2 UPhetro 3
1 Bangane abathandekayo, le yincwadi yami yesibili kini. Ngizilobe zombili njengezikhumbuzo ukuba ngivuselele kini ukucabanga kuhle.
This letter which I am now writing to you, dear friends, is my second letter. In both my letters I seek to revive in your honest minds the memory of certain things,
2 Ngithanda ukuba likhumbule amazwi akhulunywa kudala ngabaphrofethi abangcwele lomlayo owaphiwa yiNkosi loMsindisi ngabapostoli benu.
so that you may recall the words spoken long ago by the holy Prophets, and the commandments of our Lord and Saviour given you through your Apostles.
3 Phezu kwakho konke, kumele liqedisise ukuthi ngezinsuku zokucina kuzafika abaklolodayo baklolode belandela izinkanuko zabo ezimbi.
But, above all, remember that, in the last days, men will come who make a mock at everything--men governed only by their own passions,
4 Bazakuthi, “Kungaphi ‘ukuza’ lokhu akuthembisayo? Selokhu obaba bafayo, konke kuqhubeka njengokwakuvele kusenzakala kusukela ekuqaleni kwendalo.”
and, asking, "What has become of His promised Return? For from the time our forefathers fell asleep all things continue as they have been ever since the creation of the world."
5 Kodwa bakhohlwa ngabomo ukuthi endulo ngelizwi likaNkulunkulu amazulu abakhona lomhlaba wavela emanzini njalo ngamanzi.
For they are wilfully blind to the fact that there were heavens which existed of old, and an earth, the latter arising out of water and extending continuously through water, by the command of God;
6 Ngamanzi futhi umhlaba wakulezozinsuku wakhukhulwa wachitheka.
and that, by means of these, the then existing race of men was overwhelmed with water and perished.
7 Ngelizwi elifanayo amazulu akhathesi kanye lomhlaba kugcinelwe umlilo, kulindele usuku lokwahlulelwa lokubhujiswa kwabantu abangamesabiyo uNkulunkulu.
But the present heavens and the present earth are, by the command of the same God, kept stored up, reserved for fire in preparation for a day of judgement and of destruction for the ungodly.
8 Kodwa, bangane abathandekayo, lingakhohlwa into le eyodwa ukuthi: KuThixo usuku lunjengeminyaka eyinkulungwane leminyaka eyinkulungwane injengosuku olulodwa.
But there is one thing, dear friends, which you must not forget. With the Lord one day resembles a thousand years and a thousand years resemble one day.
9 INkosi kayiphuzi ukugcwalisa isithembiso sayo, njengoba abanye bekuqedisisa njengokuphuza. Iyalibekezelela, ingafuni ukuba lamunye abhubhe, kodwa ukuba umuntu wonke aphenduke.
The Lord is not slow in fulfilling His promise, in the sense in which some men speak of slowness. But He bears patiently with you, His desire being that no one should perish but that all should come to repentance.
10 Kodwa usuku lweNkosi luzafika njengesela. Amazulu azanyamalala ngokuhlokoma; imimoya izaqothulwa ngomlilo, lomhlaba lakho konke okukuwo kuzatshabalaliswa.
The day of the Lord will come like a thief--it will be a day on which the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, the elements be destroyed in the fierce heat, and the earth and all the works of man be utterly burnt up.
11 Njengoba izinto zonke zizachithwa ngale indlela, lina kumele libe ngabantu abanjani na? Kumele liphile impilo engcwele leyokumesaba uNkulunkulu
Since all these things are thus pre-destined to dissolution, what sort of men ought you to be found to be in all holy living and godly conduct,
12 lisalindele usuku lwakhe liphangisise ukufika kwalo. Lolosuku luzaletha ukuchithwa kwamazulu ngomlilo, njalo imimoya izancibilikiswa yikutshisa.
eagerly looking forward to the coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens, all ablaze, will be destroyed, and the elements will melt in the fierce heat?
13 Kodwa mayelana lesithembiso sakhe silindele izulu elitsha lomhlaba omutsha, ikhaya lokulunga.
But in accordance with His promise we are expecting new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness will dwell.
14 Ngakho-ke, bangane abathandekayo, njengoba lokhu likulindele, yenzani imizamo yonke ukuba litholakale lingelasici, lingelacala njalo lihlalisane laye ngokuthula.
Therefore, dear friends, since you have these expectations, earnestly seek to be found in His presence, free from blemish or reproach, in peace.
15 Khumbulani ukuthi ukubekezela kweNkosi yethu kutsho ukusindisa, njengalokhu umzalwane wethu othandekayo uPhawuli walilobela ngenhlakanipho uNkulunkulu amupha yona.
And always regard the patient forbearance of our Lord as salvation, as our dear brother Paul also has written to you in virtue of the wisdom granted to him.
16 Uloba ngendlela efanayo kuzozonke izincwadi zakhe, ekhuluma lezizindaba kuzo. Izincwadi zakhe zimumethe ezinye izinto okunzima ukuzizwisisa, okuthi abantu abangaziyo labangaqinanga bazihlanekele, njengabakwenzayo kweminye iMibhalo, okuzaletha ukubhujiswa kwabo.
That is what he says in all his letters, when speaking in them of these things. In those letters there are some statements hard to understand, which ill-taught and unprincipled people pervert, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own ruin.
17 Ngakho-ke, bangane abathandekayo, njengoba selike lenqatshelwa, qaphelani ukuze lingedukiswa yibubi babantu abangelamthetho beselisiwa ezindaweni zenu eziqinileyo.
You, therefore, dear friends, having been warned beforehand, must continually be on your guard so as not to be led astray by the false teaching of immoral men nor fall from your own stedfastness.
The Great Flood
