brothers, we have an obligation, but it is not to the flesh, to live according to it. ¹³ For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. ¹⁴ For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. ¹⁵ For you did not receive a spirit of slavery that returns you to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” ¹⁶ The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. ¹⁷ And if we are children, then we are heirs: heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ—if indeed we suffer with Him, so that we may also be glorified with Him. ¹⁸ I consider that our present sufferings are not comparable to the glory that will be revealed in us. ¹⁹ The creation waits in eager expectation for the revelation of the sons of God. ²⁰ For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will, but because of the One who subjected it, in hope ²¹ that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God. ²² We know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until the present time. ²³ Not only that, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. ²⁴ For in this hope we were saved; but hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he can already see? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not yet see, we wait for it patiently. ²⁶ In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know how we ought to pray, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groans too deep for words. ²⁷ And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. ²⁸ And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose. ²⁹ For those God foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brothers. ³⁰ And those He predestined, He also called; those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified. ³¹ What then shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? ³² He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things? ³³ Who will bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. ³⁴ Who is there to condemn us? For Christ Jesus, who died, and more than that was raised to life, is at the right hand of God—and He is interceding for us. ³⁵ Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? ³⁶ As it is written: “For Your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” ³⁷ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. ³⁸ For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor principalities, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹ neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹ Now, brothers, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received, and in which you stand firm. ² By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you. Otherwise, you have believed in vain. ³ For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, ⁴ that He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, ⁵ and that He appeared to Cephas and then to the Twelve. ⁶ After that, He appeared to more than five hundred brothers at once, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. ⁷ Then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles. ⁸ And last of all He appeared to me also, as to one of untimely birth. ⁹ For I am the least of the apostles and am unworthy to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. ¹⁰ But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me. ¹¹ Whether, then, it was I or they, this is what we preach, and this is what you believed. ¹² But if it is preached that Christ has been raised from the dead, how can some of you say that there is no resurrection of the dead? ¹³ If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁴ And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is worthless, and so is your faith. ¹⁵ In that case, we are also exposed as false witnesses about God. For we have testified about God that He raised Christ from the dead, but He did not raise Him if in fact the dead are not raised. ¹⁶ For if the dead are not raised, then not even Christ has been raised. ¹⁷ And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins. ¹⁸ Then those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. ¹⁹ If our hope in Christ is for this life alone, we are to be pitied more than all men. ²⁰ But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. ²¹ For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. ²² For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. ²³ But each in his own turn: Christ the firstfruits; then at His coming, those who belong to Him. ²⁴ Then the end will come, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father after He has destroyed all dominion, authority, and power. ²⁵ For He must reign until He has put all His enemies under His feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. ²⁷ For “God has put everything under His feet.” Now when it says that everything has been put under Him, this clearly does not include the One who put everything under Him. ²⁸ And when all things have been subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will be made subject to Him who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all. ²⁹ If these things are not so, what will those do who are baptized for the dead? If the dead are not raised at all, why are people baptized for them? ³⁰ And why do we endanger ourselves every hour? ³¹ I face death every day, brothers, as surely as I boast about you in Christ Jesus our Lord. ³² If I fought wild beasts in Ephesus for human motives, what did I gain? If the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.” ³³ Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good character.” ³⁴ Sober up as you ought, and stop sinning; for some of you are ignorant of God. I say this to your shame. ³⁵ But someone will ask, “How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?” ³⁶ You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. ³⁷ And what you sow is not the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or something else. ³⁸ But God gives it a body as He has designed, and to each kind of seed He gives its own body. ³⁹ Not all flesh is the same: Men have one kind of flesh, animals have another, birds another, and fish another. ⁴⁰ There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies. But the splendor of the heavenly bodies is of one degree, and the splendor of the earthly bodies is of another. ⁴¹ The sun has one degree of splendor, the moon another, and the stars another; and star differs from star in splendor. ⁴² So will it be with the resurrection of the dead: What is sown is perishable; it is raised imperishable. ⁴³ It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. ⁴⁴ It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. ⁴⁵ So it is written: “The first man Adam became a living being;” the last Adam a life-giving spirit. ⁴⁶ The spiritual, however, was not first, but the natural, and then the spiritual. ⁴⁷ The first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. ⁴⁸ As was the earthly man, so also are those who are of the earth; and as is the heavenly man, so also are those who are of heaven. ⁴⁹ And just as we have borne the likeness of the earthly man, so also shall we bear the likeness of the heavenly man. ⁵⁰ Now I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. ⁵¹ Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— ⁵² in an instant, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. ⁵³ For the perishable must be clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.” ⁵⁵ “Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” ⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! ⁵⁸ Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹⁹ Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

