2 Peter 3

NEW JERUSALEM	DOUAI-RHEIMS
1 My dear friends, this is the second letter I have written to you, trying to awaken in you by my remindersan unclouded understanding.	1 Behold this second epistle I write to you, my dearly beloved, in which I stir up by way of admonition your sincere mind:
2 Remember what was said in the past by the holy prophets and the command of the Lord and Saviourgiven by your apostles.	2 That you may be mindful of those words which I told you before from the holy prophets, and of your apostles, of the precepts of the Lord and Saviour.
3 First of al , do not forget that in the final days there wil come sarcastic scoffers whose life is ruled bytheir passions.	3 Knowing this first, that in the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 'What has happened to the promise of his coming?' they wil say, 'Since our Fathers died everythinghas gone on just as it has since the beginning of creation!'	4 Saying: Where is his promise or his coming? for since the time that the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
5 They deliberately ignore the fact that long ago there were the heavens and the earth, formed out ofwater and through water by the Word of God,	5 For this they are wilfully ignorant of, that the heavens were before, and the earth out of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God.
6 and that it was through these same factors that the world of those days was destroyed by thefloodwaters.	6 Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.
7 It is the same Word which is reserving the present heavens and earth for fire, keeping them til the Dayof Judgement and of the destruction of sinners.	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 the ungodly men.
8 But there is one thing, my dear friends, that you must never forget: that with the Lord, a day is like athousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.	8 But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
9 The Lord is not being slow in carrying out his promises, as some people think he is; rather is he beingpatient with you, wanting nobody to be lost and everybody to be brought to repentance.	9 The Lord delayeth not his promise, as some imagine, but dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance.
10 The Day of the Lord wil come like a thief, and then with a roar the sky wil vanish, the elements wilcatch fire and melt away, the earth and al that it contains wil be burned up.	10 But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up.
11 Since everything is coming to an end like this, what holy and saintly lives you should be living	11 Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness?
12 while you wait for the Day of God to come, and try to hasten its coming: on that Day the sky wildissolve in flames and the elements melt in the heat.	12 Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of the Lord, by which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burning heat?
13 What we are waiting for, relying on his promises, is the new heavens and new earth, whereuprightness will be at home.	13 But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to his promises, in which justice dwelleth.
14 So then, my dear friends, while you are waiting, do your best to live blameless and unsul ied lives sothat he wil find you at peace.	14 Wherefore, dearly beloved, waiting for these things, be diligent that you may be found before him unspotted and blameless in peace.
15 Think of our Lord's patience as your opportunity to be saved; our brother Paul, who is so dear to us,told you this when he wrote to you with the wisdom that he was given.	15 And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation; as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you:
16 He makes this point too in his letters as a whole wherever he touches on these things. In al his lettersthere are of course some passages which are hard to understand, and these are the ones that uneducated andunbalanced people distort, in the same way as they distort the rest of scripture -to their own destruction.	16 As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.
17 Since you have been forewarned about this, my dear friends, be careful that you do not come to thepoint of losing the firm ground that you are standing on, carried away by the errors of unprincipled people.	17 You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness.
18 Instead, continue to grow in the grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Tohim be glory, in time and eternity. Amen.	18 But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen.