2 Peter 3

1Beloved, this is now the second letter I am writing to you; in both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder,

2to remember the words spoken beforehand by the holy prophets and the commandment of your apostles from the Lord and Savior,

3knowing this first: that in the last days scoffers will come with scoffing, walking according to their own desires,

4and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue just as they have from the beginning of creation.”

5For they deliberately overlook this: that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God,

6through which the world of that time, having been flooded with water, perished.

7But the present heavens and the earth are stored up by the same word, being kept for fire until the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

8But do not let this one thing escape your notice, beloved: with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.

9The Lord is not slow concerning the promise, as some consider slowness, but is patient toward you, not wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.

10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, in which the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the elements, being burned, will be dissolved, and the earth and the works in it will be found.

11Since all these things are being dissolved in this way, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,

12as you wait for and hasten the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens, being set on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements, burning, will melt.

13But according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

14Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these things, make every effort to be found by him spotless and blameless in peace.

15And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him,

16as also in all his letters, speaking in them about these things. In them are some things hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17Therefore, you, beloved, knowing this beforehand, guard yourselves so that, being carried away by the error of the lawless, you may not fall from your own stability.

18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Messiah. To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.