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heaven ly prom i sed lan d . Heb 3:14 :11.b. Tr initarian for mula , cr. 2 Co 13:13 + .c. Lit. 'a t the last t ime', cr 1:20.d . By say ing the pr ophets are insp ired by the preex isting Ch r ist, c f. 1 Co 10:4,9. the author makes clearthe unity or the O.T, a nd the N .T .

1 a . They are in an alie n en vironment tha t does notmak e the prac tice of religion e as y. This is also tr ue ofC hr istia ns in general. The Christ ian 's ci ty is heaven,Ph 3:20 ; Co l 3: 14 ; He b 1 3:14 ; he is an exile on ea rt h ,2 Co 5;6 : 1 P l :17: he is af o reig ner here, Ps39: 12;119:19 ; He b11:13 ; 1 P 1:1 ; 2:1 1, on an exodus to t he

Address. Greetings1Peter, apo stle of Jesus Christ , sen ds greetings to all those living amongforeigners" in the Dispersion of Pon tus, Galatia, Cappadoc ia, Asia andBithynia , who have been cho sen , by the pro vident purpose of God the Father,to be made holy by the Spirit, obedient to Jesus Chris t and sprinkled with hisblood." Grace and peace be with you more and more .

THE FIRST LETTER OF PETER

Introduction. The salvation of Chr istiansBlessed be Go d the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his grea t mercy 1:23

has given us a new birth as hissons, by ra ising Jesus Christ from the dead, so that 3:94 we have a su re hope -a nd the pro mise of an inheritance that can never be spoilt M t 6:19-2Opor soiled and never fad e away, because it is being kept for you in the heavens. ~ IJt2;Through your faith, God's power wil l guard you until the salva tion which ha s E /"Ar6 been prepared is revealed at the end of time.C This is a cause of great joy for you, } ~ ~ n oeven though you may fo. a shor t time have to bear being pla gued by al l sorts of k ~ ~ N l 1trials ; -so that, when Jesus Christ is revealed, you r faith will have been tested andproved like gold-only it is more precious than gold, whic h is corruptible even r ~ ~ t f

though it bears test ing by fire- and the n you will have praise and glory and Rm 2:78 honour. You did not see him, yet you love him ; and still without seeing him , 1 In 4:20you are already filled with a joy so glorious that it can not be described, because

9 you believe; -a nd you are su re of the end to whichyour faith looks forward, thatis, the salvation of your souls. Heb 10:39

1 PETER

The hope of the prophets. 10 It was this salvation tha t the prophets were looking and searching so hard for;

II their prophecies were ab out the grace which wa s to come to you . The Spirit ofChrist which was in them" foret old the sufferings of Christ and the glories thatwould come afte r t hem, and they tr ied to find out at what time and in12 what circumstances all this was to be expected. -I t was revealed to them tha t thenews they brought of al l the things which have now been announced to you,byt hose who pre ached to you the Good News through the Holy Spirit sent fromheaven, was for you and not for themselves . Even the angels long to catch aglimpse of these things.

Lo rd , and for the purpose of help ing the sick andfo rgiving th eir sins. a re the ori gin of the Churc h' s' sacrame nt of th e sick ' (or Ho ly Unction) , was endorsedby the Cou nci l o f T rent.e . Th is mu t ua l co nfession and pr ay er fo r eachother. instead of b ei ng only recommenda tions to thes ick, v, 15, a re here ur ged on a ll Christians. Norbtnaspeci al ho .....eve r may be deduced about sacramen tal

co nfess ion ,1 .Va r. (V ulg . ) 'ass id uo us' ,g . Va l', ca n be sure' .

A warning for the rich and the self-confidentHere is the answer for those of you who talk like this: 'Today or tomorrow, 13we are off to this or that town; we are going to spen d a year there , trading, andmake some money', -Yo u never know what will happen tomorrow: you are no 14more than a mis t tha t is here for a little while and then disapp ears. The most 15you should ever say is: 'I f it is the Lord 's will, we shall sti ll be alive to do this orthat'. -But how proud and sure of yours elves you are now ! Pride of this kind is 16always wicked. Everyone who knows wha t is the righ t thing to do and doesn't 17do i t commits a sin .

