3Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders. I want to stir you up to think in a way that is pure. ²I want you to remember the words the holy prophets spoke in the past. Remember the command our Lord and Savior gave through your apostles.

³First of all, here is what you must understand. In the last days people will make fun of the truth. They will laugh at it. They will follow their own evil longings. ⁴They will say, “Where is this ‘return’ he promised? Everything goes on in the same way it has since our people of long ago died. In fact, it has continued that way since God first created everything.”

⁵Long ago, God’s word brought the heavens into being. His word separated the earth from the waters. And the waters surrounded it. But those people forget things like that on purpose. ⁶The waters also flooded the world of that time. It was destroyed.

⁷By God’s word the heavens and earth of today are being reserved for fire. They are being kept for the day when God will judge. Then ungodly people will be destroyed.

⁸Dear friends, here is one thing you must not forget. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years. And a thousand years are like a day. ⁹The Lord is not slow to keep his promise. He is not slow in the way some people understand it. He is patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed. Instead, he wants all people to turn away from their sins.

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar. Fire will destroy everything in them. God will judge the earth and everything in it.

Read in Logos

2 Peter 3:9: The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.