The Day of the Lord

¹This is now, beloved, the second epistle I am writing to you, in which I am stirring up your sincere minds by way of reminder,

²that you should remember the words that were spoken previously by the holy prophets and the commandment of our Lord and Savior spoken through us, the apostles.[#Lk 1:70; #Jude 17]

³Know this first, that there shall come scoffers in the last days who walk after their own lusts,[#Isa 28:14; 2Pe 2:10; Jude 18]

⁴and say, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things have continued as they were since the beginning of the creation.”[#Jer 17:15; Mal 2:17]

⁵For they willingly ignore that, by the word of God the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed standing out of the water and in the water,[#Ge 1:6, 9]

⁶by which the world that then existed was flooded with water and perished.[#2Pe 2:5]

⁷But by the same word, the heavens and the earth that now exist are being reserved for fire, kept for the Day of Judgment and destruction of the ungodly.[#Mt 10:15; 2Pe 3:10, 12]

⁸But, beloved, do not be ignorant of this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as one thousand years, and one thousand years as one day.[#Ps 90:4]

⁹The Lord is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness. But He is patient with us, because He does not want any to perish, but all to come to repentance.[#Hab 2:3; Heb 10:37]

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a loud noise, and the elements will be destroyed with intense heat. The earth also and the works that are in it will be burned up.[#Mt 24:35; 2Pe 3:7; Rev 21:1]

¹¹Seeing then that all these things are to be destroyed, what sort of people ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness,[#1Pe 1:15]

¹²while you are waiting for and desiring the coming of the day of God, in which the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will be consumed by intense heat?[#Ps 50:3; Isa 34:4]

¹³But, according to His promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.[#Isa 65:17; 66:22; Rev 21:1]

¹⁴Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these things, be diligent that you may be found by Him in peace, spotless and blameless.[#1Co 15:58; #1Th 3:13]

¹⁵Keep in mind that the patience of our Lord means salvation, even as our beloved brother Paul has also written to you according to the wisdom given to him.[#2Pe 3:9; #Ac 15:25]

¹⁶As in all his letters, he writes about these things, in which some things are hard to understand, which the unlearned and unstable distort, as they also do the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.[#Heb 5:11; #2Pe 2:14]

¹⁷You therefore, beloved, since you know these things beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own firm footing, being led away by the deception of the wicked.[#1Co 10:12]

¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory, both now and forever. Amen.[#Eph 4:15; Col 1:10]