2 PETER Chapter 3 (GNB)
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3:1 My dear friends, this is now the second
letter I have written you. In both letters I have tried to arouse pure thoughts
in your minds by reminding you of these things.
3:2 I want you to remember the words that were
spoken long ago by the holy prophets, and the command from the Lord and Savior which was given you by your apostles.
3:3 First of all, you must understand that in
the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own
lusts. They will make fun of you
3:4 and will ask, "He promised to come,
didn't he? Where is he? Our ancestors have already died, but everything is
still the same as it was since the creation of the world!"
3:5 They purposely ignore the fact that long
ago God gave a command, and the heavens and earth were created. The earth was
formed out of water and by water,
3:6 and it was also by water, the water of the
flood, that the old world was destroyed.
3:7 But the heavens and the earth that now
exist are being preserved by the same command of God, in order to be destroyed
by fire. They are being kept for the day when godless people will be judged and
destroyed.
3:8 But do not forget one thing, my dear
friends! There is no difference in the Lord's sight between one day and a
thousand years; to him the two are the same.
3:9 The Lord is not slow to do what he has
promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not
want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins.
3:10 But the Day of the Lord will come like a
thief. On that Day the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly
bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will
vanish.
3:11 Since all these things will be destroyed
in this way, what kind of people should you be? Your lives should be holy and
dedicated to God,
3:12 as you wait for the Day of God and do
your best to make it come soon---the Day when the heavens will burn up and be
destroyed, and the heavenly bodies will be melted by the heat.
3:13 But we wait for what God has promised:
new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness will be at home.
3:14 And so, my friends, as you wait for that
Day, do your best to be pure and faultless in God's sight and to be at peace
with him.
3:15 Look on our Lord's patience as the
opportunity he is giving you to be saved, just as our dear friend Paul wrote to
you, using the wisdom that God gave him.
3:16 This is what he says in all his letters
when he writes on the subject. There are some difficult things in his letters
which ignorant and unstable people explain falsely, as they do with other
passages of the Scriptures. So they bring on their own destruction.
3:17 But you, my friends, already know this.
Be on your guard, then, so that you will not be led away by the errors of
lawless people and fall from your safe position.
3:18 But continue to grow in the grace and
knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him
be the glory, now and forever! Amen.
CHAPTER ENDS
2 PETER ENDS