This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:
Parallel translations
- WEB This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you;
- BSB Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking
- NKJV Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder),
- NASB Beloved, this is now the second letter I am writing to you in which I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of a reminder,
- NLT This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Peter writes this second letter to stir his readers' sincere minds by way of reminder. It matters because believers continually need their memories awakened to gospel truth.
Overview
Peter signals a turn to his closing concern, referring to an earlier letter he wrote. His aim is pastoral: to rouse his readers' pure understanding by reminding them of what they know. This emphasis on reminder frames the warning about scoffers that follows.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- 2 Tim 1:6Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
- 2 Pet 1:12–15Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.
- Matt 5:8Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.
- 1 Pet 1:22Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
- Ps 73:1Truly God is good to Israel, even to such as are of a clean heart.
- 1 Pet 1:1–2Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
- 1 Tim 5:22Lay hands suddenly on no man, neither be partaker of other men’s sins: keep thyself pure.
- Ps 24:4He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully.
- 2 Cor 13:2I told you before, and foretell you, as if I were present, the second time; and being absent now I write to them which heretofore have sinned, and to all other, that, if I come again, I will not spare:
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Christ at the center
The sure word of the prophets and the promise of the coming day of the Lord anchor the believer in the knowledge of 'our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.'
How 2 Peter 3:1 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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