THE NEW

TESTAMENT
Creation, Life and Beauty,

undone by death and wrongdoing,

regained by Gods surprising victory,
A S TOL D I N
T HE BOOK S OF
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION

The Books of the Bible

!"
$%& !%'()*%+( 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
!"
All rights reserved worldwide.
HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION
,
NIV
,
Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
!"
All rights reserved worldwide.
The Drama of the Bible Notes 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
!"
All rights reserved worldwide. No part of The Drama of the Bible Notes
may be reproduced without written consent of Biblica, Inc.
!"
The NIV
,
text may be quoted in any form (written, visual, electronic or audio), up to and
inclusive of fve hundred (500) verses, without express written permission of the publisher,
providing the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible, nor do the
verses quoted account for twenty-fve (25) percent or more of the total text of the work
in which they are quoted. Permission requests that exceed the above guidelines must be
directed to, and approved in writing by, Biblica, Inc.
!"
Notice of copyright must appear on the title or copyright page of the work as follows:
Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL
VERSION
,
NIV
,
. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.
!"

Used by permission of Biblica, Inc.
!"
All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV and New International Version are trademarks registered in the
United States Patent and Trademark Offce by Biblica, Inc.
!"
When quotations from the NIV
,
are used in non-saleable media, such as church bulletins,
orders of service, posters, transparencies or similar media, a complete copyright notice is
not required but the initials (NIV
,
) must appear at the end of each quotation.
Call us today or visit us online to receive a free catalog featuring hundreds of
biblical resources priced for ministry.
Website: Biblica.com Phone: 800-524-1588
E-mail: BiblicaDirectService@Biblica.com Mail: 1820 Jet Stream Drive
Colorado Springs, CO 80921-3696
Eng. NT NIV 220255 6/11
50000 Printed in U.S.A.
ISBN 978-1-56320-660-3
Biblica provides Gods Word to people through translation, publishing
and Bible engagement in Africa, Asia Pacifc, Europe, Latin America,
Middle East, and North America. Trough its worldwide reach, Biblica
engages people with Gods Word so that their lives are transformed
through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
INVITATION TO
2 PETER
Around AD 65 the apostle Peter was imprisoned by the emperor Nero in Rome. He
realized that he would soon be executed. Since he was an eyewitness of the ministry
of Jesus, he decided to write another letter to the believers hed written to before,
assuring them that what theyd been taught about Jesus was true and accurate. I think
it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of this body, he wrote,
because I know that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to
me. And I will make every effort to see that after my departure you will always be able
to remember these things.
It was particularly important for Peter to write to these believers again because
some people had been telling them that since Jesus hadnt returned already, his return
couldnt be expected at all. (Where is this coming he promised?) Because they
didnt expect any future judgment, these false teachers lived immoral lives. Their
teuchng vus undermnng the uth und condence o muny beevers. 1her conduct
was giving the assembly of Jesus-followers a bad reputation and encouraging others to
excuse immorality themselves. (Peter likely learned about the threat of these teachers
from a letter sent by Jude, another of Jesus brothers, to warn believers against them.
Peters letter echoes Judes in many places. See pp. 367368.)
ln hs etter, leter rst chuenges hs reuders to gody vng, und then unsvers the
false teachers skepticism by stressing that he, along with James and John, personally
saw the glory and majesty of Jesus when we were with him on the sacred mountain
(see p. 335). All will see this same glory when Jesus returns. Peter reminds his readers
thut the prophetc messuge n the Scrptures testes to }esus' return us ve. (lor the
eury Chrstun communtes the Scrptures voud reer to the lrst 1estument.)
Peter then observes that false teachers have slipped in among the people of
God throughout their history, so his readers shouldnt be surprised that this is also
happening in their own day. In powerful imagery, he describes the false teachers
destructive effect on the community and the judgment that awaits them.
ln the nu secton o hs etter, leter uddresses the use teuchers' denu o }esus'
return head-on. He explains that the Messiah is indeed coming back, but his return
has been delayed, because God is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but
everyone to come to repentance. The proper response to this delay is to live holy and
godly lives so as to be in a position to welcome the Lord gladly when he does return.
We are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
Since this is our hope, Peter concludes, we should make every effort to be found
spotless and to remain at peace with God.
1:11:14
| 2 P E T E R |
S
i mon Pe ter, a ser vant and apos tle of Jesus Christ,
1
To those who through the righ teous ness of our God and Sav ior Jesus Christ
have re ceived a faith as pre cious as ours:
1
Grace and peace be yours in abun dance through the knowl edge of God and
of Jesus our Lord.
2
2
H
is di vine pow er has giv en us ev ery thing we need for a god ly life
through our knowl edge of him who called us by his own glo ry and
good ness. Through these he has giv en us his very great and pre cious prom-
is es, so that through them you may par tic i pate in the di vine na ture, hav ing
es caped the cor rup tion in the world caused by evil de sires.
For this very rea son, make ev ery ef fort to add to your faith good ness;
and to good ness, knowl edge; and to knowl edge, self-con trol; and to self-
con trol, per se ver ance; and to per se ver ance, god li ness; and to god li ness,
mu tu al af fec tion; and to mu tu al af fec tion, love. For if you pos sess these
qual i ties in in creas ing mea sure, they will keep you from be ing in ef fec tive
and un pro duc tive in your knowl edge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But who ever
does not have them is near sight ed and blind, for get ting that they have been
cleansed from their past sins.
There fore, my broth ers and sis ters, make ev ery ef fort to con firm your
call ing and elec tion. For if you do these things, you will nev er stum ble, and
you will re ceive a rich wel come into the eter nal king dom of our Lord and
Sav ior Jesus Christ.
1
So I will al ways re mind you of these things, even though you know them
and are firm ly es tab lished in the truth you now have. I think it is right to
re fresh your mem o ry as long as I live in the tent of this body, be cause I know
that I will soon put it aside, as our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me.
04NT_Mk-12Pe-Jude_TBoTB_2.indd 361 5/11/2011 6:55:11 PM
362 | 2 Peter