SNow an answer for the rich . Sta rt crying, weep for the miseries that are Icoming to you. You r wealth is all ro tting, your clothes are all eaten up bymoth s. -All your gold and your silver are corroding away , and the same corrosionwill be your own sentence, and eat into your body. It was a burning firc that youstored up as your treasure for the last days." Labourers mowed you r fields, and 4you cheated them- l i sten to the wages that you kept back, call ing out; realisethat the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. On eart h 5you have had a life of comfo rt and luxury; in the tim e of slaughter" you wenton ea ting to your heart's content. I t was you who condemned the innocent andkilled them; they offered you no resistance.A f inal exhortation

Now be patient , bro thers, until the Lord 's coming. Think of a farmer: howpat iently he waits for the precio us fru it of the ground until it has had the autumnrains' and the spring rains! -You (0 0 have to be pa tient; do not lose heart,because the Lord' s coming will be soon . Do not make complaints against one 9another, brot hers, so as not to be brought to judgement yourselves; the Judge isa l ready to be seen waiting at the gates. For your example, brothers, in sub- 10mitting with patie nce, take the prophets who spo ke in the name of the Lord ;remember i t is those who had endurance tha t we say are the bles sed ones. You IIhave heard of the patience of J ob , and unders tood the Lord' s purpose, realisingtha t the Lord is kind and compassionate,

Above all, my bro thers, do not swear by heaven or by the earth, or use any 12oaths at all. If you mean 'yes' , you must say 'yes' ; if you mean 'n o' , say ' no'.Otherwise you mak e yourselves liable to judgement.

If any one of you is in trouble, he should pray ; if anyone is feeling happy , he 13should sing a psa lm . -I f one of you is ill, he should send for the elders 14of the church, and they must ano int him with oil in the name of the Lor d" andpray over him. T he prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will ra ise 15him up agai n ; and if he ha scommitted any sins , he will be forgiven. So confess 16your sins to one another, and pray for one another, and this will cure you; ' theheartfelt! prayer of a good man works very powerfully. Elija h was a human 17being like ourselves-h e prayed har d for it not to ra in, and no rain fel l forthree-and-a-ha lf years; - then he prayed agai n a nd the sky gave rain and the ear th 18gave crops.

My brothers, if one of you s tr ays away from the tru t h, and another brings 19him back to it.vhe may be sur e" that anyone who can bring back a sinner from 20the wro ng way that he has tak en will be saving a soul from death and coveringup a g re at number 0/ sins.5 a . Esc hatologtcatty the misfortunes of the richwill be ap parent o nly a t t he J udgement. : 7 ~ 9 . Wehowever are already liv ing i n the last day s, cr 2 Co 6:2 + ,

b . No t a reference to J udgeme nt d ay . but to theex treme vio lenc e to which, once, the inno cent hadbee n subjected, v. 6, while the r ic h we re l iving a t ease .v, S.c. 'ra ins ', var. ' fr u its' ,d , a m , 'of the Lo rd ' , T he tr a di ti o n tha t thesepr ayers and this ano int ing with o il in the name of the

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b. Add . ' in the sigh t of God'.c . Var. ' died' , cf. 3:18.d , Va r. ' you were l ike stray shee p'.e. The 'episcopos', i.e. the inspecto r or overseer,cr T t 1:5 + .3 a. Lit . 's hould be the h idden ma n (se lf) of thehea rt' .b, '(she) is equ a ll y an heir ' , var . ' you a re eq uallyheirs' . ' the l if e of grace' , lit . 'the grac e of life ' ; v ar.

'he r own for m of the grace of lif e ', c f. 4 :10.c, ' be self-effac ing' (lit . ' have a humble disposi tion ');Vulg . ' be modest a nd humble '.

e . Or 'by the p recious b lood of the Chr ist. thisspotless lamb'.f. Var. ' f r om a pur e heart' ,g. Or ' the l iving an d e tern a lWo rd of Go d' .2 a, Lit . ' to this ind eed they were appo inted'. Byrejectin g the Goo d News the Jews have lost their p rerogarivcs whi ch hav e been transferred to Chr ist ians,3:9 . T he a .T . Quo tations in vv. 6-10 reflect the needof the ear liest Chri s tians to find scriptura l explanatio nsfor the unbe lie f o f Israel.

