彼得后书 3
1 亲爱的弟兄啊，我现在写给你们的是第二封信。这两封都是提醒你们，激发你们诚实的心，
This, dear friends, is my second letter to you. In both of them I have tried, by appealing to your remembrance, to arouse your better feelings.
2 叫你们记念圣先知预先所说的话和主救主的命令，就是使徒所传给你们的。
I want you to recall what was foretold by the holy prophets, as well as the command of our Lord and Saviour given to you through your apostles.
3 第一要紧的，该知道在末世必有好讥诮的人随从自己的私欲出来讥诮说：
First be assured of this, that, as the age draws to an end, scoffers, led by their own passions,
4 “主要降临的应许在哪里呢？因为从列祖睡了以来，万物与起初创造的时候仍是一样。”
will come and ask scoffingly – “Where is his promised coming? Ever since our ancestors passed to their rest, everything remains just as it was when the world was first created!”
5 他们故意忘记，从太古，凭 神的命有了天，并从水而出、借水而成的地。
For they wilfully shut their eyes to the fact that long ago the heavens existed; and the earth, also – formed out of water and by the action of water, by the fiat of God;
6 故此，当时的世界被水淹没就消灭了。
and that by the same means the world which then existed was destroyed in a deluge of water.
7 但现在的天地还是凭着那命存留，直留到不敬虔之人受审判遭沉沦的日子，用火焚烧。
But the present heavens and earth, by the same fiat, have been reserved for fire, and are being kept for the day of the judgment and destruction of the godless.
8 亲爱的弟兄啊，有一件事你们不可忘记，就是主看一日如千年，千年如一日。
But you, dear friends, must never shut your eyes to the fact that, to the Lord, one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 主所应许的尚未成就，有人以为他是耽延，其实不是耽延，乃是宽容你们，不愿有一人沉沦，乃愿人人都悔改。
The Lord is not slow to fulfil his promise, as some count slowness; but he is forbearing with you, as it is not his will that any of you should perish, but that all should be brought to repentance.
10 但主的日子要像贼来到一样。那日，天必大有响声废去，有形质的都要被烈火销化，地和其上的物都要烧尽了。
The day of the Lord will come like a thief; and on that day the heavens will pass away with a crash, the elements will be burnt up and dissolved, and the earth and all that is in it will be disclosed.
11 这一切既然都要如此销化，你们为人该当怎样圣洁，怎样敬虔，
Now, since all these things are in the process of dissolution, think what you yourselves ought to be – what holy and pious lives you ought to lead,
12 切切仰望 神的日子来到。在那日，天被火烧就销化了，有形质的都要被烈火熔化。
while you wait for the coming of the day of God and strive to make it come soon. At its coming the heavens will be dissolved in fire, and the elements melted by heat,
13 但我们照他的应许，盼望新天新地，有义居在其中。
but we look for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will have its home, in fulfilment of the promise of God.
14 亲爱的弟兄啊，你们既盼望这些事，就当殷勤，使自己没有玷污，无可指摘，安然见主；
Therefore, dear friends, in expectation of these things, make every effort to be found by him spotless, blameless, and at peace.
15 并且要以我主长久忍耐为得救的因由，就如我们所亲爱的兄弟保罗，照着所赐给他的智慧写了信给你们。
Regard our Lord’s forbearance as your one hope of salvation. This is what our dear friend Paul wrote to you, with the wisdom that God gave him.
16 他一切的信上也都是讲论这事。信中有些难明白的，那无学问、不坚固的人强解，如强解别的经书一样，就自取沉沦。
It is the same in all his letters, when he speaks in them about these subjects. There are some things in them difficult to understand, which untaught and weak people distort, just as they do all other writings, to their own ruin.
17 亲爱的弟兄啊，你们既然预先知道这事，就当防备，恐怕被恶人的错谬诱惑，就从自己坚固的地步上坠落。
You must, therefore, dear friends, now that you know this beforehand, be on your guard against being led away by the errors of reckless people, and so lapsing from your present steadfastness;
The World is Destroyed by Water
