1 T his, now, beloved, a second letter to you I write, in both which I stir up your pure mind in reminding,

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 o be mindful of the sayings said before by the holy prophets, and of the command of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour,

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 t his first knowing, that there shall come in the latter end of the days scoffers, according to their own desires going on,

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 presence? for since the fathers did fall asleep, all things so remain 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 is unobserved by them willingly, that the heavens were of old, and the earth out of water and through water standing together 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 t hrough which the then world, by water having been deluged, was destroyed;

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

7 a nd the present heavens and the earth, by the same word are treasured, for fire being kept to a day of judgment and destruction of the impious 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 A nd this one thing let not be unobserved by you, beloved, that one day 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 slow in regard to the promise, as certain count slowness, but is long-suffering to us, not counselling any to be lost but all to pass on to reformation,

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 a nd it will come -- the day of the Lord -- as a thief in the night, in which the heavens with a rushing noise will pass away, and the elements with burning heat be dissolved, and earth and the works in it shall be burnt 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 A ll these, then, being dissolved, what kind of persons doth it behove you to be in holy behaviours and pious acts?

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 w aiting for and hasting to the presence of the day of God, by which the heavens, being on fire, shall be dissolved, and the elements with burning heat shall melt;

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 a nd for new heavens and a new earth according to His promise we do wait, in which righteousness doth dwell;

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, these things waiting for, be diligent, spotless and unblameable, by Him to be found in peace,

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 the long-suffering of our Lord count ye salvation, according as also our beloved brother Paul -- according to the wisdom given to him -- did write to 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 the epistles, speaking in them concerning these things, among which things are certain hard to be understood, which the untaught and unstable do wrest, as also the other Writings, 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, then, beloved, knowing before, take heed, lest, together with the error of the impious being led away, ye may 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 a nd increase ye in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; to him the glory both now, and to the day of the age! 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.