2 Peter 3

World English Bible 119 include this book

1 This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you

2 that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior,

3 knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, 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 they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God,

6 by which means the world that existed then, being overflowed with water, perished.

7 But the heavens that exist now 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 don’t forget 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 slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

10 But 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 be dissolved with fervent heat; and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up.

11 Therefore, since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness,

12 looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?

13 But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

14 Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight.

15 Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you,

16 as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.

17 You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness.

18 But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

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2 places named in this book — no place is named in this chapter, so the whole book is shown.

Where this was written

Rome disputed Placed at Rome if Petrine; if later and pseudonymous, the location is unknown.

When this was written

Traditions differ. Each position is shown rather than one asserted as settled.

Traditional: 60 AD–65 AD Peter
Ascribed to the apostle in the opening verse.
Critical: 100 AD–125 AD Written in Peter's name
2 Peter appears to depend on Jude and refers to Paul's letters as an established collection, which points to the early 2nd century.

Who ruled Rome

Emperors reigning while this book is dated. Where the traditions differ, they often fall under different rulers.

Critical

Trajan 98 AD–117 AD
His correspondence with Pliny the Younger is the earliest surviving statement of official Roman policy toward Christians.
Hadrian 117 AD–138 AD
Suppressed the Bar Kokhba revolt and refounded Jerusalem as a Roman colony.

Traditional

Nero 54 AD–68 AD
The fire of Rome in 64 was followed by the first state persecution of Christians. Paul and Peter are traditionally martyred in this reign.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (60 AD–125 AD).

1070 BC–350 AD The kingdom of Kush Africa
A Nubian power on the upper Nile that ruled Egypt itself as its twenty-fifth dynasty.
500 BC–500 AD The Nazca lines South America
Vast figures drawn on the Peruvian desert, visible only from the surrounding hills.
206 BC–220 AD The Han dynasty China
Four centuries of Chinese rule contemporary with the whole of Roman expansion.
150 BC–100 AD Roman concrete and the aqueducts Rome
Hydraulic concrete let Rome build harbours, domes and aqueducts that still stand.
100 BC–550 AD Teotihuacan Mesoamerica
A city of perhaps a hundred thousand people in the valley of Mexico, with monumental pyramids.
43 AD–84 AD Rome conquers Britain Britain
Claudius invaded and the province was gradually extended to the Scottish lowlands.
66 AD–73 AD First Jewish–Roman war Levant
Revolt against Rome ending in the destruction of the Jerusalem temple in AD 70 — the decisive rupture in Second Temple Judaism.
27 BC–100 AD Roman road and sea network matures Rome
Consolidated roads, harbours and suppressed piracy made long-distance travel unusually safe, a precondition for the rapid spread of early Christian communities.

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