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The Day of the Lord Will Come

¹ This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them ^(a)I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ^2 (b)that you should remember the predictions of ^(c)the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, ³ knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come ^(d)in the last days with scoffing, ^(e)following their own sinful desires. ^4 (f)They will say, "Where is the promise of ^(g)his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." ⁵ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth ^(h)was formed out of water and through water ⁽ⁱ⁾by the word of God, ⁶ and that by means of these the world that then existed ^(j)was deluged with water and ^(k)perished. ⁷ But by the same word ^(l)the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and ^(m)destruction of the ungodly.

⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ⁽ⁿ⁾a thousand years as one day. ^9 (o)The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise ^(p)as some count slowness, but ^(q)is patient toward you,^{[a] (r)}not wishing that any should perish, but ^(s)that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But ^(t)the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then ^(u)the heavens will pass away with a roar, and ^(v)the heavenly bodies^[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.^[c]

¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, ^(w)what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ^12 (x)waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and ^(y)the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for ^(z)new heavens and a new earth ^(aa)in which righteousness dwells.

Final Words

^14 (ab)Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him ^(ac)without spot or ^(ad)blemish, and ^(ae)at peace. ¹⁵ And count ^(af)the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as ^(ag)our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you ^(ah)according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶ as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. ^(ai)There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, ^(aj)as they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, ^(ak)knowing this beforehand, ^(al)take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸ But ^(am)grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ^(an)To him be the glory both now and to the day of ^(ao)eternity. Amen.