Humanitext Reader

New Testament · 2 Peter §3.1-3.18

The Promise of the Lord's Coming and the New Creation

Passage 3 of 3 · Greek

Summary

The author refutes scoffers who deny the parousia by citing creation and the flood, explains the delay of judgment as God's patience, and urges believers to live holy lives in anticipation of the new heavens and earth.

§3.1Ταύτην ἤδη, ἀγαπητοί, δευτέραν ὑμῖν γράφω ἐπιστολήν, ἐν αἷς διεγείρω ὑμῶν ἐν ὑπομνήσει τὴν εἰλικρινῆ διάνοιαν, §3.2μνησθῆναι τῶν προειρημένων ῥημάτων ὑπὸ τῶν ἁγίων προφητῶν καὶ τῆς τῶν ἀποστόλων ὑμῶν ἐντολῆς τοῦ κυρίου καὶ σωτῆρος, §3.3τοῦτο πρῶτον γινώσκοντες ὅτι ἐλεύσονται ἐπʼ ἐσχάτων τῶν ἡμερῶν ἐν ἐμπαιγμονῇ ἐμπαῖκται κατὰ τὰς ἰδίας ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῶν πορευόμενοι §3.4καὶ λέγοντες Ποῦ ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία τῆς παρουσίας αὐτοῦ;
This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, that you should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own passions and saying, "Where is the promise of his coming?
ἀφʼ ἧς γὰρ οἱ πατέρες ἐκοιμήθησαν, πάντα οὕτως διαμένει ἀπʼ ἀρχῆς κτίσεως. §3.5λανθάνει γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοῦτο θέλοντας ὅτι οὐρανοὶ ἦσαν ἔκπαλαι καὶ γῆ ἐξ ὕδατος καὶ διʼ ὕδατος συνεστῶσα τῷ τοῦ θεοῦ λόγῳ, §3.6διʼ ὧν ὁ τότε κόσμος ὕδατι κατακλυσθεὶς ἀπώλετο·
For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation." For they deliberately overlook this fact, that heavens existed long ago, and an earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.
§3.7οἱ δὲ νῦν οὐρανοὶ καὶ ἡ γῆ τῷ αὐτῷ λόγῳ τεθησαυρισμένοι εἰσὶν πυρὶ τηρούμενοι εἰς ἡμέραν κρίσεως καὶ ἀπωλείας τῶν ἀσεβῶν ἀνθρώπων.
But by the same word the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly.
§3.8Ἓν δὲ τοῦτο μὴ λανθανέτω ὑμᾶς, ἀγαπητοί, ὅτι μία ἡμέρα "παρὰ Κυρίῳ" ὡς χίλια ἔτη καὶ "χίλια ἔτη ὡς ἡμέρα" μία.
But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
§3.9οὐ βραδύνει Κύριος τῆς ἐπαγγελίας, ὥς τινες βραδυτῆτα ἡγοῦνται, ἀλλὰ μακροθυμεῖ εἰς ὑμᾶς, μὴ βουλόμενός τινας ἀπολέσθαι ἀλλὰ πάντας εἰς μετάνοιαν χωρῆσαι.
The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
§3.10Ἥξει δὲ ἡμέρα Κυρίου ὡς κλέπτης, ἐν ᾗ οἱ οὐρανοὶ ῥοιζηδὸν παρελεύσονται, στοιχεῖα δὲ καυσούμενα λυθήσεται, καὶ γῆ καὶ τὰ ἐν αὐτῇ ἔργα εὑρεθήσεται.
But the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away with a roar, and the heavenly bodies will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.
§3.11Τούτων οὕτως πάντων λυομένων ποταποὺς δεῖ ὑπάρχειν [ὑμᾶς] ἐν ἁγίαις ἀναστροφαῖς καὶ εὐσεβείαις, §3.12προσδοκῶντας καὶ σπεύδοντας τὴν παρουσίαν τῆς τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμέρας, διʼ ἣν "οὐρανοὶ" πυρούμενοι λυθήσονται καὶ στοιχεῖα καυσούμενα "τήκεται· "
Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn!
§3.13"καινοὺς" δὲ "οὐρανοὺς καὶ γῆν καινὴν" κατὰ τὸ ἐπάγγελμα αὐτοῦ προσδοκῶμεν, ἐν οἷς δικαιοσύνη κατοικεῖ.
But according to his promise we are waiting for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells.
§3.14Διό, ἀγαπητοί, ταῦτα προσδοκῶντες σπουδάσατε ἄσπιλοι καὶ ἀμώμητοι αὐτῷ εὑρεθῆναι ἐν εἰρήνῃ,
Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish, and at peace.
§3.15καὶ τὴν τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν μακροθυμίαν σωτηρίαν ἡγεῖσθε, καθὼς καὶ ὁ ἀγαπητὸς ἡμῶν ἀδελφὸς Παῦλος κατὰ τὴν δοθεῖσαν αὐτῷ σοφίαν ἔγραψεν ὑμῖν,
And count the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given to him, as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters.
§3.16ὡς καὶ ἐν πάσαις ἐπιστολαῖς λαλῶν ἐν αὐταῖς περὶ τούτων, ἐν αἷς ἐστὶν δυσνόητά τινα, ἃ οἱ ἀμαθεῖς καὶ ἀστήρικτοι στρεβλοῦσιν ὡς καὶ τὰς λοιπὰς γραφὰς πρὸς τὴν ἰδίαν αὐτῶν ἀπώλειαν.
There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, as they do the other Scriptures.
§3.17Ὑμεῖς οὖν, ἀγαπητοί, προγινώσκοντες φυλάσσεσθε ἵνα μὴ τῇ τῶν ἀθέσμων πλάνῃ συναπαχθέντες ἐκπέσητε τοῦ ἰδίου στηριγμοῦ,
You therefore, beloved, knowing this beforehand, take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.
§3.18αὐξάνετε δὲ ἐν χάριτι καὶ γνώσει τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν καὶ σωτῆρος Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ.
But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
αὐτῷ ἡ δόξα καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς ἡμέραν αἰῶνος.
To him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity.

Notes

  1. 3.1ἐν αἷς — Relative pronoun, feminine plural dative. Although the immediate antecedent is singular ('second letter'), the plural 'αἷς' refers to both the first and second letters combined.
  2. 3.5λανθάνει γὰρ αὐτοὺς τοῦτο θέλοντας — This structure utilizes 'λανθάνει' with an accusative object ('αὐτούς') and a participle ('θέλοντας'). It is a idiomatic variation meaning 'they willfully (θέλοντας) ignore/overlook this fact (τοῦτο, referring to the following ὅτι-clause)'.
  3. 3.6διʼ ὧν — Relative pronoun in the plural, 'by means of which'. The antecedent 'ὧν' can refer back to 'the heavens and the earth' or 'water and the word of God' mentioned in the previous verse, representing the agents through which the ancient world was destroyed.
  4. 3.10εὑρεθήσεται — Meaning 'will be found' or 'will be exposed'. Despite various textual variants such as 'will be burned up' (κατακαήσεται), the earliest and best manuscripts support 'εὑρεθήσεται', which theological context interprets as the uncovering or exposing of all earthly works before God's judgment.
  5. 3.12σπεύδοντας — Present participle of 'σπεύδω', which can mean 'hastening' (transitive) or 'hurrying' (intransitive). In this eschatological context, it is commonly understood transitively as 'hastening the coming of the day of God' through holy conduct.

Cite this passage

New Testament, 2 Peter §3.1-3.18. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg022.humanitext-grc2:3.1-3.18

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