Bible Gateway passage: 2 Peter 3 - New International Version (2024)

The Day of the Lord

3Dear friends,^(A) this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders^(B) to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ²I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets^(C) and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.^(D)

³Above all, you must understand that in the last days^(E) scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.^{(F) 4}They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?^(G) Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”^{(H) 5}But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word^(I) the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.^{(J) 6}By these waters also the world of that time^(K) was deluged and destroyed.^{(L) 7}By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire,^(M) being kept for the day of judgment^(N) and destruction of the ungodly.

⁸But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.^{(O) 9}The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,^(P) as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient^(Q) with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.^(R)

¹⁰But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.^(S) The heavens will disappear with a roar;^(T) the elements will be destroyed by fire,^(U) and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.^[a](V)

¹¹Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹²as you look forward^(W) to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b](X) That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.^{(Y) 13}But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,^(Z) where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless^(AA) and at peace with him. ¹⁵Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience^(AB) means salvation,^(AC) just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.^{(AD) 16}He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable^(AE) people distort,^(AF) as they do the other Scriptures,^(AG) to their own destruction.

¹⁷Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard^(AH) so that you may not be carried away by the error^(AI) of the lawless^(AJ) and fall from your secure position.^{(AK) 18}But grow in the grace^(AL) and knowledge^(AM) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.^(AN) To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.^(AO)

Footnotes

1. 2 Peter 3:10 Some manuscripts be burned up
2. 2 Peter 3:12 Or as you wait eagerly for the day of God to come

Cross references

1. 2 Peter 3:1 : S 1Co 10:14
2. 2 Peter 3:1 : 2Pe 1:13
3. 2 Peter 3:2 : Lk 1:70; Ac 3:21
4. 2 Peter 3:2 : S Eph 4:11
5. 2 Peter 3:3 : 1Ti 4:1; 2Ti 3:1
6. 2 Peter 3:3 : 2Pe 2:10; Jude 18
7. 2 Peter 3:4 : Isa 5:19; Eze 12:22; Mt 24:48; S Lk 17:30
8. 2 Peter 3:4 : Mk 10:6
9. 2 Peter 3:5 : Ge 1:6, 9; Heb 11:3
10. 2 Peter 3:5 : Ps 24:2
11. 2 Peter 3:6 : 2Pe 2:5
12. 2 Peter 3:6 : Ge 7:21, 22
13. 2 Peter 3:7 : ver 10, 12; S 2Th 1:7
14. 2 Peter 3:7 : S Mt 10:15
15. 2 Peter 3:8 : Ps 90:4
16. 2 Peter 3:9 : Hab 2:3; Heb 10:37
17. 2 Peter 3:9 : S Ro 2:4
18. 2 Peter 3:9 : S 1Ti 2:4; Rev 2:21
19. 2 Peter 3:10 : S Lk 12:39
20. 2 Peter 3:10 : Isa 34:4
21. 2 Peter 3:10 : ver 7, 12; S 2Th 1:7
22. 2 Peter 3:10 : Mt 24:35; S Heb 12:27; Rev 21:1
23. 2 Peter 3:12 : S 1Co 1:7
24. 2 Peter 3:12 : Ps 50:3
25. 2 Peter 3:12 : ver 10
26. 2 Peter 3:13 : Isa 65:17; 66:22; Rev 21:1
27. 2 Peter 3:14 : S 1Th 3:13
28. 2 Peter 3:15 : S Ro 2:4
29. 2 Peter 3:15 : ver 9
30. 2 Peter 3:15 : Eph 3:3
31. 2 Peter 3:16 : Jas 1:8; 2Pe 2:14
32. 2 Peter 3:16 : Ps 56:5; Jer 23:36
33. 2 Peter 3:16 : ver 2
34. 2 Peter 3:17 : 1Co 10:12
35. 2 Peter 3:17 : 2Pe 2:18
36. 2 Peter 3:17 : 2Pe 2:7
37. 2 Peter 3:17 : Rev 2:5
38. 2 Peter 3:18 : S Ro 3:24
39. 2 Peter 3:18 : S 2Pe 1:2
40. 2 Peter 3:18 : 2Pe 1:11; 2:20
41. 2 Peter 3:18 : S Ro 11:36