2 Peter 2-3; 1 John 1

1Now 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.

2Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.

3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

5if 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;

6if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;

7and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless

8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—

9if 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.

10Such 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.

11Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord.

12These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.

13The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.

14Their 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.

15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

16But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

18With 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.

19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

20If 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.

21It 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.

22Of 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.”

1Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking

2by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.

3Most 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.”

5But 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,

6through which the world of that time perished in the flood.

7And 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.

8Beloved, 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.

9The 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.

10But 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.

11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness

12as 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.

13But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.

14Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.

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

16He 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.

17Therefore, 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.

18But 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.

1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we have gazed upon and touched with our own hands—this is the Word of life.

2And this is the life that was revealed; we have seen it and testified to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us.

3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

4We write these things so that our joy may be complete.

5And this is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you: God is light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

6If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.