2 Peter 1:4-21 (KJV) (2024)

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Listen to 2 Peter 1:4-21

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⁴Whereby 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.

⁵And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;

⁶And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;

⁷And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

⁸For 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.

⁹But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.

¹⁰Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:

¹¹For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

¹²Wherefore 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.

¹³Yea, I think it meet, as long as I am in this tabernacle, to stir you up by putting you in remembrance;

¹⁴Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath shewed me.

¹⁵Moreover I will endeavour that ye may be able after my decease to have these things always in remembrance.

¹⁶For 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.

¹⁷For 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.

¹⁸And this voice which came from heaven we heard, when we were with him in the holy mount.

¹⁹We 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:

²⁰Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.

²¹For 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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⁴By these he has given us very great and precious promises,^(A) so that through them you may share in the divine nature,^(B) escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. ⁵For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge, ⁶knowledge with self-control,^(C) self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness, ⁷godliness with brotherly affection,^(D) and brotherly affection with love. ⁸For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being useless^(E) or unfruitful^(F) in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins. ¹⁰Therefore, brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election,^(G) because if you do these things you will never stumble. ¹¹For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdom^(H) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly provided for you.

¹²Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth^(I) you now have. ¹³I think it is right, as long as I am in this bodily tent,^(J) to wake you up with a reminder, ¹⁴since I know that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has indeed made clear to me.^(K) ¹⁵And I will also make every effort so that you are able to recall these things at any time after my departure.^[a]

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word

¹⁶For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;^(L) instead, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.^(M) ¹⁷For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying “This is my beloved Son,^[b] with whom I am well-pleased!” ^(N) ¹⁸We ourselves heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with him on the holy mountain.^(O) ¹⁹We also have the prophetic word strongly confirmed, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place,^(P) until the day dawns^(Q) and the morning star^(R) rises in your hearts. ²⁰Above all, you know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from the prophet’s own interpretation, ²¹because no prophecy ever came by the will of man;^(S) instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.^(T)

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Footnotes

1:15 Or death
1:17 Or my Son, my beloved

Cross references

1:4 : Jos 21:45; 1Kg 8:56; Is 38:16; Jr 33:14; Rm 9:4; 15:8; 2Co 7:1
1:4 : Eph 4:24; Heb 12:10; 1Jn 3:2
1:6 : Ac 24:25; Gl 5:23
1:7 : Rm 12:10; Heb 13:1; 1Pt 1:22
1:8 : Jms 2:20
1:8 : Mt 7:16–21; Gl 5:22; Ti 3:14
1:10 : Mt 22:14; Rm 11:29; 2Pt 1:3
1:11 : Col 1:13; 2Tm 4:18
1:12 : 2Co 11:10; Col 1:5–6; 2Jn 2; 3Jn 3–4
1:13 : 2Co 5:1–4
1:14 : Jn 21:18–23
1:16 : Mk 13:26; 14:62; 1Th 2:19
1:16 : Mt 17:1–6
1:17 : Is 42:1; Mt 3:17; 17:5; Mk 1:11; 9:7; Lk 3:22
1:18 : Ps 2:6; Mt 17:1; Mk 9:2; Lk 9:28
1:19 : Ps 119:105
1:19 : Mal 4:2; Rm 13:12; 2Pt 3:18
1:19 : Nm 24:17; Rv 22:16
1:21 : Jr 23:26; 2Tm 3:16
1:21 : 2Sm 23:2; Lk 1:70; Ac 1:16; 3:18; 1Pt 1:11

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King James Version (KJV)

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Christian Standard Bible (CSB)

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers, all rights reserved.

FAQs

What does 2 Peter 1 1 21 mean? ›

2 Peter 1:21 Reminds Us God Doesn't Leave Us in the Dark. He's not left us in the dark about who He is, about how He works, about how you and I can experience life to the full now and forever. All of this and the spirit breathed, supernatural word of God.

