Chapter 3

¹This is the second letter, dear friends, that I have now written to you, in the effort to arouse your unsullied minds ²to remember the things foretold by the holy prophets, and the command of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. ³First of all, you must understand this, that in the last days mockers will come with their mockeries, going where their passions lead ⁴and saying, “Where is his promised coming? For ever since our forefathers fell asleep everything has remained as it was from the beginning of creation!” ⁵For they wilfully ignore the fact that long ago there existed heavens and an earth which had been formed at God’s command out of water and by water, ⁶by which also that world was destroyed, through being flooded with water. ⁷But by the same command the present heavens and earth are stored up for fire, and are kept for the day when godless men are to be judged and destroyed.

⁸But do not overlook this one fact, dear friends, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years are like one day. ⁹The Lord is not slow about his promise, in the sense that some men think; he is really showing his patience with you, because he does not want any to perish, but wishes all men to be brought to repentance. ¹⁰The Day of the Lord will come like a thief; on it the heavens will pass away with a roar, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth and all its works will melt away. ¹¹If all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what holy and pious lives you ought to lead, ¹²while you await and hasten the coming of the Day of God, which will cause the heavens to burn up and dissolve and the heavenly bodies to blaze and melt. ¹³In fulfilment of his promise we expect new heavens and a new earth, where uprightness will prevail.

¹⁴Therefore, dear friends, while waiting for this, make every effort to be found by him unstained, irreproachable, and at peace. ¹⁵Look upon our Lord’s patience as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul, with the wisdom that God gave him, wrote you to do, ¹⁶speaking of it as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand, which ignorant, unsteadfast people twist to their own ruin, just as they do the rest of the Scriptures. ¹⁷So you, dear friends, now that you are forewarned, must be on your guard against being led away by the errors of unprincipled men and losing your present firmness. ¹⁸You must grow in the blessing and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory to him now and forever.