2 Peter 3
New International Reader's Version
The Day of the Lord
3 Dear friends, this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders. I want to encourage you to think in a way that is pure. 2 I want you to remember the words the holy prophets spoke in the past. Remember the command our Lord and Savior gave through your apostles.
3 Most of all, here is what you must understand. In the last days people will make fun of the truth. They will laugh at it. They will follow their own evil desires. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘return’ he promised? Everything goes on in the same way it has since our people of long ago died. In fact, it has continued this way since God first created everything.” 5 Long ago, God’s word brought the heavens into being. His word separated the earth from the waters. And the waters surrounded it. But these people forget things like that on purpose. 6 The waters also flooded the world of that time. And so they destroyed the world. 7 By God’s word the heavens and earth of today are being reserved for fire. They are being kept for the day when God will judge. Then ungodly people will be destroyed.
8 Dear friends, here is one thing you must not forget. With the Lord a day is like a thousand years. And a thousand years are like a day. 9 The Lord is not slow to keep his promise. He is not slow in the way some people understand it. Instead, he is patient with you. He doesn’t want anyone to be destroyed. Instead, he wants all people to turn away from their sins.
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar. Fire will destroy everything in them. God will judge the earth and everything done in it.
11 So everything will be destroyed in this way. And what kind of people should you be? You should lead holy and godly lives. 12 Live like this as you look forward to the day of God. Living like this will make the day come more quickly. On that day fire will destroy the heavens. Its heat will melt everything in them. 13 But we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth. Godliness will live there. All this is in keeping with God’s promise.
14 Dear friends, I know you are looking forward to this. So try your best to be found pure and without blame. Be at peace with God. 15 Remember that while our Lord is waiting patiently to return, people are being saved. Our dear brother Paul also wrote to you about this. God made him wise to write as he did. 16 Paul writes the same way in all his letters. He speaks about what I have just told you. His letters include some things that are hard to understand. People who don’t know better and aren’t firm in the faith twist what he says. They twist the other Scriptures too. So they will be destroyed.
17 Dear friends, you have already been warned about this. So be on your guard. Then you won’t be led astray by people who don’t obey the law. Instead, you will remain safe. 18 Grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Glory belongs to him both now and forever. Amen.
2 Peter 3
Expanded Bible
Jesus Will Come Again
3 ·My friends [L Beloved], this is [L now] the second letter I have written you [C the first is probably 1 Peter] to ·help your honest minds remember [L awaken/arouse your sincere understanding/intentions with a reminder]. 2 I want you to ·think about [remember; recall] the words the holy prophets spoke in the past, and remember the command our Lord and Savior gave us through your apostles [Jude 17]. 3 It is most important for you to understand what will happen in the last days. ·People [L Scoffers] will ·laugh at [scoff at; ridicule] you. They will ·live doing the evil things they want to do [indulge their own desires/lusts; Jude 18]. 4 [L And] They will say, “·Jesus promised to come again. Where is he [L Where is his promised coming]? [L For] Our ·fathers [ancestors] have ·died [L fallen asleep], but ·the world [L all things] continues the way it has been since ·it was made [it began with creation].” 5 But they ·do not want to remember [willfully forget/ignore] what happened long ago. By the word of God heaven ·was made [came to be; Gen. 1:3–20; Ps. 33:6; 148:5; Heb. 11:3], and the earth was made from water [Gen. 1:2; Ps. 24:2] and with water [Gen. 1:6–7, 9; Ps. 33:7; 136:6; Prov. 8:27–29]. 6 ·Then [L Through these; C either the water and the word of God, or the heavens and earth which poured forth their water; Gen. 7:11] the world was flooded and destroyed ·with water [L being deluged with water; Gen. 6—9]. 7 And that same word of God is ·keeping [reserving; holding in store] heaven and earth that we now have in order to be destroyed by fire [Deut. 32:22; Is. 66:15–16; Zeph. 1:18; Mal. 4:1]. They are being kept for the judgment day and the destruction of ·all who are against God [L the ungodly/impious people].
8 But do not forget [ignore; miss] this one thing, ·dear friends [L beloved]: To the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day [C our perception of time is not the same as God’s; Ps. 90:4]. 9 The Lord is not ·slow [or late] in doing what he promised—the way some people understand ·slowness [lateness; Hab. 2:3]. But God is being patient with you [Ex. 34:6]. He does not want anyone to ·be lost [perish], but he wants all people to ·change their hearts and lives [L come to repentance].
10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief [C with surprise and danger]. The ·skies [heavens] will ·disappear [pass away; Matt. 5:18; 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 16:17; 21:33] with a loud noise. ·Everything in them [L The elements; C either everything in the cosmos or specifically the heavenly bodies] will be ·destroyed [or dissolved] by ·fire [heat; burning], and the earth and ·everything in it [or all the deeds done on it] will be exposed.[a] 11 In that way everything will be ·destroyed [or dissolved]. So what kind of people should you be? You should live holy lives and ·serve God [be godly/pious], 12 as you wait for and ·look forward to [strive for; or hurry; hasten] the coming of the day of God. When that day comes, the ·skies [or heavens] will be ·destroyed [or dissolved] with fire, and ·everything in them [the elements; 3:10] will melt with ·heat [fire; burning]. 13 But God made a promise to us [Is. 65:17; 66:22], and we are waiting for a new heaven and a new earth where ·goodness [righteousness] ·lives [makes its home].
