| New King James Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Beloved, I now write to you this second epistle (in both of which I stir up your pure minds by way of reminder), | 1This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory. |
| 2that you may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior, | 2I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles. |
| 3knowing this first: that scoffers will come in the last days, walking according to their own lusts, | 3Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires. |
| 4and saying, “Where is the promise of His coming? For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of creation.” | 4They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again? From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.” |
| 5For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water, | 5They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water. |
| 6by which the world that then existed perished, being flooded with water. | 6Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood. |
| 7But the heavens and the earth which are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. | 7And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire. They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed. |
| 8But, beloved, do not forget this one thing, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. | 8But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends: A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day. |
| 9The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance. | 9The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent. |
| 10But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night, in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. | 10But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief. Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment. |
| 11Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, | 11Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, |
| 12looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? | 12looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames. |
| 13Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. | 13But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness. |
| 14Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless; | 14And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight. |
| 15and consider that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation—as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, has written to you, | 15And remember, our Lord’s patience gives people time to be saved. This is what our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you with the wisdom God gave him— |
| 16as also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which untaught and unstable people twist to their own destruction, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures. | 16speaking of these things in all of his letters. Some of his comments are hard to understand, and those who are ignorant and unstable have twisted his letters to mean something quite different, just as they do with other parts of Scripture. And this will result in their destruction. Peter’s Final Words |
| 17You therefore, beloved, since you know this beforehand, beware lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the error of the wicked; | 17You already know these things, dear friends. So be on guard; then you will not be carried away by the errors of these wicked people and lose your own secure footing. |
| 18but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen. | 18Rather, you must grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. All glory to him, both now and forever! Amen. |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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