2 Peter 3:1–10

God’s Promise is Not Slack

3Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which ^aI stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), ²that you may be mindful of the words ^bwhich were spoken before by the holy prophets, ^cand of the commandment of ¹us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, ³knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, ^dwalking according to their own lusts, ⁴and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of ^ecreation.” ⁵For this they willfully forget: that ^fby the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth ^gstanding out of water and in the water, ^6hby which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. ⁷But ⁱthe heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for ^jfire until the day of judgment and ²perdition of ungodly men.

⁸But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ^ka thousand years as one day. ^9lThe Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but ^mis longsuffering toward ³us, ⁿnot willing that any should perish but ^othat all should come to repentance.

The Day of the Lord

¹⁰But ^pthe day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which ^qthe heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be ⁴burned up.