⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ^(A)a thousand years as one day. ^9 (B)The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise ^(C)as some count slowness, but ^(D)is patient toward you,^{[a] (E)}not wishing that any should perish, but ^(F)that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But ^(G)the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then ^(H)the heavens will pass away with a roar, and ^(I)the heavenly bodies^[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.^[c]

¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, ^(J)what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ^12 (K)waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and ^(L)the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for ^(M)new heavens and a new earth ^(N)in which righteousness dwells.

Final Words

^14 (O)Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him ^(P)without spot or ^(Q)blemish, and ^(R)at peace. ¹⁵ And count ^(S)the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as ^(T)our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you ^(U)according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶ as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. ^(V)There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, ^(W)as they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, ^(X)knowing this beforehand, ^(Y)take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸ But ^(Z)grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ^(AA)To him be the glory both now and to the day of ^(AB)eternity. Amen.