God, the Judge of the Righteous and the Wicked.

A Psalm of ^[a]Asaph.

God, the King of the Earth.

For the music director. A Psalm of the sons of Korah.

¹² This is what the Lord says:

“Yet You Have Not Returned to Me”

Purpose of This Letter

3 ^(A)Beloved, this is now the second letter I am writing to you in which I am ^(B)stirring up your sincere mind by way of a reminder, ² to ^(C)remember the words spoken beforehand by ^(D)the holy prophets and ^(E)the commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken by your apostles.

The Coming Day of the Lord

^3 (F)Know this first of all, that ^(G)in the last days ^(H)mockers will come with their mocking, ^(I)following after their own lusts, ⁴ and saying, “^(J)Where is the promise of His ^(K)coming? For ever since the fathers ^[a](L)fell asleep, all things continue just as they were ^(M)from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For ^[b]when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that ^(N)by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was ^(O)formed out of water and by water, ⁶ through which ^(P)the world at that time was ^(Q)destroyed by being flooded with water. ⁷ But by His word ^(R)the present heavens and earth are being reserved for ^(S)fire, kept for ^(T)the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly people.

⁸ But do not let this one fact escape your notice, ^(U)beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and ^(V)a thousand years like one day. ^9 (W)The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but ^(X)is patient toward you, ^(Y)not willing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance.

A New Heaven and Earth

¹⁰ But ^(Z)the day of the Lord ^(AA)will come like a thief, in which ^(AB)the heavens ^(AC)will pass away with a roar and the ^(AD)elements will be destroyed with intense heat, and ^(AE)the earth and ^[c]its works will be ^[d]discovered.

Cleansing the Temple

^12 (A)And Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all those who were selling and buying on the temple grounds, and He overturned the tables of the ^(B)money changers and the seats of those who were selling ^(C)doves. ¹³ And He *said to them, “It is written: ‘^(D)My house will be called a house of prayer’; but you are making it a ^(E)den of robbers.”

¹⁴ And those who were blind and those who limped came to Him in the temple area, and ^(F)He healed them. ¹⁵ But when the chief priests and the scribes saw the wonderful things that He had done, and the children who were shouting in the temple area, “^[a]Hosanna to the ^(G)Son of David,” they became indignant, ¹⁶ and they said to Him, “Do You hear what these children are saying?” And Jesus *said to them, “Yes. Have you never read, ‘^(H)From the mouths of infants and nursing babies You have prepared praise for Yourself’?” ¹⁷ And He left them and went out of the city to ^(I)Bethany, and spent the night there.

The Barren Fig Tree

^18 (J)Now in the early morning, when He was returning to the city, He became hungry. ¹⁹ And seeing a lone ^(K)fig tree by the road, He came to it and found nothing on it except leaves alone; and He *said to it, “No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you.” And at once the fig tree withered.

²⁰ Seeing this, the disciples were amazed and ^[b]asked, “How did the fig tree wither all at once?” ²¹ And Jesus answered and said to them, “Truly I say to you, ^(L)if you have faith and do not doubt, you will not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be taken up and cast into the sea,’ it will happen. ²² And ^(M)whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive it all.”