Day 359: 2 Peter 2 - 1 John 3
Bible in a year reading for day 359.
2 Peter 2
- 7 and 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)—
- 9 if 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.
- 10 Such 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.
- 11 Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord.
- 12 These 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.
- 13 The 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.
- 14 Their 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.
- 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
- 16 But 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.
- 17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.
- 18 With 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.
- 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
- 20 If 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.
- 21 It 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.
- 22 Of 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.”
2 Peter 3
- 1 Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking
- 2 by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
- 3 Most 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.”
- 5 But 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,
- 6 through which the world of that time perished in the flood.
- 7 And 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.
- 8 Beloved, 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.
- 9 The 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.
- 10 But 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.
- 11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness
- 12 as 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.
- 13 But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
- 14 Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.
- 15 Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.
- 16 He 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.
- 17 Therefore, 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.
- 18 But 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.
1 John 1
- 1 That 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.
- 2 And 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.
- 3 We 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.
- 4 We write these things so that our joy may be complete.
- 5 And 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.
- 6 If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
- 7 But 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.
- 8 If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
- 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
- 10 If we say we have not sinned, we make Him out to be a liar, and His word is not in us.
1 John 2
- 1 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
- 2 He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
- 3 By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
- 4 If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
- 5 But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:
- 6 Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.
- 7 Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.
- 8 Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.
- 9 If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness.
- 10 Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him.
- 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
- 12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name.
- 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
- 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
- 15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
- 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
- 17 The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
- 18 Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.
- 19 They went out from us, but they did not belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.
- 20 You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
- 21 I have not written to you because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you have it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
- 22 Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
- 23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
- 24 As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father.
- 25 And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.
- 26 I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
- 27 And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.
- 28 And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.
- 29 If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.
1 John 3
- 1 Behold what manner of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God. And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him.
- 2 Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.
- 3 And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.
- 4 Everyone who practices sin practices lawlessness as well. Indeed, sin is lawlessness.
- 5 But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.
- 6 No one who remains in Him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has seen Him or known Him.
- 7 Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Christ is righteous.
- 8 The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the very start. This is why the Son of God was revealed, to destroy the works of the devil.
- 9 Anyone born of God refuses to practice sin, because God’s seed abides in him; he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
- 10 By this the children of God are distinguished from the children of the devil: Anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is anyone who does not love his brother.
- 11 This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
- 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did Cain slay him? Because his own deeds were evil, while those of his brother were righteous.