Month: February 2020

Greeting

1 Peter,an apostle of Jesus Christ:

To the temporary residentsdispersedin Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,chosen

2 according to the foreknowledgeof God the Father and set apart by the Spiritfor obedienceand for sprinkling with the bloodof Jesus Christ.

May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

A Living Hope

3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.According to His great mercy,He has given us a new birthinto a living hopethrough the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

4 and into an inheritance that is imperishable,uncorrupted, and unfading, kept in heavenfor you.

5 You are being protected by God’s powerthrough faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 You rejoice in this,though now for a short time you have had to struggle in various trials

7 so that the genuineness of your faith— more valuable than gold, which perishes though refined by fire— may resultinpraise, glory, and honorat the revelation of Jesus Christ.

8 You love Him,though you have not seenHim. And though not seeing Him now, you believe in Him and rejoicewith inexpressible and glorious joy,

9 because you are receiving the goal of yourfaith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation, the prophetswho prophesied about the grace that would come to you searched and carefully investigated.

11 They inquired into what time or what circumstancesthe Spirit of Christwithin them was indicating when He testified in advanceto the messianic sufferingsand the gloriesthat would follow.

12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you. These things have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to youby the Holy Spirit sent from heaven.Angels desire to look into these things.

A Call to Holy Living

13 Therefore, with your minds ready for action,be seriousand set your hopecompletely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelationof Jesus Christ.

14 As obedient children,do not be conformed to the desires of your former ignorance.

15 But as the One who called youis holy,you also are to be holy in all your conduct;

16 for it is written, Be holy, because I am holy.

17 And if you address as Father the One who judges impartiallybased on each one’s work,you are to conduct yourselves in fearduring the time of your temporary residence.

18 For you know that you were redeemed from your empty way of lifeinherited from the fathers, not with perishable things like silver or gold,

19 but with the precious blood of Christ,like that of a lambwithout defect or blemish.

20 He was chosenbefore the foundation of the world but was revealed at the end of the timesfor you

21 who through Him are believers in God,who raised Him from the deadand gave Him glory,so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 By obedience to the truth,having purified yourselvesfor sincere love of the brothers, love one anotherearnestlyfrom a pureheart,

23 since you have been born again— not of perishable seedbut of imperishable — through the living and enduring word of God.

24 For

All flesh is like grass,

and all its glorylike a flower of the grass.

The grass withers, and the flower falls,

25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.

And this is the word that was preached as the gospel to you.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/1PE/1-9a9e582e10df510b8c99b01dcd87fa7e.mp3?version_id=72—

The Living Stone and a Holy People

1 So rid yourselves ofall malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all slander.

2 Like newborn infants, desire the pure spiritual milk,so that you may grow by it for your salvation,

3 since you have tastedthat the Lord is good.

4 Coming to Him, a living stone — rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God —

5 you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to Godthrough Jesus Christ.

6 For it is contained in Scripture:

Look! I lay a stone in Zion,

a chosen and honoredcornerstone,

and the one who believes in Him

will never be put to shame!

7 So honor will come to you who believe, but for the unbelieving,

The stone that the builders rejected —

this One has become the cornerstone,

8 and

A stone to stumble over,

and a rock to trip over.

They stumble because they disobey the message; they were destinedfor this.

9 But you are a chosen race,a royal priesthood,

a holy nation,a people for His possession,

so that you may proclaim the praises

of the One who called you out of darkness

into His marvelous light.

10 Once you were not a people,

but now you are God’s people;

you had not received mercy,

but now you have received mercy.

A Call to Good Works

11 Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residentsto abstainfrom fleshlydesires that war against you.

12 Conductyourselves honorably among the Gentiles,so that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation.

13 Submitto every human authoritybecause of the Lord, whether to the Emperoras the supreme authority

14 or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good.

15 For it is God’s willthat you silence the ignoranceof foolish people by doing good.

16 As God’s slaves,live as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil.

17 Honor everyone. Lovethe brotherhood.Fear God.Honor the Emperor.

Submission of Slaves to Masters

18 Household slaves, submit with all fearto your masters,not only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel.