1:152:13
And I will make ev ery ef fort to see that af ter my de par ture you will al ways
be able to re mem ber these things.
For we did not fol low clev er ly de vised sto ries when we told you about
the com ing of our Lord Jesus Christ in pow er, but we were eye wit ness es of
his maj es ty. He re ceived hon or and glo ry from God the Fa ther when the
voice came to him from the Ma jes tic Glo ry, say ing, This is my Son, whom
I love; with him I am well pleased. We our selves heard this voice that came
from heav en when we were with him on the sa cred moun tain.
We also have the pro phet ic mes sage as some thing com plete ly re li able,
and you will do well to pay at ten tion to it, as to a light shin ing in a dark
place, un til the day dawns and the morn ing star ris es in your hearts. Above
all, you must un der stand that no proph e cy of Scrip ture came about by the
proph ets own in ter pre ta tion of things. For proph e cy nev er had its or i gin in
the hu man will, but proph ets, though hu man, spoke from God as they were
car ried along by the Holy Spir it.
1
But there were also false proph ets among the peo ple, just as there will be
false teach ers among you. They will se cret ly in tro duce de struc tive her e sies,
even de ny ing the sov er eign Lord who bought them bring ing swift de-
struc tion on them selves. Many will fol low their de praved con duct and will
bring the way of truth into dis re pute. In their greed these teach ers will ex-
ploit you with fab ri cat ed sto ries. Their con dem na tion has long been hang-
ing over them, and their de struc tion has not been sleep ing.
For if God did not spare an gels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,
put ting them in chains of dark ness to be held for judg ment; if he did not
spare the an cient world when he brought the flood on its un god ly peo ple,
but pro tect ed Noah, a preach er of righ teous ness, and sev en oth ers; if he
con demned the cit ies of Sod om and Go mor rah by burn ing them to ash es,
and made them an ex am ple of what is go ing to hap pen to the un god ly; and
if he res cued Lot, a righ teous man, who was dis tressed by the de praved
con duct of the law less (for that righ teous man, liv ing among them day af ter
day, was tor ment ed in his righ teous soul by the law less deeds he saw and
heard) if this is so, then the Lord knows how to res cue the god ly from
tri als and to hold the un righ teous for pun ish ment on the day of judg ment.
This is es pe cial ly true of those who fol low the cor rupt de sire of the flesh
and de spise au thor i ty.
Bold and ar ro gant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on ce les tial be-
ings; yet even an gels, al though they are stron ger and more pow er ful, do
not heap abuse on such be ings when bring ing judg ment on them from the
Lord. But these peo ple blas pheme in mat ters they do not un der stand. They
are like un rea son ing an i mals, crea tures of in stinct, born only to be caught
and de stroyed, and like an i mals they too will per ish.
They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their
04NT_Mk-12Pe-Jude_TBoTB_2.indd 362 5/11/2011 6:55:11 PM

