⁴⁸ But suppose that servant is wicked and says to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’

³² “Then the master called the servant in. ‘You wicked servant,’ he said, ‘I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to.

³ Above all, you must understand that in the last days^(A) scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.^{(B) 4} They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?^(C) Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”^{(D) 5} But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word^(E) the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.^(F)

⁴⁵ But suppose the servant says to himself, ‘My master is taking a long time in coming,’ and he then begins to beat the other servants, both men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk.