1 T his 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;

Dear friends, this is the second letter I have written to you. In both of them I have tried to get you to remember some things.

2 t hat ye should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and the commandments of the Lord and Saviour through your apostles:

You should remember the words that were spoken before by the holy early preachers. Do not forget the teaching of the Lord, the One Who saves. This was given to you by your missionaries.

3 k nowing this first, that in the last days mockers shall come with mockery, walking after their own lusts,

First of all, I want you to know that in the last days men will laugh at the truth. They will follow their own sinful desires.

4 a nd 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.

They will say, “He promised to come again. Where is He? Since our early fathers died, everything is the same from the beginning of the world.”

5 F or 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;

But they want to forget that God spoke and the heavens were made long ago. The earth was made out of water and water was all around it.

6 b y which means the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

Long ago the earth was covered with water and it was destroyed.

7 b ut 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.

But the heaven we see now and the earth we live on now have been kept by His word. They will be kept until they are to be destroyed by fire. They will be kept until the day men stand before God and sinners will be destroyed.

8 B ut forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Dear friends, remember this one thing, with the Lord one day is as 1, 000 years, and 1, 000 years are as one day.

9 T he 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.

The Lord is not slow about keeping His promise as some people think. He is waiting for you. The Lord does not want any person to be punished forever. He wants all people to be sorry for their sins and turn from them.

10 B ut 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.

The day of the Lord will come as a robber comes. The heavens will pass away with a loud noise. The sun and moon and stars will burn up. The earth and all that is in it will be burned up.

11 S eeing that these things are thus all to be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy living and godliness,

Since all these things are to be destroyed in this way, you should think about the kind of life you are living. It should be holy and God-like.

12 l ooking 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?

You should look for the day of God to come. You should do what you can to make it come soon. At that time the heavens will be destroyed by fire. And the sun and moon and stars will melt away with much heat.

13 B ut, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

We are looking for what God has promised, which are new heavens and a new earth. Only what is right and good will be there.

14 W herefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for these things, give diligence that ye may be found in peace, without spot and blameless in his sight.

Dear friends, since you are waiting for these things to happen, do all you can to be found by Him in peace. Be clean and free from sin.

15 A nd 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;

You can be sure the long waiting of our Lord is part of His plan to save men from the punishment of sin. God gave our dear brother Paul the wisdom to write about this also.

16 a s 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.

He wrote about these things in all of his writings. Some of these things are hard to understand. People who do not have much understanding and some who are not strong in the faith change the meaning of his letters. They do this to the other parts of the Holy Writings also. They are destroying themselves as they do this.

17 Y e therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware lest, being carried away with the error of the wicked, ye fall from your own stedfastness.

And so, dear friends, now that you know this, watch so you will not be led away by the mistakes of these sinful people. Do not be moved by them.

18 B ut grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Grow in the loving-favor that Christ gives you. Learn to know our Lord Jesus Christ better. He is the One Who saves. May He have all the shining-greatness now and forever. Let it be so.