2 Peter 3

⁶For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.

¹²Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.

¹³I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I live in the tent of my body,

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To the elect who are exiles of the Dispersion throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, chosen

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and sanctified by the Spirit for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by His blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

⁸Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.

¹A Psalm of Asaph. Surely God is good to Israel, to those who are pure in heart.

²²Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

¹⁷But you, beloved, remember what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ

⁷⁰as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of ages past,

²¹It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.

⁴⁴Jesus said to them, “These are the words I spoke to you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about Me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets, and the Psalms.”

¹⁹We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

²⁰Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets who foretold the grace to come to you searched and investigated carefully,

¹¹trying to determine the time and setting to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when He predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

¹⁸when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.”

¹Now the Spirit expressly states that in later times some will abandon the faith to follow deceitful spirits and the teachings of demons,

²influenced by the hypocrisy of liars, whose consciences are seared with a hot iron.

¹⁰Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.

²Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

¹⁶These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

²⁰Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture comes from one’s own interpretation.

¹⁵Behold, they keep saying to me, “Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come now!”

¹⁷You have wearied the Lord with your words; yet you ask, “How have we wearied Him?” By saying, “All who do evil are good in the sight of the Lord, and in them He delights,” or, “Where is the God of justice?”

¹²They have lied about the Lord and said: “He will not do anything; harm will not come to us; we will not see sword or famine.

¹³The prophets are but wind, for the word is not in them. So let their own predictions befall them.”

⁴⁵But suppose that servant says in his heart, ‘My master will be a long time in coming,’ and he begins to beat the menservants and maidservants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.

¹⁸Woe to those who draw iniquity with cords of deceit and pull sin along with cart ropes,

¹⁹to those who say, “Let Him hurry and hasten His work so that we may see it! Let the plan of the Holy One of Israel come so that we may know it!”

¹¹When the sentence for a crime is not speedily executed, the hearts of men become fully set on doing evil.

³By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.

²For He has founded it upon the seas and established it upon the waters.

⁹And God said, “Let the waters under the sky be gathered into one place, so that the dry land may appear.” And it was so.

⁶And God said, “Let there be an expanse between the waters, to separate the waters from the waters.”

⁶He spread out the earth upon the waters. His loving devotion endures forever.

⁶By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.

³⁸For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark.

³⁹And they were oblivious until the flood came and swept them all away. So will it be at the coming of the Son of Man.

⁵if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

²⁷People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

¹⁰And after seven days the floodwaters came upon the earth.

¹¹In the six hundredth year of Noah’s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month, all the fountains of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.

¹⁵If He holds back the waters, they dry up, and if He releases them, they overwhelm the land.

¹⁵I will remember My covenant between Me and you and every living creature of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life.

¹⁰But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

⁶Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail.

¹²as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

⁹if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

⁴For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night.

⁴who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

⁴Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

³For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.

¹⁵But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.

¹⁸Therefore the Lord longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the Lord is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.

²¹Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

⁷And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

¹⁵“Behold, I am coming like a thief. Blessed is the one who remains awake and clothed, so that he will not go naked and let his shame be exposed.”

⁶Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look at the earth below; for the heavens will vanish like smoke, the earth will wear out like a garment, and its people will die like gnats. But My salvation will last forever, and My righteousness will never fail.

²For you are fully aware that the Day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

¹⁵But just as He who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do,

²⁷Nevertheless, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending together as one for the faith of the gospel,

¹²Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

¹¹But you, O man of God, flee from these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.

¹²as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.

¹³Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.

¹⁰But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.

⁴All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.

⁴The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.

¹³as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.

³Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.

⁷And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

¹⁷For behold, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind.

¹Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.

²²“For just as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, will endure before Me,” declares the Lord, “so your descendants and your name will endure.

²⁷But nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who practices an abomination or a lie, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life.

²¹Then all your people will be righteous; they will possess the land forever; they are the branch of My planting, the work of My hands, so that I may be glorified.

²³Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you completely, and may your entire spirit, soul, and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

¹³so that He may establish your hearts in blamelessness and holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints. Amen.

¹⁰so that you may be able to test and prove what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ,

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

³And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as Christ is pure.

⁸He will sustain you to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

⁴Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?

⁹The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.

¹⁶But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.

²⁰who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.

¹⁷But the wisdom from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, accommodating, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial, and sincere.

⁵Now if any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.

⁶he need not honor his father or mother with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

¹¹We have much to say about this, but it is hard to explain, because you are dull of hearing.

⁸He is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

¹⁴Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

¹Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

²For in Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set you free from the law of sin and death.

¹⁴We have come to share in Christ if we hold firmly to the end the assurance we had at first.

⁸See to it that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception, which are based on human tradition and the spiritual forces of the world rather than on Christ.

¹³For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.

¹⁴And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.

⁵⁸Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast and immovable. Always excel in the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

¹²So the one who thinks he is standing firm should be careful not to fall.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

¹⁰so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

²Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,

¹⁰and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.

⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

¹⁷that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in your knowledge of Him.