The Day of the Lord will come like a thief
and the heavens will pass away with a loud noise and the elements will be dissolved with fire,
the earth and everything that is done on it will be disclosed. –2 Peter 3:10
The Promise of the Lord’s Coming
This is now, beloved, the second letter I am writing to you; In them I am trying to arouse your
sincere intention by reminding you that you should remember the words spoken in the past by
the Holy Prophets and the Commandment of the Lord and Savior spoken through your
Apostles.
First of all you must understand this, that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and
indulging in their own lusts (See also: 2 Timothy 3:1-7; Romans 1:18-25; 28-32) and saying,
“Where is the promise of His coming? For ever since our ancestors died, all things continue as
they were from the beginning of creation!”
They deliberately ignore this fact, that by the Word of God heavens existed long ago and an
earth was formed out of water and by means of water, through which the world of that time
was deluged with water and perished but by the same word the present heaven and earth have
been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.
Do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years and a
thousand years are like one day.
The Lord is not slow about His promise as some think of slowness but is patient with you, not
wanting any to perish but all to come to repentance.
The Day of the Lord will come like a thief and then the heavens will pass away with a loud noise
and the elements will be dissolved with fire and the earth and everything that is done on it will
be disclosed.
Since all these things are to be dissolved in this way, what sort of persons ought you to be in
leading lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the Coming of the Day of God
because of which the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved and the elements will melt with
fire? In according with His promise, we wait for new heavens and a new earth, where
righteousness is at home.
Final Exhortation and Doxology
Therefore beloved, while you are waiting for these things, strive to be found by Him at peace,
without spot or blemish and regard the patience of Our Lord as salvation.
So also our beloved Brother Paul wrote to you according to the wisdom given him, speaking of
this as he does in all his letters. There are some things in them hard to understand which the
ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction as they do the other Scriptures. You
therefore beloved, since you are forewarned, beware that you are not carried away with the
error of the lawless and lose your own stability but grow in the grace and knowledge of Our
Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory now and to the day of eternity! Amen!
A Prayer of Moses, the Man of God
Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth,
or ever You had formed the earth and the world,
from everlasting to everlasting You are God!
You turn us back to dust
and say, “Turn back you mortals.”
For a thousand years in your sight
are like yesterday when it is past,
or like a watch in the night.
You sweep them away; they are like a dream,
like grass that is renewed in the morning;
In the morning it flourishes and is renewed;
In the evening it fades and withers.
For we are consumed by Your anger;
By Your wrath we are overwhelmed.
You have set our iniquities before You,
our secret sins in the light of Your countenance.
For all our days pass away under Your wrath;
Our years come to an end like a sigh.
The days of our life are seventy years
or perhaps eighty, if we are strong;
Even their span is only toil and trouble;
They are soon gone and we fly away.
Who considers the power of Your anger?
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is due you.
So teach us to count our days
that we may gain a wise heart.
Turn. O Lord! How long?
Have compassion on Your servants!
Satisfy us in the morning with Your steadfast love,
so that we may rejoice and be glad all our days.
Make us glad as many days as You have afflicted us
and as many years as we have seen evil.
Let Your work be manifest to Your servants
and Your glorious power to their children.
Let the favor of the Lord Our God be upon us
and prosper for us the work of our hands —
O prosper the work of our hands! –Psalm 90:1-17
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