19 For it brings favorif, mindful of God’s will,someone endures grief from suffering unjustly.

20 For what credit is there if you sin and are punished, and you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer,if you endure it, this brings favor with God.

21 For you were called to this,

because Christ also sufferedfor you,

leaving you an example,

so that you should followin His steps.

22 He did not commit sin,

and no deceitwas found in His mouth;

23 when He was reviled,

He did not revile in return;

when He was suffering,

He did not threaten

but entrusted Himself to the One who judgesjustly.

24 He Himself bore our sins

in His bodyon the tree,

so that, having died to sins,

we might live for righteousness;

you have been healed by His wounds.

25 For you were like sheep going astray,

but you have now returned

to the Shepherdand Guardianof your souls.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/1PE/2-2148bb5cebea5963c99766b7e4e1cd61.mp3?version_id=72—

Wives and Husbands

1 In the same way, wives,submit yourselves to your own husbands so that, even if some disobey the Christian message,they may be won overwithout a message by the way their wives live

2 when they observe your pure, reverent lives.

3 Your beauty should not consist of outward things like elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold ornamentsor fine clothes.

4 Instead, it should consist of what is insidethe heartwith the imperishable quality of a gentleand quietspirit, which is very valuable in God’s eyes.

5 For in the past, the holywomen who put their hopein God also beautified themselves in this way, submitting to their own husbands,

6 just as Sarahobeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You have become her children when you do what is good and are not frightened by anything alarming.

7 Husbands,in the same way, live with your wives with an understanding of their weaker natureyet showing them honor as coheirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers will not be hindered.

Do No Evil

8 Now finally, all of you should be like-minded and sympathetic, should love believers,and be compassionateand humble,

9 not paying back evil for evilor insult for insult but, on the contrary, giving a blessing,since you were called for this, so that you can inherit a blessing.

10 For theone who wants to love life

and to see good days

must keep his tongue from evil

and his lips from speaking deceit,

11 and he must turn awayfrom evil

and do what is good.

He must seek peaceand pursue it,

12 because the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous

and His ears are open to their request.

But the face of the Lord is against

those who do what is evil.

Undeserved Suffering

13 And who will harmyou if you are deeply committed to what is good?

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness,you are blessed. Do not fear what they fearor be disturbed,

15 but honorthe Messiahas Lord in your hearts. Always be ready to give a defense to anyone who asks you for a reasonfor the hope that is in you.

16 However, do this with gentleness and respect, keeping your conscience clear,so that when you are accused,those who denounce your Christian lifewill be put to shame.

17 For it is better to sufferfor doing good, if that should be God’s will,than for doing evil.

18 For Christ also sufferedfor sins once for all,

the righteous for the unrighteous,

that He might bring youto God,

after being put to death in the fleshly realm

but made alive in the spiritual realm.

19 In that stateHe also went and made a proclamation to the spiritsin prison

20 who in the past were disobedient, when God patiently waited in the days of Noahwhile an ark was being prepared. In it a few — that is, eight people— were saved through water.

21 Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you (not the removal of the filth of the flesh,but the pledgeof a good conscience toward God) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

22 Now that He has gone into heaven,He is at God’s right handwith angels, authorities, and powers subject to Him.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/1PE/3-9fc576fded0d975c7db5b4dd44c469e5.mp3?version_id=72—

Following Christ

1 Therefore, since Christ sufferedin the flesh,equipyourselves also with the same resolve— because the one who suffered in the flesh has finishedwith sin—

2 in order to live the remaining time in the flesh, no longer for human desires,but for God’s will.

3 For there has already been enough time spent in doing what the pagans choose to do:carrying on in unrestrained behavior, evil desires,drunkenness, orgies,carousing, and lawless idolatry.

4 So they are surprised that you don’t plunge with them into the same floodof wild living — and they slander you.

5 They will give an account to the One who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

6 For this reason the gospel was also preached to those who are now dead,so that, although they might be judged by men in the fleshlyrealm,they might liveby God in the spiritual realm.