In marriageI 3 In the same way, wives should be obedient to their husbands . Then, if thereare some husbands who have not yet obeyed the word , they may f ind them2 selves won over, withou t a word spo ken, by the way thei r wives behave, -when3 they see how faithful and con scientious they are. -Do not dress up for show:4 do ing up your hair, wearing gold bracelets and fine cloth es ; -a ll this should beinside, in a p er son' s h ea rt, impe ri shab le: the ornament of a sweet and gentle5 disp osition- th is is wha t is precious in the sight of God . -That was how the holywomen of the pa st dressed themselves attract ively- t h ey hoped in G od and were6 tender and obedient to their husbands; -Iike Sarah, who was obed ient toAbraham,and cal led him her lord. You are now her children, as long as you l ivegood livesand do not give way to fear or worry.In the same way, husbands must always treat the ir wives with considerationin their life together, respecting a woman as one who , though she may be theweak er partner , is equally an heir" to the life of grace. This will stop any th ingfrom coming in the way of your prayers.Towards the brothers

Finally: you should all agree among yourselves and be sympathetic ; love the9 brothers , have com passion and be self-effacing." Neve r pay bac k one wrongwith another, or an angry word with another one; instead, pay back with ablessing. T hat is what you are called to do , so that you inherit a blessing yourself.

10 Remember: Anyone who wants to have a happy lif e and to enjoy prosperity mustI I banish malicef rom his tongue, deceit ful conversation f rom his lips; he must never12 yield to evil but must practise good; he must seek peace and pursue it. Because the

15 to punish criminals and praise good citizenship . -God wants you to be good16 cit izens, so as to s ilence what fools are say ing in thei r ignorance. -You are slaves

of no one except God, so behavel ike free men, and never use your freedom as an17 excuse for wickedness. -Have respect for everyone and love for our community ; ?"di/21fear God and honour the emperor. Mt 22:2Ip

Towards masters18 Slaves must be respectful and obedient to their masters , not only when they Ep 6:5-8+19 are kind and gentle bu t also when they are unfai r. -You see, there is some mer it" j ; ; ,in putting up with the pains of unearned punishment if i t is done for the sake of20 God but there is nothing meritorious in taking a beating pat ient ly if you havedone something wrong to deserve it. The merit , in the sight of God, is in bearingi t patient ly when you are punished after doing your duty.2 1 This, in fact, is what you were cal led to do, because Chr is t suf fered- for you ~ i ~ : : ~ ~22 and left an example for you to fol low theway he too k. He hadno t do ne anything 1n 8:4623 wrong, and there had been noperjury in his mouth. -H e was insulted and did not Z t ; f ~ 9retaliate with insults; when he was tortured he made no th reat s but he put his24 trust in the righteous judge . -He was bearing our fa ults in his own body on the Ifs"JBrcross, so that we might die to our faults and live for ho liness ; through his wounds f c : ~ ~ 4 i 25 you have been healed. You had gone astray / ik e sheep' but now you have come Is 53:5.6

ba ck to the shepherd and guardian- of you r souls . Ezk 34:1+

The obligations of Chr istians: towa rds pagansI urge yo u, my dea r people, while you are visitors and pilgrims, to keep your- I Ise lve s free from the selfish passions tha t a ttack the soul. -Always behave 12honourably among pagans so tha t they can see your good works for themselvesand, when the day of reckoning comes, give thanks to Go d for the things whichnow make them den ounce you as cr iminals.

