Passage

2 Peter 3.3-9

Book: 2 Peter · NASB95

Immediate context (±2 verses)

ASV (ASV)

"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," (2 Peter 3:1-11, ASV)

WEB (WEB)

"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 this 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 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 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 is patient with us, 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 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," (2 Peter 3:1-11, WEB)

KJV (KJV)

"1. This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance: 2. That ye 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 Saviour:"

"3. Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, 4. And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation. 5. For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water: ^{standing: Gr. consisting} 6. Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished: 7. But the heavens and the earth, which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men. 8. But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, 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 men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing 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 night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up. 11. Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness," (2 Peter 3:1-11, KJV)

YLT (YLT)

"1. This, now, beloved, a second letter to you I write, in both which I stir up your pure mind in reminding [you], 2. to be mindful of the sayings said before by the holy prophets, and of the command of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour,"

"3. this first knowing, that there shall come in the latter end of the days scoffers, according to their own desires going on, 4. and 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;' 5. for 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, 6. through which the then world, by water having been deluged, was destroyed; 7. and 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. 8. And this one thing let not be unobserved by you, beloved, that one day with the Lord [is] as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day; 9. the 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,"

"10. and 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. 11. All these, then, being dissolved, what kind of persons doth it behove you to be in holy behaviours and pious acts?" (2 Peter 3:1-11, YLT)

Setting

Speaker: TBD
Audience: TBD
Location: TBD
Time period: TBD

Theological reading

Patristic / early-church-father exegesis, to be added.

Key words

Theologically-loaded Greek or Hebrew words in this verse may have entries in the lexicon. Curated to roughly 100 contested terms across the corpus, not every word; see Lexicon Roadmap.

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Quoted in

Why these four translations

ris3n chose ASV, WEB, KJV, and YLT for two reasons together. They are the most literal English translations available (formal-equivalence: word-for-word renderings that preserve the Hebrew and Greek grammar rather than smoothing it into modern dynamic-equivalence idiom). And they are in the public domain in the United States, which means fair-use quotation at any length requires no publisher license. Modern licensed translations (NASB95, ESV, NIV) restrict volume of quotation under their copyright terms, so they are not used at stub-level coverage here. NASB95 appears only on hand-curated rich passage hubs under Lockman Foundation's fair-use allowance.

The four:

ASV (American Standard Version, 1901). The basis of the modern critical-text English tradition.
WEB (World English Bible, contemporary). Public-domain revision in the ASV line, in current English.
KJV (King James Version, 1611). Reformation-era, Textus Receptus base.
YLT (Young's Literal Translation, Robert Young, 1862). Hyper-literal preservation of Hebrew and Greek grammar; useful for word-study work even where English reads stiff.

See Bibles for the full per-translation history, translators, textual basis, strengths, and weaknesses.