¹ Finally, brothers, we ask and encourage you in the Lord Jesus to live in a way that is pleasing to God, just as you have received from us. This is how you already live, so you should do so all the more. ² For you know the instructions we gave you by the authority of the Lord Jesus. ³ For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality; ⁴ each of you must know how to control his own body in holiness and honor, ⁵ not in lustful passion like the Gentiles who do not know God;

⁵ having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these! ⁶ They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷ who are always learning but never able to come to a knowledge of the truth.

¹¹ We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.

⁸ He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen

⁸ and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

¹ Now 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 Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

¹⁴ Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

⁴ For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

¹⁷ How futile it is to spread the net where any bird can see it!

¹⁵ Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

⁶ “Watch out!” Jesus told them. “Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

¹¹ How do you not understand that I was not telling you about bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.”

²⁴ For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. ²⁵ See, I have told you in advance.

²² For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform signs and wonders that would deceive even the elect, if that were possible. ²³ So be on your guard; I have told you everything in advance.

⁴ But I have told you these things so that when their hour comes, you will remember that I told you about them. I did not tell you these things from the beginning, because I was with you.

⁴² They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

¹⁸ For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

¹² So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall.

³ I am afraid, however, that just as Eve was deceived by the serpent’s cunning, your minds may be led astray from your simple and pure devotion to Christ.

¹³ For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their actions.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

² Watch out for those dogs, those workers of evil, those mutilators of the flesh!

⁵ For although I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit, and I delight to see your orderly condition and firm faith in Christ.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

¹⁵ You too should beware of him, for he has vigorously opposed our message.

¹⁴ We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.

⁹ Resist him, standing firm in your faith and in the knowledge that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering.

¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, strive to make your calling and election sure. For if you practice these things you will never stumble, ¹¹ and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ¹² Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.

¹⁸ With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. ²⁰ If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. ²² Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

⁵ Therefore, keep in mind how far you have fallen. Repent and perform the deeds you did at first. But if you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.

¹² The righteous will flourish like a palm tree, and grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

⁵ I will be like the dew to Israel; he will blossom like the lily and take root like the cedars of Lebanon.

² “But for you who fear My name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall.

¹³ And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one.’

²⁰ and teaching them to obey all that I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

²³ so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

³ Now this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.

³⁶ For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever! Amen.

⁶ For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

¹⁷ that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.

¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

⁸ More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

¹⁰ so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

¹⁰ and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

³ We are obligated to thank God for you all the time, brothers, as is fitting, because your faith is growing more and more, and your love for one another is increasing.

¹⁸ And the Lord will rescue me from every evil action and bring me safely into His heavenly kingdom. To Him be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

² Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

¹⁰ And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you. ¹¹ To Him be the power forever and ever. Amen.

⁸ For if you possess these qualities and continue to grow in them, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹¹ and you will receive a lavish reception into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

²⁰ If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.

²⁵ to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.

⁶ who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

⁹ And they sang a new song: “Worthy are You to take the scroll and open its seals, because You were slain, and by Your blood You purchased for God those from every tribe and tongue and people and nation. ¹⁰ You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.” ¹¹ Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels and living creatures and elders encircling the throne, and their number was myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands. ¹² In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessing!” ¹³ And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever!” ¹⁴ And the four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.