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What is the lesson of 1 Peter 2 21? ›

In verse 21, he makes a bold and surprising statement: All Christians are called to endure suffering for doing what is good. We are Jesus-followers, after all, and that's what Jesus did. More to the point, Jesus endured pain and sorrow while doing good for us.

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What does it mean to be carried along by the holy spirit? ›

“For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” A more exact rendering of the Greek form of the second clause would be, “… but by the Holy Spirit being carried/led, men spoke from God.” In other words, the Holy Spirit was the divine Agent who ...

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What does 2 Peter 1/4 mean? ›

Here, in this verse, we find that by Jesus' glory and goodness—because He lived sinlessly and now exists in glory forever—we have been given something of enormous worth: promises. In human terms, we think of promises as things of limited value.

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What is the main point of 2 Peter 1? ›

Peter writes this letter to encourage Christians to live out the purpose of their lives in Christ. He warns readers to beware of teachers who claim to be believers, but present a false version of Christianity.

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What does 2 Peter teach us? ›

What's the big idea? Peter's theme in his second letter is a simple one: pursue spiritual maturity through the Word of God as a remedy for false teaching and a right response to heretics in light of Christ's promised second coming (2 Peter 1:3, 16).

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What is the meaning of 2 Peter 2 21? ›

This passage describes those who reject Christ in favor of the world as ''enslaved'' by their own sins. No matter what they may claim, such persons prove their spiritual condition by constantly returning to their moral filth.

Get More Info Here ›

What is the prayer for 1 Peter 2 21? ›

Dear Father in heaven, we thank you that the Savior has been with us on the earth and that in our day we can still follow him and wait for your will and your rulership. For you are Almighty God, and your kingdom must come, your will must be done, and all promises be fulfilled.

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What is the meaning of 1 Peter 2 22? ›

Peter is making the case that Jesus' suffering during His earthly life was unjust. He suffered because He was doing what was right. That is, He endured the pain and sadness of His trials willingly, out of submission to His Father, and for our sake.

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What is the only way to receive the Holy Spirit? ›

The path to receiving the Holy Ghost is to exercise faith in Christ unto repentance. We can become clean through qualifying for the effects of the Savior's Atonement.

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What does 1 Peter 1:21 mean? ›

Continuing his thought from verse 20, that Jesus had been revealed as God's Son and the sacrifice for sin for our sake, Peter writes that it is through Christ that we have become believers in God.

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How does the Holy Spirit reveal things to you? ›

He does it by revealing God's word to us through the Bible. The Bible itself is complete and trustworthy, but impossible to understand without the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that “All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives.

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What are the precious promises in 2 Peter 1/4? ›

But the promises which Christ makes to us about the present are precious and very great, too: That we shall receive the Holy Spirit. That we have been adopted and now have the relationship to God as sons and daughters. That God hears our prayers and answers them.

What does divine nature mean in 2 Peter 1-4? ›

It means being made partakers of his godliness, his character, his likeness, his virtues. In verse 3 it says: 2 Peter 1:3. 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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What is the message of 2 Peter 1 12 21? ›

Peter then shifts his focus to his coming departure from this life. He conveys to us that life is short and we must take the initiative to do what we can here and now with what Christ has given to us. We are called to work hard, efficiently, and with meaning concerning His Truth.

What does it mean to honor the Lord with your wealth with the firstfruits of all your crops? ›

"Honor the Lord with your wealth, with the firstfruits of all your crops."- Proverbs 3:9, NIV. We are to give God the best and first of everything that we give Him, but specifically with our finances and all that we earn.

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What does wives submit to your husbands as unto the Lord mean? ›

“The phrase 'in the Lord' indicates that wifely submission is proper not only in the natural order but also in the Christian order. The whole thing, then, is lifted to a new and higher level.” ( Vaughan) Therefore, as is fitting in the Lord means: For wives, submission to their husbands is part of their Christian life.