Christ’s Coming Judgment
1 Beloved, this is now the second letter that I have written to you, and in both letters I have inspired you to have pure minds and to remind you 2 to keep the words of the holy prophets in mind and the command from the Lord and Savior, given through us apostles, 3 knowing this first: that in the last days there will be mockers following their own lusts 4 and saying, “Where is this promise of his Coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, everything has continued as they have from the beginning of creation.”
5 For the mockers willfully forget this: at the word of God the ancient heavens existed, and at his word, the earth was formed from the midst of the water. 6 In the same way the world was brought into existence, it was submerged in water and perished. 7 But the heavens that exist now and the earth, at the same word of God, have been stored up for fire, and reserved for the day of judgment and destruction for ungodly people.
8 But do not forget this one thing, beloved, that one day to the Lord is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard “slow”, but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish but that all should come to repentance.
The Day of the Lord
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. 11 Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be, living holy and godly lives, 12 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat! 13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.
Final Exhortations
14 Therefore, beloved, as you are looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight. 15 Consider the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, 16 and also in all of his letters in which he spoke of these things. There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. 17 You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, so that you are not taken away with the errant ways of the wicked and fall from your own steadfastness. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.