彼得後書 3
1 親愛的諸位！這已是我給你們寫的第二封信，在這兩封信中，我都用提醒的話，來鼓勵你們應有赤誠的心，
This is now my second letter to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your pure minds by putting you in remembrance.
2 叫你們想起聖先知們以前說過的話，以及你們的宗徒們傳授的主和救世者的誡命。
I want you to recollect the words that were foretold by the holy prophets, and the command of your Lord and Saviour, given you through your apostles.
3 首先你們該知道：在末日要出現一些愛嘲笑戲弄，按照自己的私慾生活的人，
Know this first, that mockers will come in the last days, in their mockery, men who walk the way of their own lusts
4 他們說：「那裏有他所應許的來臨？因為自從我們的父老長眠以來，一切照舊存在，全如創造之初一樣。」
and say, "Where is the promise of His coming? For since the day that our fathers fell asleep everything continues as it was from the beginning of the creation."
5 他們故意忘記了：在太古之時，因天主的話，就有了天，也有了由水中出現，並在水中而存在的地；
For they willingly ignore the fact that there were heaven, from of old, and an earth formed out of water and through water, by the word of God;
6 又因天主的話和水，當時的世界為水所淹沒而消滅了；
and that by the same means the world which then existed was destroyed by a deluge of water.
7 甚至連現有的天地，還是因天主的話得以保存，直存到審判及惡人喪亡的日子，被火焚燒。
But the heavens and earth that now are, by the same word of God, have been reserved for fire, and are being kept for the Day of Judgment, and for the destruction of ungodly men.
8 親愛的諸位，惟有這一件事你們不可忘記：就是在天主前一日如千年，千年如一日。
Do not forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 主決不遲延他的應許，有如某些人所想像的；其實是他對妳們含忍，不願任何人喪亡，只願眾人回心轉意。
The Lord does not loiter over his promise, as some men esteem loitering; but he is longsuffering toward you, not purposing that any should perish, but that all should pass on to repentance.
10 可是，主的日子必要如盜賊一樣來到；在那一日，天要轟然過去，所有的原質都要因烈火而溶化，大地及其中所有的工程，也都要被焚毀。
But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief; and on that Day the heavens will vanish with a crash, the heavenly bodies will melt with fervent heat, and the earth and all its works will be burned up.
11 這一切既然都要這樣消失，那麼，你們應該怎樣以聖潔和虔敬的態度生活，
Now since all things are in the process of dissolution, what kind of men ought you to be, in all holy living and piety;
12 以等候並催促天主日子的來臨！在這日子上，天要為火所焚毀，所有的原質也要因烈火而溶化；
while you look for and hasten the coming of the Day of God. At its coming the heavens, being on fire, will be dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt with fervent heat.
13 可是，我們卻按照他的應許，等候正義常住在其中的新天新地。
But according to his promise, we are looking for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness makes her dwelling.
14 為此，親愛的諸位，你們既然等候這一切，就應該勉力，使他見到你們沒有玷污，沒有瑕疵，安然無懼；
And so, beloved, since you are looking for these things, continually give diligence that you may be found in peace, unspotted and blameless in his sight.
15 並應以我們主的容忍當作得救的機會；這也是我們可愛的弟兄保祿，本著賜與他的智慧，曾給你們寫過的；
Regard our Lord’s longsuffering as salvation; even as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you, according to the wisdom given to him.
16 也正如他在談論這些事時，在一切書信內所寫過的。在這些書信內，有些難懂的地方，不學無術和站立不穩的人，便加以曲解，一如曲解其他經典一樣，而自趨喪亡。
It is the same in all his letters when he speaks of these things. There are indeed some things in his letters hard to understand, which the ignorant and the shifty wrest, as also they do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 所以，親愛的諸位，你們既預先知道了這些事，就應該提防，免得為不法之徒的錯謬所誘惑，而由自己的堅固立場跌下來。
Do you therefore, beloved, because you know these things beforehand, be on your guard lest you be led astray by the error of the wicked, and so fall from your own stedfastness.
The Great Flood
