1 Beloved {agapetoi: dearly loved ones}, I am now writing to you a second letter. In both letters I am stirring your sincere mind by means of remembrance {hypomnesei: active recalling}.
2 So that you may remember the words previously spoken by the holy {hagios: set-apart servants} prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior {Kyrios kai Soter: Commanding Redeemer} delivered through your apostles.
3 Knowing this first, that in the last days mockers {empaiktai: habitual scoffers} will come with mockery, walking according to their own desires {epithymias: inward impulses}.
4 And they say, “Where is the promise {epangelia: guaranteed assurance} of His {Christos, Awaited Returning Lord} coming? For from the time the fathers fell asleep, all things continue just as they have from the beginning of creation.”
5 For this willingly {thelontas: consciously choosing} escapes their notice, that the heavens existed long ago and the earth, having been formed out of water and through water, was established by the word of God {Theos, Sovereign Creator}.
6 Through which {dia: mediating cause} the world {kosmos: ordered system} at that time, having been flooded with water, perished.
7 But the heavens and the earth that now exist, by the same word {logō: binding command} have been stored up and are being kept for fire, reserved for the day of judgment and destruction {apōleias: irreversible loss} of ungodly people.
8 Do not let this single matter escape your notice, beloved ones: with the Lord {Kyrios, Divine Master}, a single day is like a thousand years {ete: extended periods}, and a thousand years is like a single day.
9 The Lord {Kyrios, Patient Redeemer} is not slow concerning His promise, as some count slowness; instead, He is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish, but for all to come to repentance {metanoia: deep turning back}.
10 But the day of the Lord {Kyrios, End-Time Judge} will come like a thief. In that day the heavens will pass away with a rushing noise, and the elements, being burned up, will be dissolved; the earth and the works {erga: deeds evaluated} in it will be brought to light.
11 Since all these things are thus being dissolved, what kind of people ought you to be in holy conduct {anastrophe: way of life} and godliness {eusebeia: reverent devotion}?
12 Expecting and hastening the coming of the day of God {Theos, Holy Cosmic Judge}, because of which the heavens, being set on fire, will be dissolved, and the elements {stoicheia: fundamental parts}, being burned up, will melt.
13 But according to His{Theos, Faithful Promise Giver} promise, we are awaiting new heavens and a new earth, a place in which righteousness{dikaiosyne: just condition} makes its home.
14 Therefore, beloved {agapetoi: dearly loved ones}, since you are waiting for these things, be diligent to be found by Him {Christos, Returning Judge} in peace {eirene: settled harmony}, spotless and blameless.
15 And regard the patience {makrothumia: long-enduring restraint} of our Lord {Kyrios, Patient Savior} as salvation, just as also our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you.
16 As also in all the letters {epistolais: written messages}, speaking in them about these things, in which there are some things difficult to understand, which the unlearned and unstable twist, as they do also the other writings, toward their own destruction {apoleia: final ruin}.
17 Therefore you, beloved {agapetoi: deeply loved ones}, knowing this beforehand, guard yourselves so that you are not carried away by the error {plane: deceptive teaching} of the lawless and fall from your own steadfastness.
18 But grow in grace {chariti: divine favor} and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ {Kyrios kai Soter Iesous Christos, Worthy Of Glory}. To Him be the glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen.