<t /><p class="bodytext">From Simeon<n id="1" /> Peter,<n id="2" /> a slave<n id="3" /> and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who through the righteousness of our God<n id="4" /> and Savior,<n id="5" /> Jesus Christ, have been granted<n id="6" /> a faith just as precious<n id="7" /> as ours.

May grace and peace be lavished on you<n id="1" /> as you grow<n id="2" /> in the rich knowledge<n id="3" /> of God and of Jesus our Lord!<n id="4" />p>

For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.p>

For if<n id="1" /> these things are really yours<n id="2" /> and are continually increasing,<n id="3" /> they will keep you from becoming<n id="4" /> ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of<n id="5" /> knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately.<n id="6" />

<p class="bodytext">For we did not follow cleverly concocted fables when we made known to you the power and return<n id="1" /> of our Lord Jesus Christ;<n id="2" /> no,<n id="3" /> we were<n id="4" /> eyewitnesses of his<n id="5" /> grandeur.<n id="6" />

But grow in the grace and knowledge<n id="1" /> of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on<n id="2" /> that eternal day.<n id="3" />p>

For if after they have escaped the filthy things<n id="1" /> of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,<n id="2" /> they<n id="3" /> again get entangled in them and succumb to them,<n id="4" /> their last state has become worse for them than their first.