Bible Time

¹IT has been a long time since I have written you, my beloved, but now I write this 2nd epistle; in both of them I have endeavored to stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance, ²That 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 Savior:

³Knowing this first, that there will come in the last days mockers who scoff, following after their own lusts ⁴And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? For since our fathers died, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation. ⁵Of 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; ⁶And those men, because of whose deeds the world of that time was overflowed with water, perished; ⁷But 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. ⁸But, my beloved, do not forget this 1 thing, that 1 day is with the Lord as 1,000 years, and 1,000 years is as 1 day. ⁹The Lord is not negligent concerning his promises, as some men count negligence; but is long-suffering toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. ¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, when the heavens will suddenly pass away and the elements will separate as they burn, and the earth also and the works that are in it will not be found.

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