2 Peter | 363
2:143:10
idea of plea sure is to ca rouse in broad day light. They are blots and blem-
ish es, rev el ing in their plea sures while they feast with you. With eyes full
of adul tery, they nev er stop sin ning; they se duce the un sta ble; they are ex-
perts in greed an ac cursed brood! They have left the straight way and
wan dered off to fol low the way of Ba laam son of Be zer, who loved the wag es
of wick ed ness. But he was re buked for his wrong do ing by a don key an
an i mal with out speech who spoke with a hu man voice and re strained
the proph ets mad ness.
These peo ple are springs with out wa ter and mists driv en by a storm.
Black est dark ness is re served for them. For they mouth emp ty, boast ful
words and, by ap peal ing to the lust ful de sires of the flesh, they en tice peo-
ple who are just es cap ing from those who live in er ror. They prom ise them
free dom, while they them selves are slaves of de prav i ty for peo ple are
slaves to what ev er has mas tered them. If they have es caped the cor rup tion
of the world by know ing our Lord and Sav ior Jesus Christ and are again en-
tan gled in it and are over come, they are worse off at the end than they were
at the be gin ning. It would have been bet ter for them not to have known the
way of righ teous ness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs
on the sa cred com mand that was passed on to them. Of them the prov erbs
are true: A dog re turns to its vom it, and, A sow that is washed re turns to
her wal low ing in the mud.
1
Dear friends, this is now my sec ond let ter to you. I have writ ten both of
them as re mind ers to stim u late you to whole some think ing. I want you to
re call the words spo ken in the past by the holy proph ets and the com mand
giv en by our Lord and Sav ior through your apos tles.
Above all, you must un der stand that in the last days scoff ers will come,
scoff ing and fol low ing their own evil de sires. They will say, Where is this
com ing he prom ised? Ever since our an ces tors died, ev ery thing goes on as
it has since the be gin ning of cre a tion. But they de lib er ate ly for get that long
ago by Gods word the heav ens came into be ing and the earth was formed
out of wa ter and by wa ter. By these wa ters also the world of that time was
del uged and de stroyed. By the same word the pres ent heav ens and earth
are re served for fire, be ing kept for the day of judg ment and de struc tion of
the un god ly.
But do not for get this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is
like a thou sand years, and a thou sand years are like a day. The Lord is not
slow in keep ing his prom ise, as some un der stand slow ness. In stead he is
pa tient with you, not want ing any one to per ish, but ev ery one to come to
re pen tance.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heav ens will dis ap-
pear with a roar; the el e ments will be de stroyed by fire, and the earth and
ev ery thing done in it will be laid bare.
04NT_Mk-12Pe-Jude_TBoTB_2.indd 363 5/11/2011 6:55:11 PM
364 | 2 Peter

