2 Phi-e-rơ 3

Where is the promise of his coming?

¹Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. In both of them I am trying to rouse your minds to clear thinking by reminding you ²to remember what the holy prophets said long ago, and the command of the Lord and Savior that your apostles passed on to you. ³Above all, understand this: in the last days scoffers will come, full of scorn, living by their own desires. ⁴They will say, “Where is this promise of his coming? For ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on just as it has from the beginning of creation.”^{a 5}They choose to overlook this: long ago, by the word of God, the heavens came into being, and the earth was formed out of water and by means of water. ⁶By these, water and word, the world of that time was flooded and destroyed.^{b 7}But by that same word the present heavens and earth are being held in store for fire. They are kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

The Lord is patient

⁸But you, dear friends, must not overlook this one thing: in the Lord’s sight a single day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a single day. ⁹The Lord is not delaying the promise, as some people think of delay. Rather, he is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all people to turn back in repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will vanish with a rushing sound, the elements will be set ablaze and break apart, and the earth and the deeds done on it will be found out.^cde

Waiting for the day of God

¹¹Since everything is to be dissolved in this way, think what sort of people you ought to be! Live holy and godly lives, ¹²as you wait for the coming of the day of God and hurry it on. That day will set the heavens on fire and dissolve them, and the elements will melt in the heat.^{f 13}But we are looking forward to what he promised: new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

Be found at peace

¹⁴So, dear friends, while you wait for these things, work hard to be found by him spotless and without fault, and at peace. ¹⁵Regard our Lord’s patience as salvation. Paul, our dear brother, wrote to you about this too, with the wisdom God gave him. ¹⁶He does so in all his letters when he speaks of these things. Some things in them are hard to grasp, and people who are untaught and unsteady bend them out of shape, as they bend the other Scriptures, and so bring about their own destruction.^{gh 17}So, dear friends, since you have been told this in advance, be on your guard. Do not let the error of lawless people sweep you along and knock you off your own firm footing. ¹⁸Instead, keep growing in the grace that comes from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and in knowing him. May glory be his, both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.ⁱ