End-Time Ethics

7 Now the end of all things is near;therefore, be serious and disciplinedfor prayer.

8 Above all, maintain an intense lovefor each other, since love covers a multitude of sins.

9 Be hospitableto one another without complaining.

10 Based on the gift each one has received, use it to serve others,as good managers of the varied grace of God.

11 If anyone speaks, it should be as one who speaks God’s words; if anyone serves, it should be from the strength God provides,so that God may be glorified through Jesus Christ in everything. To Him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

Christian Suffering

12 Dear friends, don’t be surprised when the fiery ordealcomes among you to test you as if something unusual were happening to you.

13 Instead, rejoice as you share in the sufferings of the Messiah,so that you may also rejoice with great joy at the revelationof His glory.

14 If you are ridiculed for the name of Christ,you are blessed, because the Spiritof glory and of God rests on you.

15 None of you, however, should suffer as a murderer, a thief, an evildoer, or a meddler.

16 But if anyone suffers as a “Christian,” he should not be ashamed but should glorify God in having that name.

17 For the time has come for judgmentto begin with God’s household,and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who disobey the gospel of God?

18 And if a righteous person is saved with difficulty,

what will become of the ungodly and the sinner?

19 So those who suffer according to God’s will should, while doing what is good, entrust themselvesto a faithful Creator.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/1PE/4-ee8f1dc1b9b21d6338f96ec9bc07c405.mp3?version_id=72—

About the Elders

1 Therefore, as a fellow elder and witnessto the sufferings of the Messiah and also a participant in the glory about to be revealed,I exhort the elders among you:

2 Shepherd God’s flock among you,not overseeingout of compulsion but freely, according to God’s will;not for the money but eagerly;

3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock.

4 And when the chief Shepherdappears, you will receive the unfading crownof glory.

5 In the same way, you younger men, be subject to the elders. And all of you clothe yourselves withhumility toward one another, because

God resists the proud

but gives grace to the humble.

6 Humbleyourselves, therefore, under the mighty handof God, so that He may exalt you at the proper time,

7 casting all your care on Him, because He cares about you.

Conclusion

8 Be serious!Be alert!Your adversary the Devilis prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.

9 Resist himand be firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being experienced by your fellow believers throughout the world.

10 Now the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal gloryin Christ Jesus, will personallyrestore, establish, strengthen, and support you after you have suffered a little.

11 The dominionbelongs to Him forever.Amen.

12 I have written you this brief letter through Silvanus(I know him to be a faithful brother) to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Take your stand in it!

13 The church in Babylon,also chosen, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son.

14 Greet one another with a kiss of love.Peaceto all of you who are in Christ.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/1PE/5-55e4d82078e607be9bdf4d8c27a2b367.mp3?version_id=72—

Greeting

1 SimeonPeter,a slave and an apostleof Jesus Christ:

To those who have obtained a faith of equal privilege with oursthrough the righteousnessof our God and SaviorJesus Christ.

2 May grace and peace be multiplied to you through the knowledge of Godand of Jesus our Lord.

Growth in the Faith

3 Hisdivine powerhas given us everything required for life and godliness through the knowledgeof Him who calledus byHis own glory and goodness.

4 By these He has given us very great and precious promises,so that through them you may share in the divine nature,escaping the corruption that is in the world because of evil desires.

5 For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with goodness, goodness with knowledge,

6 knowledge with self-control,self-control with endurance, endurance with godliness,

7 godliness with brotherly affection,and brotherly affection with love.

8 For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they will keep you from being uselessor unfruitfulin the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 The person who lacks these things is blind and shortsighted and has forgotten the cleansing from his past sins.

10 Therefore, brothers, make every effort to confirm your calling and election,because if you do these things you will never stumble.

11 For in this way, entry into the eternal kingdomof our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will be richly supplied to you.

12 Therefore I will always remind you about these things, even though you know them and are established in the truthyou have.

13 I consider it right, as long as I am in this bodily tent,to wake you up with a reminder,

14 knowing that I will soon lay aside my tent, as our Lord Jesus Christ has also shown me.

15 And I will also make every effort that you may be able to recall these things at any time after my departure.

The Trustworthy Prophetic Word

16 For we did not follow cleverly contrived myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ;instead, we were eyewitnesses of His majesty.