3:113:18
Since ev ery thing will be de stroyed in this way, what kind of peo ple
ought you to be? You ought to live holy and god ly lives as you look for ward
to the day of God and speed its com ing. That day will bring about the de-
struc tion of the heav ens by fire, and the el e ments will melt in the heat. But
in keep ing with his prom ise we are look ing for ward to a new heav en and a
new earth, where righ teous ness dwells.
So then, dear friends, since you are look ing for ward to this, make ev ery
ef fort to be found spot less, blame less and at peace with him. Bear in mind
that our Lords pa tience means sal va tion, just as our dear broth er Paul also
wrote you with the wis dom that God gave him. He writes the same way in
all his let ters, speak ing in them of these mat ters. His let ters con tain some
things that are hard to un der stand, which ig no rant and un sta ble peo ple
dis tort, as they do the oth er Scrip tures, to their own de struc tion.
There fore, dear friends, since you have been fore warned, be on your
guard so that you may not be car ried away by the er ror of the law less and fall
from your se cure po si tion. But grow in the grace and knowl edge of our Lord
and Sav ior Jesus Christ. To him be glo ry both now and for ev er! Amen.
04NT_Mk-12Pe-Jude_TBoTB_2.indd 364 5/11/2011 6:55:11 PM
INVITATION TO
JUDE
Jesus had several brothers, including James and Jude. James is better known, since he
was a prominent leader in the church at Jerusalem (see p. 311). Much less is known
about Jude, but he too was clearly a church leader, since he wrote to believers with
authority in this letter that bears his name. Its not clear exactly who was meant to
receive this letter, although the references to angels, to the history of Israel and to
specc vrtngs suggest thut t vus uddressed to }evs vho beeved n }esus us ther
Messiah.
But the problem that occasioned the letter is quite clear. Jude warns his readers
about certain individuals who have secretly slipped in among you, whose teaching and
example are threatening the faith that was once for all entrusted to Gods holy people.
These false teachers, on the basis of supposedly inspired dreams, reject authority and
pollute their own bodies, engage in immorality and refuse discipline. Even though
they claim to bring Gods message, they really follow mere natural instincts and do
not have the Spirit.
The believers response to them must be active resistance. They must contend for
the faith by rejecting both the teaching and the example of these men and cleansing
their community. Be merciful to those who doubt, Jude instructs them, save others by
sna|ch|ng |hem |tom |he |te, |o o|hets shov metcy, m|xed v||h |eat. He assures them
that as they do these things, they can entrust themselves to God their Savior.
It appears that the apostle Peter received a copy of Judes letter and wrote a similar
one of his own to show that Jude was faithfully presenting the teaching of the apostles
of the Lord Jesus Christ (see p. 359).
1 10
| J UDE |
J
ude, a ser vant of Jesus Christ and a broth er of James,
1
To those who have been called, who are loved in God the Fa ther and kept
for Jesus Christ:
1
Mer cy, peace and love be yours in abun dance.
2
2
D
ear friends, al though I was very ea ger to write to you about the sal-
va tion we share, I felt com pelled to write and urge you to con tend for
the faith that was once for all en trust ed to Gods holy peo ple. For cer tain
in di vid u als whose con dem na tion was writ ten about long ago have se cret ly
slipped in among you. They are un god ly peo ple, who per vert the grace of
our God into a li cense for im mo ral i ty and deny Jesus Christ our only Sov-
er eign and Lord.
Though you al ready know all this, I want to re mind you that the Lord
at one time de liv ered his peo ple out of Egypt, but lat er de stroyed those who
did not be lieve. And the an gels who did not keep their po si tions of au thor-
i ty but aban doned their prop er dwell ing these he has kept in dark ness,
bound with ever last ing chains for judg ment on the great Day. In a sim i lar
way, Sod om and Go mor rah and the sur round ing towns gave them selves
up to sex u al im mo ral i ty and per ver sion. They serve as an ex am ple of those
who suf fer the pun ish ment of eter nal fire.
In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these un god ly
peo ple pol lute their own bod ies, re ject au thor i ty and heap abuse on ce les-
tial be ings. But even the arch an gel Mi cha el, when he was dis put ing with
the dev il about the body of Mo ses, did not him self dare to con demn him
for slan der but said, The Lord re buke you! Yet these peo ple slan der what-
ev er they do not un der stand, and the very things they do un der stand by
in stinct as ir ra tion al an i mals do will de stroy them.
04NT_Mk-12Pe-Jude_TBoTB_2.indd 367 5/11/2011 6:55:11 PM
368 | Jude

11 25
Woe to them! They have tak en the way of Cain; they have rushed for
prof it into Ba laams er ror; they have been de stroyed in Ko rahs re bel lion.
These peo ple are blem ish es at your love feasts, eat ing with you with-
out the slight est qualm shep herds who feed only them selves. They are
clouds with out rain, blown along by the wind; au tumn trees, with out fruit
and up root ed twice dead. They are wild waves of the sea, foam ing up
their shame; wan der ing stars, for whom black est dark ness has been re-
served for ev er.
Enoch, the sev enth from Adam, proph e sied about them: See, the Lord
is com ing with thou sands upon thou sands of his holy ones to judge ev ery-
one, and to con vict all of them of all the un god ly acts they have com mit ted
in their un god li ness, and of all the de fi ant words un god ly sin ners have spo-
ken against him. These peo ple are grum blers and fault find ers; they fol low
their own evil de sires; they boast about them selves and flat ter oth ers for
their own ad van tage.
But, dear friends, re mem ber what the apos tles of our Lord Jesus Christ
fore told. They said to you, In the last times there will be scoff ers who will
fol low their own un god ly de sires. These are the peo ple who di vide you,
who fol low mere nat u ral in stincts and do not have the Spir it.
But you, dear friends, by build ing your selves up in your most holy faith
and pray ing in the Holy Spir it, keep your selves in Gods love as you wait for
the mer cy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eter nal life.
Be mer ci ful to those who doubt; save oth ers by snatch ing them from
the fire; to oth ers show mer cy, mixed with fear hat ing even the cloth ing
stained by cor rupt ed flesh.
2
2
T
o him who is able to keep you from stum bling and to pre sent you be fore
his glo ri ous pres ence with out fault and with great joy to the only God
our Sav ior be glo ry, maj es ty, pow er and au thor i ty, through Jesus Christ our
Lord, be fore all ages, now and for ev er more! Amen.
04NT_Mk-12Pe-Jude_TBoTB_2.indd 368 5/11/2011 6:55:11 PM