2 Peter 1:3

His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

Berean Standard Bible

Follow its threads on the canvas →

Study note

Setting — Peter, writing near the end of his life (1:14), addresses a scattered community of believers in the eastern provinces, grounding the moral exhortation that follows in the prior verse's greeting of grace and peace.

The words — dunameōs (δυνάμεως), "power," stands in the genitive with autou (αὐτοῦ), "of Him," marking the power as His possession, not the reader's. The construction "by the divine power of Him" (τῆς θείας δυνάμεως αὐτοῦ) makes the source explicit before the gift is named.

The thread — "Called by His own glory and excellence" parallels 1 Peter 5:10 ("called you to His eternal glory") and 2 Timothy 1:9 ("called us to a holy calling… by His own purpose and grace"), both locating the initiative in God rather than the recipient.

Why it lands — The verse removes the burden of self-sufficiency: everything needed for life and godliness is already supplied, and the reader's task is to enter through knowledge of the one who called, not to manufacture the resource independently.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Greek words

King James Version

According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:

Cross-references

1 Peter 5:10 And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore you, secure you, strengthen you, and establish you.
2 Timothy 1:9 He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.
Romans 8:28 And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.
Psalms 84:11 For the LORD God is a sun and a shield; the LORD gives grace and glory; He withholds no good thing from those who walk with integrity.
1 Corinthians 3:21 Therefore, stop boasting in men. All things are yours,
Romans 8:32 He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?
Ephesians 1:19 and the surpassing greatness of His power to us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of His mighty strength,
2 Corinthians 12:9 But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.
1 Peter 2:21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His footsteps:
1 Peter 2:9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.