Towards civil authorityFor the sake of the Lord, acce pt the author ity of every social insti tution: the \3

emperor, as the sup reme authority, -an d the governors as commissioned by him 14

A cal l to sanct it y and watchfulnessFree your minds, then, of encumbrances; co ntro l them, and put your trust 13in nothing but the grace that will be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.D o no t b ehave in the way that you liked to b efor e you l ea rn t the tru th ; make 14a habit of obedience: -be holy in all yo u do , s in ce it is the Ho ly One who has 15called you, -and scripture says: Be holy, for I am holy . 16I fyou are acknowledging as your Father one who has no favourites and judges 17

everyone according to what he has done, you must be scrupul ously careful as longas you are living away from your home. -Remember, the ransom tha t was paid 18to free you from the useless way of life your ancestors handed down was not paidin anything corruptible, neither in silver nor gold, -but in the precious blood of a 19lamb without spot or stain, namely Christ; ' -who , though known since before 20the wor ld was made, has been revealed only in our time, the end of the ages, foryour sake. -Through him you now have faith in God , who r ai sed him from the 21dead and gave him glory for tha t very reasor:- so tha t you would have fai th andhope in God .Love

Yo u hav e been obedient to the tr uth and purified your sou ls un til you ca n 22love like brothers, in sincerity ; let your love for each other be real and from theheart/e-c-your new birth was no t fro m any mortal seed bu t from the everlasting 23word of the living and eternal God. 9 - All flesh isg rass andi ts glory like the wild 24flower's. The grass withers, the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains for 25ever. What is this word? It is the Good News that has been brought to you .Integrity2Be sure, then, you are never spite ful, or deceitful, or hypocritical, or env ious 1and cr itical of each o ther. -Yo u are new born , and , like babies, you shou ldbe hu ng ry for no thing but milk- th e spiritual hon esty which will he lp you togrow up to salvation-c--now that you have tasted the goodness of the Lord.

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The new priesthoodHe is the living stone, rejected by men butchosen by God and precious to him ; 4set you rselves c los e to him so that you too , the h ol y priesthood that offers the 5spiritual sacri fices which Jesus Christ has made acceptable to God , may be living

stonesmak ing a spiritual house . -As scripture says: See how I lay in Zion aprecious 6cornerstone that I have chosen and the man who rests his trust oni t wil lnot be disap-pointed. -That means th at for you who are believers, it is pre cious; bu t for 7Ps. 118:2 2 unbelievers, the stone rejectea by the builders has proved to be the keystone, ' a 8

Is 8:14f stone tostumble over, a rock to bringmen down. They stumble over it because theydo not believe in the wo rd ; it was the fa te in store for them .But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a consecrated nation, a people set 9apart to sing the praises of God who called you out of the darkness into his

wonderful light. -O nce you were not a people at all and now you are the People 10of God; once you were outside the mercy and now you have beeng iven mercy .

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c , Add. 'and power ' . Add. a t end of verse ' tthcSpir it ) blasphemed by them but honoured br }-O U '.5 a, These elders arc to be ident ified wit h t he'presby te rs ' of Tt 1:5 + , cf. no te o n 5:5 whe re 'cid ers 'mean s 'o lder people' .h. Thi s can mean either that as an ap ostle , 1:1,he witnessed the Passion of Jesus, o r tha t thr oug hhis own suffer tnxs he is. a wi tness to Christ.c. At the narousia. cr. 1:-513: 4:7.17 : 5:10.d. Om. 'wa tch ove r it ' and ' because Go d wants i( .c. Li t. 'N or as lording it o ve r t hose al located(i.e . to you) Out becomin g ex amp les of Ihe I oc k":var. ' Be exa mples to the flock' . Add . ( \ ' l l l 'witha ll yo ur hea rt '.r. Lit. ' Likewise younger peop le sub mit yourselvesto older peo ple': the ' yo u nger people' here a rc uo tado lescen ts as opposed to 'o lder nco nle', d . TI :!:6.but the body of the fa ithful , IS opposed t o the' presbyters' or e ld ers. 5: I , .g. Ad d. (Vulg .) 'of his comina', cf. 1:12.h, The word diahalos (l it. 'on e who passes toano the r i nformation against a thir d party') may betranslated 'acc user' : it is app l ied to the devil in its legalsense c.l' ' trresecutor"

l. Add. (Vul g.) 'submitting to dea th so tha t wemigh t in herit eterna l l ife'.4 a, Lit. 'rush with the m to thc same "unsafe uppour ing" (I.e. " flood of no-sa lva tion" o r " l1o od ofdebauchery" )'; this da nge rou s 1100 worry about them ' .e. Li e 's anctify' ,t, "The lord "; var . 'God ' . ' hope', ad d. 'a nd fait h' .' I :C allusio n is to local per secutions .u. ' sins' , Yulg, 'ou r sins'. Om. 'to God' .

