New Testament
The Second Letter of Peter
The Second Letter of Peter is the twenty-second of the 27 books of the New Testament: 3 chapters and 61 verses.
About 2 Peter
About 2 Peter · Farewell letter
Second Peter is written as the apostle's testament before death, warning against false teachers who twist freedom into license and scoff that the promised coming never arrives. Its authorship was questioned even in the ancient Church and remains the most debated in the New Testament, which is worth saying plainly; the Church received the letter as inspired Scripture. It was written to steady faith in God's patience — one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and the delay of judgment is mercy, giving time for repentance.
| Testament | New Testament — book 22 of 27, 68 of 73 in the Bible |
|---|---|
| Canon | Protocanonical (in every Christian canon) |
| Chapters | 3 |
| Verses | 61, as Bless numbers them |
| Latin | Clementine Vulgate, every chapter |
| Bp. Challoner | Summaries of all 3 chapters · 4 notes |
| Catechism | 20 paragraphs cite it |
Chapter by chapter
All 3 chapters, in brief.
Bishop Richard Challoner’s summary of each chapter, from his revision of the Douay-Rheims (1749–52). Open a chapter for the full text.
2 Peter 1
21 versesHe exhorts them to join all other virtues with their faith, in order to secure their salvation.
2 Peter 2
22 versesHe warns them against false teachers and foretells their punishment.
2 Peter 3
18 versesAgainst scoffers denying the second coming of Christ. He declares the sudden dissolution of this world and exhorts to holiness of life.
Bp. Richard Challoner · chapter summaries
In the comments
What the saints said.
5 quotations from 5 saints linked to passages of 2 Peter in Bless. Each names the work it comes from.
St. Thomas Aquinas · on 2 Peter 1:4
On this theme
Grace does not destroy nature but perfects it.
Summa Theologiae, I q.1 a.8, c. 1265
St. Irenaeus · on 2 Peter 1:4
On this theme
The Word of God became what we are, that He might make us what He Himself is.
Against Heresies, III.19.1, c. 180
St. Athanasius · on 2 Peter 1:4
On this theme
He became man that we might become divine.
On the Incarnation, 54, c. 318
St. Leo the Great · on 2 Peter 1:4
On this theme
Christian, recognize your dignity, and now that you share in God's own nature, do not return by sin to your former base condition.
Sermon 21 on the Nativity, c. 440
St. Hilary of Poitiers · on 2 Peter 1:20
On this theme
The best reader is one who awaits the meaning of what is written from the words themselves rather than imposes it.
On the Trinity, II.2, c. 360
Coming up
Read at Mass.
From October 29, 2026 to October 28, 2027, 2 Peter is read at the principal Mass on 2 days in the US calendar. The next 5 readings:
| Date | Celebration | Reading | Citation |
|---|---|---|---|
| Second Sunday of Advent | Second Reading | 2 Peter 3:8-14 | |
| computed | Transfiguration of the Lord | Second Reading | 2 Peter 1:16-19 |
| computed | Monday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | 2 Peter 1:2-7 |
| computed | Tuesday of the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time | First Reading | 2 Peter 3:12-15a, 17-18 |
| computed | Transfiguration of the Lord | Second Reading | 2 Peter 1:16-19 |
No more readings are listed here; the liturgical calendar has every date through December 31, 2028.
Citations as published in the USCCB liturgical calendar (principal Mass, first option). Dates after May 31, 2027 are computed by Bless from the US Lectionary cycle — confirm with your parish.