2 Peter 3
1 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.
I write to you now this second letter, beloved, in which I arouse your sincere mind by a reminder,
2 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.
to remember the sayings that were earlier spoken by the holy prophets, and of the command of your apostles of the Lord and Savior.
3 First be assured of this, that, as the age draws to an end, scoffers, led by their own passions,
Knowing this first, that there will come at the end of the days, scoffers, proceeding according to their own desires,
4 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!”
and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For, from since the fathers became asleep, all things continue this way from the beginning of creation.
5 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;
For this is willfully ignored by them, that long ago there were heavens, and an earth that came together out of water and by water by the word of God,
6 and that by the same means the world which then existed was destroyed in a deluge of water.
by which the world then perished, having been overflowed with water.
7 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.
But now the heavens and the earth, which have been stored up by the same word, are being preserved for fire in a day of judgment and destruction of irreverent men.
8 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.
But beloved, let not this one thing be ignored by you, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 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.
The Lord is not slack about his promise, as some regard slackness, but is patient toward us, not wanting any to perish, but all to go forward to repentance.
10 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.
But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, during which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements, being intensely hot, will be disintegrated, and the earth and the works in it will be destroyed by fire.
11 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,
Therefore, all these things being disintegrated, what kind ought ye to be in holy actions and pieties,
12 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,
anticipating and hastening the coming of the day of God, by which the heavens, being made fiery hot, will be disintegrated, and the elements dissolve, being intensely hot?
13 but we look for new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will have its home, in fulfilment of the promise of God.
But we anticipate a new heavens and a new earth according to his promise, in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, dear friends, in expectation of these things, make every effort to be found by him spotless, blameless, and at peace.
Therefore, beloved, anticipating these things, be diligent to be found by him in peace, without spot and blameless.
15 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.
And consider the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him,
16 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.
as also in all his letters, speaking in them about these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist, as also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 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;
Ye therefore, beloved, knowing in advance, keep watch, lest, having accommodated to the error of the lawless, ye fall from your own steadfastness.
The Great Flood