h . Pro bab ly a lludes to the de sc en t of Christ 10Had es, cf. Mt I 6: 18+. be tween his deat h andres urrec tion, M t 12:40: Ac 2:24.31: Rm 10:7 : Ep 4:9 :Heb 13:20, He wen t the re 'in spirit'. cf Lk 23:46,o r (bet ter) ' accord ing to the sp irit ' , Ho m 1:4 i , his'Ilcsh' bei ng dea d on the cross, Hill X3f. T he 'spiri tsin priso n' to who m he ' preached' (o r ' procla imed ')sa lva tion a rc iden tified by some writers as the cha ineddemons mentioned in the Book of Enoch (some textsa rc corrected so as to make En och , and not Christ,preach to them). Th ese spirits have thu s bee n putunder t he auth ority of Chr istas Kvr ios v, 2 2, cf. Ep I :21f ; Ph 2:8- 10, an d t hi s subjection to him is to beconfirmed later on, I Co 15:24f. O ther wri t er s suggestthe se were the sp ir its o f people drowned in the F loodas a puni shmen t but who arc now summo ned by God 's' patience' to eternal life, cf, 4 :6. Mt 27:52f is a similarepisode of libe ra ti o n b y Christ be tween his dea th andresur rection, only here it is the saints, the ho ly oneswho were wai ting for him, th at are liberated.cf Heb 11:39f; 12:23, and ar e given the freedom ofthe hol y (the heavenly) cit y. The de scent of Christ toHades is one of the articles i n t he 'A pos tles' Creed'.i. Lit. ' by wa te r, to wh ich the an t ity pe is theba pti sm' I.c. tha t whi ch was prefigured by the ' type'(d . I Co IU:6 -l-). Here the ' type ' of baptism is Noa h' sFlo od.I, As so few were saved fro m dro wning, the Floodis taken to symbolise the O.T . pur if icat o r y r ite s th atwere. a lmost wi t hou t exception , limited to an external'bod ily' puri ty, whereas the ba ptism by which a personis reborn ca n have no limits to its efficacy .k . The ' pledge' (alternative translation' the r equest')made by a conver t a t h is baptism, .

Instructions: to the elders1 5Now I have somethingto tellyour elders:" I am an elder myself, and a witness "to the sufferings of Christ, and with you I ha ve a sha re in the glory that isto be revealed.' Be the shepherds of the f lock of God that is entrusted to you:watch over i t, not simply as a duty but gladly, because God wants i t;" not forsordid money, but because you are eage r to do it. Never be a dictator over anygroup tha t is put in your charge, but be an example that the whole flock canfollow.' When the chief shepherd appear s, you will be given the crown ofunfad ing glory.To the faithful

To the rest of you I say: do what the elders tell you," and all wrap yourselvesin humility to be servants of each other, because God refuses the proud and willalways fa vour the humble. Bowdown, then, before the power of God now, and he7 will raise yo u up on the appointed day; " unload all your worries 01/10 him , since8 he is looking afte r you. Be calm IJIII vigilant, because your enemy the devil" isprowling round like a roar ing lion,lookin g for someone to eat. -Siand up to him,st rong in fai th and in the knowledge that your bro thers all over the world arc

10 suffering the same things. You will have to sufTeronly for a little while: the God

15 Spirit of glory,r the Spirit ofGo d restingo n you. None of you should ever deserve16 to sufTerfor being a murderer, a thief, a crimina l or an informer; -but if anyoneof you should sufTer for being a Christian, then he is not to be ashamed of it ; he ; \01 1:26-117 should thank God t hat he has been called one. -T he t ime has come for the judge-ment to begin at the household of God; and if what we know now is only the t k ~ i ? jbeginning, what will i tbe whenit comesdown to those who refuse to believe God's18 Good News? If it is hard fo r a goodmal l to be saved, what will happento the wicked PcL1) / 119 and 10 sinners ? -So even tho se whom God allows to suffer must tr ust themselvesto the constancyof the creator and go on doi ng good .