14 [L Therefore] ·Dear friends [L Beloved], ·since [or while] you are waiting for this to happen, ·do your best [make every effort; strive] to be [L found] without ·sin [L spot] and without ·fault [L blemish; C the characteristics of the false teachers in 2:13]. ·Try [Make every effort; Strive] to be at peace with God. 15 ·Remember [Consider; Bear in mind] that ·we are saved because our Lord is patient [L our Lord’s patience is our salvation; C his delay in coming allows more to be saved]. Our ·dear [L beloved] brother Paul told you the same thing when he wrote to you with the wisdom that God gave him. 16 He writes about ·this [L these things] in all his letters. Some things in Paul’s letters are hard to understand, and people who are ·ignorant [untaught] and ·weak in faith [unstable] ·explain these things falsely [L twist/distort them]. They also ·falsely explain [L twist; distort] the other Scriptures, ·but they are destroying themselves by doing this [or which will lead to their destruction].
17 [L Therefore] ·Dear friends [L Beloved], since you already ·know [are forewarned] about this, be ·careful [on guard]. Do not let those ·evil [lawless; unprincipled] people lead you away ·by the wrong they do [or by their deception; or into error]. Be ·careful [on guard] so you will not fall from your own ·strong faith [stability; firm position]. 18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Glory be to him now and ·forever [L to the day of eternity]! ·Amen [So be it].
Footnotes
- 2 Peter 3:10 and … exposed Some Greek copies read “and everything in it will be burned up.”
2 Peter 3
The Voice
3 This is now, my dear friends, my second letter to you. In both of them, I have tried to inspire you to a sincere and pure way of thinking by reminding you of what you already know. 2 Remember the words spoken earlier by God’s holy prophets and the commandment that our Lord and Savior gave to you through your emissaries.[a] 3 Above all, be sure to remember that in the last days mockers will come, following their own desires and taunting you, 4 saying, “So what happened to the promised second coming of Jesus? For everything keeps going just the way it has since our ancestors fell asleep in death; since the beginning of creation, nothing’s changed.”
These believers face persecution every day and eagerly await the day when Jesus will return and judge their enemies. But what is taking so long?
5 When they make fun of you, it’s as if the scoffers are deliberately forgetting that long ago when God spoke the word, the heavens came into existence and the earth formed from water and by water. 6 The waters later flooded and destroyed that world. 7 By that same word, the heavens and earth we see now are being reserved for destruction by fire, preserved until the time comes for the godless on the day of judgment.
8 Don’t imagine, dear friends, that God’s timetable is the same as ours; as the psalm says, for with the Lord, one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years is like one day.[b]
Scoffers use the delay in His second coming to question if He is going to return at all. Peter responds by saying that God’s perspective on time is not like ours. What seems long from a finite, human perspective is incredibly short from an eternal one. Peter also describes how God is not slow, but patient. God wants to allow the time needed for as many sinners as possible to turn from their sinful ways. Unlike some depictions of God as vindictive and enjoying inflicting punishment on people, the God we see here desires that all be saved and not destroyed. If we had true spiritual insight, we would not be amazed by the severity of eternal judgment but by the intensity of God’s mercy.
9 Now the Lord is not slow about enacting His promise—slow is how some people want to characterize it—no, He is not slow but patient and merciful to you, not wanting anyone to be destroyed, but wanting everyone to turn away from following his own path and to turn toward God’s.[c]
10 The day of the Lord will come unexpectedly like a thief in the night; and on that day, the sky will vanish with a roar, the elements will melt with intense heat, and the earth and all the works done on it will be seen as they truly are.[d] 11 Knowing that one day all this will come to pass, think what sort of people you ought to be—how you should be living faithful and godly lives, 12 waiting hopefully for and hastening the coming of God’s day when the heavens will vanish in flames and the elements melt away with intense heat. 13 What will happen next, and what we hope for, is what God promised: a new heaven and a new earth where justice reigns.
14 So, my friends, while we wait for the day of the Lord, work hard to live in peace, without flaw or blemish; 15 and look at the patience of the Lord as your salvation. Our dearly loved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, has written about this. 16 He says essentially the same in all of his letters, although uneducated and unstable readers misinterpret the difficult passages, just as they always misread Scripture, to their spiritual ruin.
17 So hear my final words, my friends. Now that I have warned you about what’s ahead, keep up your guard and don’t let unprincipled people pull you away from the sure ground of the truth with their lies and misunderstandings. 18 Instead, grow in grace and in the true knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Anointed, to whom be glory, now and until the coming of the new age. Amen.
Footnotes
- 3:2 Literally, apostles
- 3:8 An allusion to Psalm 90:4
- 3:9 Literally, repent
- 3:10 Other manuscripts read “be burned up.”
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The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.