| 1 This is now, beloved, the second epistle that I write unto you; and
in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by putting you in remembrance;
2 that ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy
prophets, and the commandments of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles:
3 knowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with
mockery, walking after their own lusts, 4 and saying, Where is the promise
of his coming? for, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5 For this they
willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth compacted
out of water and amidst water, by the word of God; 6 by which means the
world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7 but the
heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for
fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly
men. 8 But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the
Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. 9 The Lord is
not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is
longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all
should come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come as a
thief; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the
elements shall be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works
that are therein shall be burned up. 11 Seeing that these things are thus
all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all
holy living and godliness, 12 looking for and earnestly desiring the
coming of the day of God, by reason of which the heavens being on fire shall
be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? 13 But,
according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness. 14 Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for
these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and
blameless in his sight. 15 And account that the longsuffering of our Lord
is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom
given to him, wrote unto you; 16 as also in all his epistles,
speaking in them of these things; wherein are some things hard to be
understood, which the ignorant and unstedfast wrest, as they do also
the other scriptures, unto their own destruction. 17 Ye therefore,
beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware lest, being carried
away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness.
18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus
Christ. To him be the glory both now and for ever. Amen.
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