Revised Version 1885 (RV1885)

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Saviour Jesus Christ:

2 Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

3 seeing that his divine power hath granted unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that called us by his own glory and virtue;

4 whereby he hath granted unto us his precious and exceeding great promises; that through these ye may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.

5 Yea, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply virtue; and inyourvirtue knowledge;

6 and inyourknowledge temperance; and inyourtemperance patience; and inyourpatience godliness;

7 and inyourgodliness love of the brethren; and inyourlove of the brethren love.

8 For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful unto the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

9 For he that lacketh these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins.

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

11 for thus shall be richly supplied unto you the entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

12 Wherefore I shall be ready always to put you in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and are established in the truth which is withyou.

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

14 knowing that the putting off of my tabernacle cometh swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ signified unto me.

15 Yea, I will give diligence that at every time ye may be able after my decease to call these things to remembrance.

16 For we did not follow cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

17 For 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:

18 and this voice weourselvesheard come out of heaven, when we were with him in the holy mount.

19 And we have the word of prophecymademore sure; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day-star arise in your hearts:

20 knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of private interpretation.

21 For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but men spake from God, being moved by the Holy Ghost.

1 But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall privily bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.

2 And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of.

3 And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose sentence now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.

4 For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but cast them down to hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;

5 and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, having made them an example unto those that should live ungodly;

7 and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked

8 (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexedhisrighteous soul from day to day withtheirlawless deeds):

9 the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment;

10 but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise dominion. Daring, selfwilled, they tremble not to rail at dignities:

11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, bring not a railing judgment against them before the Lord.

12 But these, as creatures without reason, born mere animals to be taken and destroyed, railing in matters whereof they are ignorant, shall in their destroying surely be destroyed,

13 suffering wrong as the hire of wrong-doing;menthat count it pleasure to revel in the day-time, spots and blemishes, revelling in their love-feasts while they feast with you;

14 having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing;

15 forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam thesonof Beor, who loved the hire of wrong-doing;

16 but he was rebuked for his own transgression: a dumb ass spake with man’s voice and stayed the madness of the prophet.

17 These are springs without water, and mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness hath been reserved.

18 For, uttering great swellingwordsof vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are just escaping from them that live in error;

19 promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage.

20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first.

21 For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

22 It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.

1 This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance;

2 that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandment of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles:

3 knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts,

4 and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

5 For this they wilfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted out of water and amidst water, by the word of God;

6 by which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

7 but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8 But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

10 But the day of the Lord will come as a thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

11 Seeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be inallholy living and godliness,

12 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight.

15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote unto you;

16 as also in allhisepistles, speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, asthey doalso the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

17 Ye therefore, beloved, knowingthese thingsbeforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness.

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To himbethe glory both now and for ever. Amen.

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

3 Blessedbethe God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,

5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold temptations,

7 that the proof of your faith,beingmore precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, might be found unto praise and glory and honour at the revelation of Jesus Christ:

8 whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and full of glory:

9 receiving the end of your faith,eventhe salvation ofyoursouls.

10 Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace thatshould comeunto you:

11 searching whattimeor what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that should follow them.

12 To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Ghost sent forth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.

13 Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

14 as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts inthe time ofyour ignorance:

15 but like as he which called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living;

16 because it is written, Ye shall be holy; for I am holy.

17 And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear:

18 knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers;

19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot,even the bloodof Christ:

20 who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake,

21 who through him are believers in God, which raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently:

23 having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth.

24 For, All flesh is as grass, And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower falleth:

25 But the word of the Lord abideth for ever. And this is the word of good tidings which was preached unto you.

1 Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings,

2 as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation;

3 if ye have tasted that the Lord is gracious:

4 unto whom coming, a living stone, rejected indeed of men, but with God elect, precious,

5 ye also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 Because it is contained in scripture, Behold, I lay in Zion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: And he that believeth on him shall not be put to shame.

7 For you therefore which believe is the preciousness: but for such as disbelieve, The stone which the builders rejected, The same was made the head of the corner;

8 and, A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence; for they stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed.

9 But ye are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people forGod’sown possession, that ye may shew forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

10 which in time past were no people, but now are the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

11 Beloved, I beseech you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

12 having your behaviour seemly among the Gentiles; that, wherein they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they behold, glorify God in the day of visitation.

13 Be subject to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme;

14 or unto governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to them that do well.

15 For so is the will of God, that by well-doing ye should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:

16 as free, and not using your freedom for a cloke of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.

17 Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.

18 Servants,bein subjection to your masters with all fear; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the froward.

19 For this is acceptable, if for conscience toward God a man endureth griefs, suffering wrongfully.

20 For what glory is it, if, when ye sin, and are buffetedfor it, ye shall take it patiently? but if, when ye do well, and sufferfor it, ye shall take it patiently, this is acceptable with God.

