The Day of the Lord

¹Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I’ve written both of them as reminders. I want to encourage you to think in a pure way.

²I want you to remember the words that the holy prophets spoke in the past and the command our Lord and Savior gave through your apostles.

³Above all, you must understand that in the last days people will laugh at the truth and follow their own wrong desires.

⁴They’ll say, “Where is this ‘return’ he promised? Ever since our ancestors died, everything has been going on in the same way it has since the beginning of creation.”

⁵They will deliberately forget that long ago, God’s word brought the heavens into being and his word separated the earth from the waters.

⁶Those waters flooded the world of that time and destroyed it.

⁷By that same word, the heavens and earth of today are being reserved for fire. They’re being kept ready for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.

⁸But don’t forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.

⁹The Lord isn’t slow to keep his promise, not slow in the way some people understand it. Instead, he’s being patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed. He wants everyone to turn away from their sins.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be seen for what they really are.

¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people should you be? You should lead holy and godly lives

¹²as you look forward to the day of God and help it come more quickly. On that day fire will destroy the heavens, and the elements will melt in the heat.

¹³But in keeping with God’s promise, we’re looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness lives.

¹⁴Dear friends, since you’re looking forward to this, try your best to be found pure, blameless, and at peace with God.

¹⁵Remember that while our Lord is waiting patiently to return, people are being saved. Our dear brother Paul also wrote to you about this with the wisdom that God gave him.

¹⁶Paul writes the same way in all his letters. He speaks about the same things I’ve just told you. His letters include some things that are hard to understand. People who are unstable and ignorant twist what he says, just as they twist the other Scriptures. But this will lead to their own destruction.

¹⁷But you, dear friends, have already been warned about this. So be on your guard. Otherwise, people who don’t obey the law might lead you astray, and you’ll lose your secure position.

¹⁸So grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

May he receive glory both now and forever. Amen.