Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
Peter — one of Jesus' original twelve disciples — is writing to early Christians to encourage and ground them in their faith. Here he makes an important point about where Scripture comes from: the prophets who wrote it were not simply sharing their own opinions or private hunches about God. The word "prophecy" here refers broadly to Scripture itself. Peter is saying the words did not originate in a human mind — they came from God. The verse that follows this one explains further: prophets "spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit," like a boat driven by wind rather than its own power.
God, I don't always know what to do with your Word. Parts of it confuse me, challenge me, and sometimes frustrate me. Give me the humility to approach it as something that came from you, not just an ancient book I can take or leave. Open my eyes to what I've been missing. Amen.
There is something unsettling about reading the Bible if you let yourself really sit with what it claims to be. This is not a collection of wise men's best guesses about God. Peter, who fished alongside Jesus and watched him die and then saw him alive again three days later, is saying something more radical: these words were not born in a human brain. The prophets were not interpreting their own spiritual intuitions and calling it Scripture. Something else was happening — something that moved through them like wind filling a sail. That does not mean you have to turn off your mind when you read it. Asking hard questions, wrestling with difficult passages, sitting with the parts that confuse or frustrate you — all of that is honest engagement. But it does mean you can bring your questions to the Bible as if you are talking to someone real, not just consulting an ancient document. If Scripture has a divine origin, then reading it is less like studying history and more like receiving a letter. What would change about how you read it if you actually believed that?
What does Peter mean when he says prophecy did not come from "the prophet's own interpretation"? What is he claiming about the nature of Scripture?
Do you tend to approach the Bible more like an ancient text to analyze or a personal letter from God to receive? Where did that approach come from in your life?
This verse makes a strong claim about Scripture's divine origin. What questions or doubts does that raise for you, especially around passages that feel confusing or troubling?
How does your view of the Bible's authority affect how you treat others — especially people you disagree with who also quote Scripture to support their position?
Is there a passage of Scripture you have been quietly avoiding or dismissing? What would it look like to sit with it this week as though it came directly from God?
Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
2 Peter 3:3
For what saith the scripture? Abraham believed God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness.
Romans 4:3
For whatsoever things were written aforetime were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
Romans 15:4
And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.
2 Timothy 3:15
To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:
1 Corinthians 12:10
God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets,
Hebrews 1:1
Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
Romans 6:6
Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded.
1 Peter 2:6
But understand this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of or comes from one's own [personal or special] interpretation,
AMP
knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation.
ESV
But know this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture is [a matter] of one's own interpretation,
NASB
Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.
NIV
knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation,
NKJV
Above all, you must realize that no prophecy in Scripture ever came from the prophet’s own understanding,
NLT
The main thing to keep in mind here is that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private opinion.
MSG