21 For hereunto were ye called: because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye should follow his steps:

22 who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth:

23 who, when he was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, threatened not; but committedhimselfto him that judgeth righteously:

24 who his own self bare our sins in his body upon the tree, that we, having died unto sins, might live unto righteousness; by whose stripes ye were healed.

25 For ye were going astray like sheep; but are now returned unto the Shepherd and Bishop of your souls.

1 In like manner, ye wives,bein subjection to your own husbands; that, even if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behaviour of their wives;

2 beholding your chaste behaviourcoupledwith fear.

3 Whoseadorninglet it not be the outward adorning of plaiting the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel;

4 butlet it bethe hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptibleapparelof a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.

5 For after this manner aforetime the holy women also, who hoped in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands:

6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose children ye now are, if ye do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.

7 Ye husbands, in like manner, dwell withyour wivesaccording to knowledge, giving honour unto the woman, as unto the weaker vessel, as being also joint-heirs of the grace of life; to the end that your prayers be not hindered.

8 Finally,beye all likeminded, compassionate, loving as brethren, tenderhearted, humbleminded:

9 not rendering evil for evil, or reviling for reviling; but contrariwise blessing; for hereunto were ye called, that ye should inherit a blessing.

10 For, He that would love life, And see good days, Let him refrain his tongue from evil, And his lips that they speak no guile:

11 And let him turn away from evil, and do good; Let him seek peace, and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, And his ears unto their supplication: But the face of the Lord is upon them that do evil.

13 And who is he that will harm you, if ye be zealous of that which is good?

14 But and if ye should suffer for righteousness’ sake, blessedare ye: and fear not their fear, neither be troubled;

15 but sanctify in your hearts Christ as Lord:beingready always to give answer to every man that asketh you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, yet with meekness and fear:

16 having a good conscience; that, wherein ye are spoken against, they may be put to shame who revile your good manner of life in Christ.

17 For it is better, if the will of God should so will, that ye suffer for well-doing than for evil-doing.

18 Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but quickened in the spirit;

19 in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,

20 which aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water:

21 which also after a true likeness doth now save you,evenbaptism, not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the interrogation of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ;

22 who is on the right hand of God, having gone into heaven; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him.

1 Forasmuch then as Christ suffered in the flesh, arm ye yourselves also with the same mind; for he that hath suffered in the flesh hath ceased from sin;

2 that ye no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh to the lusts of men, but to the will of God.

3 For the time past may suffice to have wrought the desire of the Gentiles, and to have walked in lasciviousness, lusts, winebibbings, revellings, carousings, and abominable idolatries:

4 wherein they think it strange that ye run not withtheminto the same excess of riot, speaking evil ofyou:

5 who shall give account to him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead.

6 For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

7 But the end of all things is at hand: be ye therefore of sound mind, and be sober unto prayer:

8 above all things being fervent in your love among yourselves; for love covereth a multitude of sins:

9 using hospitality one to another without murmuring:

10 according as each hath received a gift, ministering it among yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God;

11 if any man speaketh,speakingas it were oracles of God; if any man ministereth,ministeringas of the strength which God supplieth: that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, whose is the glory and the dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

12 Beloved, think it not strange concerning the fiery trial among you, which cometh upon you to prove you, as though a strange thing happened unto you:

13 but insomuch as ye are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory also ye may rejoice with exceeding joy.

14 If ye are reproached for the name of Christ, blessedare ye; because theSpiritof glory and the Spirit of God resteth upon you.

15 For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil-doer, or as a meddler in other men’s matters:

16 but ifa man sufferas a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this name.

17 For the timeis comefor judgment to begin at the house of God: and ifit beginfirst at us, whatshall bethe end of them that obey not the gospel of God?

18 And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where shall the ungodly and sinner appear?

19 Wherefore let them also that suffer according to the will of God commit their souls in well-doing unto a faithful Creator.

1 The elders therefore among you I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, who am also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed:

2 Tend the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not of constraint, but willingly, according unto God; nor yet for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind;

3 neither as lording it over the charge allotted to you, but making yourselves ensamples to the flock.

4 And when the chief Shepherd shall be manifested, ye shall receive the crown of glory that fadeth not away.

5 Likewise, ye younger, be subject unto the elder. Yea, all of you gird yourselves with humility, to serve one another: for God resisteth the proud, but giveth grace to the humble.

6 Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time;

7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he careth for you.

8 Be sober, be watchful: your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

9 whom withstand stedfast in your faith, knowing that the same sufferings are accomplished in your brethren who are in the world.

10 And the God of all grace, who called you unto his eternal glory in Christ, after that ye have suffered a little while, shall himself perfect, stablish, strengthen you.

11 To himbethe dominion for ever and ever. Amen.

12 By Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I accounthim, I have written unto you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God: stand ye fast therein.

13 She that is in Babylon, elect together withyou, saluteth you; andso dothMark my son.

14 Salute one another with a kiss of love. Peace be unto you all that are in Christ.