2 Peter 3
3
The Lord's return is certain
1My dear friends, this is the second letter I have written to encourage you to do some honest thinking. I don't want you to forget 2what God's prophets said would happen. You must never forget what the holy prophets taught in the past. And you must remember what the apostles told you our Lord and Saviour has commanded us to do.
3But first you must realize that in the last days some people won't think about anything except their own selfish desires. They will make fun of you#Jd 18. 4and say, “Didn't your Lord promise to come back? Yet the first leaders have already died, and the world hasn't changed a bit.”
5They will say this because they want to forget that long ago the heavens and the earth were made at God's command. The earth came out of water and was made from water.#Gn 1.6-9. 6Later it was destroyed by the waters of a mighty flood.#Gn 7.11. 7But God has commanded the present heavens and earth to remain until the day of judgment. Then they will be set on fire, and ungodly people will be destroyed.
8Dear friends, don't forget that for the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years is the same as one day.#Ps 90.4. 9The Lord isn't slow about keeping his promises, as some people think he is. In fact, God is patient, because he wants everyone to turn from sin and no one to be lost.
10The day of the Lord's return will surprise us like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a loud noise, and the heat will melt the whole universe.#3.10 the whole universe: Probably the sun, moon, and stars, or the elements that everything in the universe is made of. Then the earth and everything on it will be seen for what they are.#3.10 will be seen for what they are: Some manuscripts have “will go up in flames.”#Mt 24.43; Lk 12.39; 1 Th 5.2; Rev 16.15.
11Everything will be destroyed. So you should serve and honour God by the way you live. 12You should look forward to the day when God judges everyone, and you should try to make it come soon.#3.12 and you should try to make it come soon: Or “and you should eagerly desire for that day to come.” On that day the heavens will be destroyed by fire, and everything else will melt in the heat. 13But God has promised us a new heaven and a new earth, where justice will rule. We are really looking forward to that!#Is 65.17; 66.22; Rev 21.1.
14My friends, while you are waiting, you should make certain that the Lord finds you pure, spotless, and living at peace. 15Don't forget that the Lord is patient because he wants people to be saved. This is also what our dear friend Paul said when he wrote to you with the wisdom that God had given him. 16Paul talks about these same things in all his letters, but part of what he says is hard to understand. Some ignorant and unsteady people even destroy themselves by twisting what he said. They do the same thing with other Scriptures too.
17My dear friends, you have been warned beforehand! So don't let the errors of evil people lead you down the wrong path and make you lose your balance. 18Let the wonderful kindness and the understanding that come from our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ help you to keep on growing. Praise Jesus now and for ever! Amen.#3.18 Amen: Some manuscripts do not have “Amen.”
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© British and Foreign Bible Society 2012
2 Peter 3
3
The Promise of the Lord's Coming
1My dear friends, this is now the second letter I have written to you. In both letters I have tried to arouse pure thoughts in your minds by reminding you of these things. 2I want you to remember the words that were spoken long ago by the holy prophets, and the command from the Lord and Saviour which was given you by your apostles. 3#Jude 18First of all, you must understand that in these last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will mock you 4and will ask, “He promised to come, didn't he? Where is he? Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the creation of the world!” 5#Gen 1.6–9They purposely ignore the fact that long ago God gave a command, and the heavens and earth were created. The earth was formed out of water and by water, 6#Gen 7.11and it was also by water, the water of the flood, that the old world was destroyed. 7But the heavens and the earth that now exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and destroyed.
8 #
Ps 90.4
But do not forget one thing, my dear friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same. 9The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.
10 #
Mt 24.43; Lk 12.39; 1 Thes 5.2; Rev 16.15 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish.#3.10 vanish; some manuscripts have be found; others have be burnt up; one has be found destroyed. 11Since all these things will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and dedicated to God, 12as you wait for the Day of God and do your best to make it come soon — the Day when the heavens will burn up and be destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat. 13#Is 65.17; 66.22; Rev 21.1But we wait for what God has promised: new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will be at home.
14And so, my friends, as you wait for that Day, do your best to be pure and faultless in God's sight and to be at peace with him. 15Look on our Lord's patience as the opportunity he is giving you to be saved, just as our dear brother Paul wrote to you, using the wisdom that God gave him. 16This is what he says in all his letters when he writes on the subject. There are some difficult things in his letters which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with other passages of the Scriptures. So they bring on their own destruction.
17But you, my friends, already know this. Be on your guard, then, so that you will not be led away by the errors of lawless people and fall from your safe position. 18But continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory, now and for ever! Amen.
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.