2 Peter 1:9

But ¹  concerning the one who lacks such things ²  – he is blind. That is to say, he is ³  nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins.

But if anyone does not have them, he is short-sighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins.

For he who lacks these qualities is blind or short-sighted, having forgotten his purification from his former sins.

But those who fail to develop these virtues are blind or, at least, very shortsighted. They have already forgotten that God has cleansed them from their old life of sin.

Without these qualities you can't see what's right before you, oblivious that your old sinful life has been wiped off the books.

For the man who has not these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having no memory of how he was made clean from his old sins.

For anyone who lacks these things is nearsighted and blind, and is forgetful of the cleansing of past sins.

For he who lacks these things is shortsighted, even to blindness, and has forgotten that he was cleansed from his old sins.

But ¹  concerning the one who lacks such things ²  – he is blind. That is to say, he is ³  nearsighted, since he has forgotten about the cleansing of his past sins.

¹ tn Grk “for.” The connection, though causal, is also adversative.

² tn Grk “to the one for whom these things are not present.”

³ tn The words “that is to say, he is” are not in Greek. The word order is unusual. One might expect the author to have said “he is nearsighted and blind” (as the NIV has so construed it), but this is not the word order in Greek. Perhaps the author begins with a strong statement followed by a clarification, i.e., that being nearsighted in regard to these virtues is as good as being blind.