A c 10:422 Tm4:1

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In persecutionNo one can hurt you if you are determined to do only what is right; -if you Iido have to suffer for being good , you will count it a blessing. There i sno need tobe a fr ai d or to worry about them.s -Simply reverence' the Lord! Christ in your 15hearts, and always have your answer ready for people who ask you the reason forthe hope that you all have . -But give it with courtesya nd respect and with a clear 16conscience, so that thosewho slander you when you are living a good life in Christ

may be pro ved wrong in the accusations that they bring. And if it is the will of 17G('Id that you should suffer, it is be tt er to suffer for doing right than for doingwrong.The resurrection and 'the descent into hell'

Why, Christ himself, innocent though he was, had died once for sins,v died for 18the guilty, to lead us to God . In the body he was pu t to dea th , in the spirit he wasraise d to life , -and, in the spirit, he went to preach to the spiri ts in prison." 19Now it was long ago, when Noah was still building that ark which saved only a 20small group of eight people ' by water', and when God was still waiting pat iently,that these spirits refused to believe. -That water is a type of the baptism' which 21saves you now, and which is not the wash ing off of physical dirt! but a pledge"made to God from a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,who has entered heaven and is at God 's right hand,' now tha t he has made the 22angels and Dominations and Powers his subjects.4 Think of what Christ suffered in this life, and then arm yourselves with the 1same resolution that he had: anyon e who in this life has bodily suffering hasbroken with sin, becaus e for the rest of his life on earth he isnot ruled by humanpassions but only by the will of God . You spent quite long enough in the pastliving the sor t of life that pagans live, behavi ng indecently, giving way to yourpassions, drinking all the time, having wild par ties and drunken org ies anadegrading yourselves by following false gods . -So people cannot understand whyyou no longer hurr y off with them to jo in this flood which is rushing down toruin, and then th ey begin to spread libels about you . They will have to answerfor it in front of the judge who is ready to judge the living and the dead. -Andbecause he is their judge too , the dead had to be told the Good News as well, b sothat though, in their life on ear th, they had been through the judgement thatcomes to all humanity, they might come to God's life in the spirit.The revelation of Christ is close

Everything will soon co me to an end, so, to pray better, keep a calm and sober 7mind. -Above all, never let your love for each other grow insincere, since love 8covers over many a s in. Welcome each other into your houses without grumbling. 9Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards respo nsible 10for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others. If 11you are a speaker, speak in word swhich seem to come from God;" if you are ahelper," help as though every action was done at God's orders; so that ineverything God may receive the glory, through Jesus Christ, since to him alonebelongall glory and power for ever and eve r. Amen.Recapitulation

3:14 My dear people, you must not th ink it unaccoun table that you should be tested 121:7 by fire. There is nothing extraordinary in what has happened to you. -I f you can 13

M ~ : ~ have some share in the sufferings of Christ, be glad, because you wille njoy a muchcoll i greater gladness when his glory is revealed. -It i s a blessing for you whep they. 14Jm l:i.3 insu lt you for bearing the name of Christ, because it means that you have the

Rm 16:27+

Rm 7:14f1In 2:16417

Rm 5:6 ;6:102:2/-24Is 53: 11Ao 3: 14 /Rm 1:3-4 1Heb 9:26-282 P 3:9Gn 7:72 1' 2:5Co/ 2: / 2- 13

face of the Lordfrowns on evil men, but the eyes o f the Lord are turned towards thevirtuous, his ears to their cry .

Rm 12:6-81 Co 12:4- 11

M ' 5: 10Is 8: 12 13LXXM IIO :26-31Pr 3:25

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of all grace who called you to eternal glory in Christ will see that a ll is well again :he will confirm, strengthen and support you.' His! power lasts for ever and ever. IIAmen .Last words. Greetings

I write these few words to you through Silvanus, who is a broth e r I know I can I :trust, to encourage you never to let go this true grace of God to which I bearwitness.Your sister in Babylon, who is with you among the chosen," sends you I )greetings: so does my son, Mark.Greet one anothe r with a kiss of love.'Peace to you a ll who are in Christ. m 2 PETERTHE SECOND LETTER OF PETER

Greetings1 1From Simeon Peter, servant ana apostle of Jesus Christ ; to all who treasurethe same faith as ourselves, given through the righteousness of our God and2 saviour Jesus Christ." -May you have more and more grace and peace as youcome to know our Lord b more and more.

