2Pe 3 | ISV | STEP | Be Ready for the Day of the Lord Dear friends, this is now the second letter I am writing to you. In them I have been trying to stimulate your pure minds by reminding you

2 Peter 3

1 Be Ready for the Day of the Lord

Dear friends, this is now the second letter I am writing to you. In them I have been trying to stimulate your pure minds by reminding you2Pet 1:13 2 to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the commandment of our Lord and Savior spoken ^{▼▼The Gk. lacks spoken} through your apostles.Jude 1:17

3 First of all you must understand this: In the last days mockers will come and, following their own desires, will ridicule us1Tim 4:1; 2Tim 3:1; 2Pet 2:10; Jude 1:18 4 by saying, “What happened to his promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died, ^{▼▼Lit. fell asleep} everything continues as it did from the beginning of creation.”Isa 5:19; Jer 17:15; Ezek 12:22, 27; Matt 24:48; Luke 12:45 5 But they deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed by God's word out of water and with water,Gen 1:6, 9; Ps 24:2; 33:6; 136:6; Col 1:17; Heb 11:3 6 by which the world at that time was deluged with water and destroyed.Gen 7:11, 21-23; 2Pet 2:5 7 Now by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.Matt 25:41; 2Thes 1:8; 2Pet 3:10

8 Don't forget this fact, dear friends: With the Lord a single day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a single day.Ps 90:4 9 The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but wants ^{▼▼The Gk. lacks wants} everyone to come to repentance.Isa 30:18; Ezek 18:23, 32; 33:11; Hab 2:3; Rom 2:4; 1Tim 2:4; Heb 10:37; 1Pet 3:20; 2Pet 3:15 10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day ^{▼▼Lit. On it} the heavens will disappear with a roaring sound, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed.Ps 102:26; Isa 51:6; Matt 24:35, 43; Mark 13:31; Luke 12:39; Rom 8:20; 1Thes 5:2; Heb 1:11; Rev 3:3; 16:15; 20:11; 21:1

11 Since everything will be destroyed in this way, think of the kind of holy and godly people you ought to be1Pet 1:15 12 as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God, by which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire.Ps 50:3; Isa 34:4; Mic 1:4; 1Cor 1:7; Titus 2:13; 2Pet 1:10 13 But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.Isa 65:17; 66:22; Rev 21:1, 27

14 So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to have him find you without spot or fault and at peace.1Cor 1:8; 15:58; Phil 1:10; 1Thes 3:13; 5:23 15 Think of our Lord's patience as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him.Rom 2:4; 1Pet 3:20; 2Pet 3:9 16 He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.Rom 8:19; 1Cor 15:24; 1Thes 4:15

17 And so, dear friends, since you already know these things, continually be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of lawless people, lest you fall from your secure position.Mark 13:23; Eph 4:14; 2Pet 1:10-12; 2:18 18 Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen. ^{▼▼Other mss. lack Amen}Eph 4:15; 2Tim 4:18; 1Pet 2:2; Rev 1:6