2 Peter 3
1 This seconde Epistle I nowe write vnto you, beloued, wherewith I stirre vp, and warne your pure mindes,
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 To call to remembrance the wordes, which were tolde before of the holy Prophetes, and also the commandement of vs the Apostles of the Lord and Sauiour.
I want you to recall what was foretold by the holy prophets, as well as the command of our Lord and Savior given to you through your apostles.
3 This first vnderstande, that there shall come in the last dayes, mockers, which wil walke after their lustes,
First be assured of this, that, as the age draws to an end, scoffers, led by their own passions,
4 And say, Where is the promise of his comming? for since the fathers died, all things continue alike from the beginning of the creation.
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 For this they willingly know not, that the heauens were of olde, and the earth that was of the water and by the water, by the word of God.
For they willfully 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 Wherefore the worlde that then was, perished, ouerflowed with the water.
and that by the same means the world which then existed was destroyed in a deluge of water.
7 But the heauens and earth, which are nowe, are kept by the same word in store, and reserued vnto fire against the day of condemnation, and of the destruction of vngodly men.
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 Dearely beloued, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord, as a thousande yeeres, and a thousande yeeres as one day.
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 The Lord of that promise is not slacke (as some men count slackenesse) but is pacient toward vs, and would haue no man to perish, but would all men to come to repentance.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill 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 But the day of the Lord will come as a thiefe in the night, in the which the heauens shall passe away with a noyse, and the elements shall melt with heate, and the earth with the workes that are therein, shalbe burnt vp.
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 Seeing therefore that all these thinges must be dissolued, what maner persons ought ye to be in holy conuersation and godlinesse,
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 Looking for, and hasting vnto the comming of that day of God, by the which the heauens being on fire, shall be dissolued, and the elements shall melt with heate?
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 But wee looke for newe heauens, and a newe earth, according to his promise, wherein dwelleth righteousnesse.
but we look for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will have its home, in fulfillment of the promise of God.
14 Wherefore, beloued, seeing that yee looke for such thinges, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot and blamelesse.
Therefore, dear friends, in expectation of these things, make every effort to be found by him spotless, blameless, and at peace.
15 And suppose that the long suffering of our Lord is saluation, euen as our beloued brother Paul according to the wisedome giuen vnto him wrote to you,
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 As one, that in all his Epistles speaketh of these thinges: among the which some thinges are hard to be vnderstand, which they that are vnlearned and vnstable, wrest, as they do also other Scriptures vnto their owne destruction.
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 Ye therefore beloued, seeing ye know these thinges before, beware, lest ye be also plucked away with the errour of the wicked, and fall from your owne stedfastnesse.
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