Ac 15:14 +

IIJude 21:8Ph ) :10Co l 2:6A call to Christian living, and its reward

By his divine power, he has given us all the th ings that weneed for life and for Ep 3:16-19tr ue devotion, bring ing us to know God himself, who has called us by his own4 glory and goodness.' -In makin g these gift s, he has given us" the guarantee of In 1:14 +something very great and wonde rful to come: th rough them' you will be ab le to ~ ~ l ~ i b ~ . 1 2share the divine nature and to escape corruption in a world that is sunk in vice.! ~ ~ 2 3 ~ 1 8 8But to attain this, you will have to do your utmost yourselves, adding goodness 1J;f9 15f :6 to the faith that you have , understanding to your goodness, -self-control to your Ga 5:22+understanding, patience to your self-contro l , t rue devot ion to your patience,7 kindness towards your fellow men to you r devotion, and, to this kindness, love.8 If you have a generous supply of these, they will not leave you ineffectual orunproductive: they will bring you to a real knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 1:2Bu t without them" a man is blind or else short-sighted; he has forgotten how

10 his past sins were washed away. Brothers, you have been calleda ndchosen: workallthe harder to justify it.i If you do allthese things there is no danger that you will TJN+I I ever fall away. -In this way you will be granted admittance into the eterna lkingdom/ of our Lord and savio ur Jesus Christ.

The apostolic witness12 That is why I am cont inually reca lling the same trut hs to you, eventhough you13 already know them and firmly hold them. 1 am sur e it is my duty, as long as14 I am in this ten t, to keep sti rr ing you up with reminde rs, -since I know the timefor taking off this tent is coming soon, as ou r Lord Jesus Christ foretold to me.15 And I shal l take great care that after my own departure you will still have ameans to recall these things to memory .

IIJude 51I n 2:21Ws 9:15Is 38:122 Co 5:1I n 21:18-19

5 l. 'ca lled YOU " var . (VuIR.) 'ca lled us' . ' in Christ"add . (v uta.) 'Je sus' , Om, (Vulg ,) 'strengthen' ,I: Add . 'xlo ry and ' .k , Lit , 'th e co-chosen (fem inine) in Babyl ongreet s YOU ; var . (Vulg.) 'T he co-chose n church' . T hereference is to the c hurc h at Rome .I. Var . (V u lg.j 'holy kiss', cf. Rm 16:16 : I Co 16:20,m. Add . (Vu lg.) 'Jesus. Amen .'

1 a , O r ' of our God and of rhe saviour Jesus Chri st',h, Lit. ' thr ough knowing our Lo rd ' ; var . ' thro ughknowing God and Jes us (or Jes us Chr ist) our Lord' .A ll thr oug h this lett er it is Chris t who is pr oposed asthe obj ect uf a Christia n's know ledge , 1:3,8 : 2:20 ; 3:18,c, ~ r y here refers to the miracles done by Jesusas a sign of his d ivinity, cr. I n 1:14 + , bu t in particularit refers to the trans figurat ion, 2 P 1:16-18. 'goodness'cou ld refer to h is powe rs bo th na tur a l and mir acurous .

d, ' us' , va r. ' you' . W ha t has been p romised issomething th at concerns t he ' Da Y of the Lord',of. 3:4,9-10,12-13.

e. l.e. as a res ult of the glory an d goo dness ofChris t. va r . (Yulg.) ' through it' ,f. Var . (Vulg,) ' th e co rrup tion of the v ic e tha t isin the wor ld' ,g , Lit. 'For th is very reason ' ; var. (Vulg) ' Bu t yOU,h. Th is is the sa me sort of warn ing againstGnos ticism that is given in the Jo hannine letters.cf. 1 I n 1:8 + . Gnostic s cla imed to know God withoutkeeping his commandments.

i. Add . (Vulg .) ' by Rood deeds',j . T his, like 1:4 ; 3:4,9-10, looks for wa r d t o theparous/a ,

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