17 For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, a voice came to Him from the Majestic Glory:

This is My beloved Son.

I take delight in Him!

18 And we heard this voice when it came from heaven while we were with Him on the holy mountain.

19 So we have the prophetic word strongly confirmed. You will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dismal place,until the day dawnsand the morning starrises in your hearts.

20 First of all, you should know this: No prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation,

21 because no prophecy ever came by the will of man;instead, men spoke from God as they were moved by the Holy Spirit.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/2PE/1-cb9b0b5510d2af1afcab8e189d7809e0.mp3?version_id=72—

The Judgment of False Teachers

1 But there were also false prophetsamong the people, just as there will be false teachersamong you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who boughtthem, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.

2 Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them.

3 They will exploityou in their greedwith deceptive words. Their condemnation,pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.

4 For if God didn’t sparethe angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarusand delivered them to be kept in chainsof darkness until judgment;

5 and if He didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah,a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

6 and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrahto ashes and condemned them to ruin,making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly;

7 and if He rescued righteous Lot,distressed by the unrestrained behavior of the immoral

8 (for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard) —

9 then the Lord knows how to rescuethe godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment,

10 especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority.

Bold, arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones;

11 however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.

12 But these people, like irrational animals — creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed — speak blasphemies about things they don’t understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed,

13 suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptionsas they feast with you.

14 They have eyes full of adulteryand are always looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse!

15 They have gone astray by abandoning the straight pathand have followed the path of Balaam,the son of Bosor,who loved the wages of unrighteousness

16 but received a rebuke for his transgression: A donkey that could not talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s irrationality.

17 These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.

18 For by uttering boastful, empty words,they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escapedfrom those who live in error.

19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.

20 For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.

21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousnessthan, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commanddeliveredto them.

22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit,and, “a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud.”

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/2PE/2-68d1a4c4b96ebcc2b1fb787cf2b39f51.mp3?version_id=72—

The Day of the Lord

1 Dear friends, this is now the second letterI have written to you; in both letters, I want to develop a genuineunderstanding with a reminder,

2 so that you can remember the words previously spoken by the holy prophets and the command of our Lord and Savior given through your apostles.

3 First, be aware of this: Scoffers will come in the last daysto scoff, living according to their own desires,

4 saying, “Where is the promise of His coming?Ever since the fathers fell asleep,all things continue as they have been since the beginning of creation.”

5 They willfully ignore this: Long ago the heavens and the earth were brought about from water and through waterby the word of God.

6 Through these waters the world of that time perished when it was flooded.

7 But by the same word,the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgmentand destruction of ungodly men.

8 Dear friends, don’t let this one thing escape you: With the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

9 The Lord does not delay His promise,as some understand delay, but is patient with you, not wanting anyto perishbut all to come to repentance.

10 But the Day of the Lordwill come like a thief;on that day the heavens will pass awaywith a loud noise, the elements will burn and be dissolved,and the earth and the works on it will be disclosed.

11 Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, it is clear what sort of people you should be in holy conduct and godliness

12 as you wait for and earnestly desire the comingof the day of God.The heavens will be on fire and be dissolved because of it, and the elements will melt with the heat.

13 But based on His promise, we wait for the new heavens and a new earth,where righteousness will dwell.

Conclusion

14 Therefore, dear friends, while you wait for these things, make every effort to be found at peace with Him without spot or blemish.

15 Also, regard the patience of our Lord as an opportunity for salvation, just as our dear brother Paul has written to you according to the wisdom given to him.

16 He speaks about these things in all his letters in which there are some matters that are hard to understand. The untaught and unstable twist them to their own destruction,as they also do with the rest of the Scriptures.

17 Therefore, dear friends, since you know this in advance, be on your guard,so that you are not led away by the error of lawless people and fall from your own stability.

18 But grow in the grace and knowledgeof our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.Amen.

—https://api-cdn.youversionapi.com/audio-bible-youversionapi/17/32k/2PE/3-32117c9d54d65e7f9249fc3c55c2a240.mp3?version_id=72—