The coming end
1(THIS,) dear friends, is now my second letter to you. In both I have been recalling to you what you already know, to rouse you to honest thought.
2Remember the predictions made by God's own prophets, and the commandment given by the Lord and Saviour through your apostles.
3First of all, note this: in the last days there will come scoffers who live self-indulgent lives; they will mock you and say:
4“What has happened to his promised coming? Our fathers have been laid to rest, but still everything goes on exactly as it always has done since the world began.”
5In maintaining this they forget that there were heavens and earth long ago, created by God's word out of water and with water;
6and that the first world was destroyed by water, the water of the flood.
7By God's word the present heavens and earth are being reserved for burning; they are being kept until the day of judgement when the godless will be destroyed.
8Here is something, dear friends, which you must not forget: in the Lord's sight one day is like a thousand years and a thousand years like one day.
9It is not that the Lord is slow in keeping his promise, as some suppose, but that he is patient with you. It is not his will that any should be lost, but that all should come to repentance.
10But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day the heavens will disappear with a great rushing sound, the elements will be dissolved in flames, and the earth with all that is in it will be brought to judgement.
11Since the whole universe is to dissolve in this way, think what sort of people you ought to be, what devout and dedicated lives you should live!
12Look forward to the coming of the day of God, and work to hasten it on; that day will set the heavens ablaze until they fall apart, and will melt the elements in flames.
13Relying on his promise we look forward to new heavens and a new earth, in which justice will be established.
14In expectation of all this, my friends, do your utmost to be found at peace with him, unblemished and above reproach.
15Bear in mind that our Lord's patience is an opportunity for salvation, as Paul, our dear friend and brother, said when he wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him.
16He does the same in all his other letters, wherever he speaks about this, though they contain some obscure passages, which the ignorant and unstable misinterpret to their own ruin, as they do the other scriptures.
17So, dear friends, you have been forewarned. Take care not to let these unprincipled people seduce you with their errors; do not lose your own safe foothold.
18But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for all eternity!
