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¹ IT has been a long time since I have writ ten you, my beloved, but now I write you this second epistle; in both of them I have endeavored to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:² That you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment, given through us, the Apostles of our LORD and Saviour:

³ Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days mockers who scoff, following after their own lusts,⁴ And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since our fathers passed away, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.⁵ Of this they are willingly ignorant: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water, and in the water;⁶ And those men, because of whose deeds the world of that time was overflowed with water, perished:⁷ But the present heavens and earth are sustained by his word, and are reserved for fire on the day of judgment which is the day of destruction of ungodly men.

⁸ But, my beloved, do not forget this one thing, that one day is with the LORD as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

⁹ The LORD is not negligent concerning his promises, as some men count negligence; but is longsuffering toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.¹⁰ But the day of the LORD will come as a thief in the night, when the heavens shall suddenly pass away, and the universe shall separate as it burns, and the earth also and the works that are in it, shall pass away.

¹¹ Now since all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in your holy conduct and godliness,¹² Looking for and longing for the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being tested with fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?¹³ Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, in which dwells righteousness.¹⁴ Therefore, my beloved, while you look for these things, be diligent that you may be found by him in peace, without spot, and blameless.¹⁵ And consider that the long suffering of the LORD is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you;¹⁶ As also in all his epistles, he spoke concerning these things, in which there are certain things so hard to be understood that those who are ignorant and unstable pervert their meaning, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.¹⁷ You therefore, my beloved, seeing that you know these things beforehand, beware, lest you follow the error of the lawless, and fall from your own steadfastness.¹⁸ But grow in grace and in the knowledge of our LORD and Saviour Jesus Christ, and of God the Father. To him be glory both now and forever, and through all eternity. Amen.