⁸ But 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.^{(A) 9} The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise,^(B) as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient^(C) with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.^(D)

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

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

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless^(M) and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience^(N) means salvation,^(O) just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.^{(P) 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^(Q) people distort,^(R) as they do the other Scriptures,^(S) to their own destruction.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard^(T) so that you may not be carried away by the error^(U) of the lawless^(V) and fall from your secure position.^{(W) 18} But grow in the grace^(X) and knowledge^(Y) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.^(Z) To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.^(AA)