2 Peter 3 - 1 John 3

English Standard Version

The Day of the Lord Will Come

3 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them ^(A)I am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, ^2 (B)that you should remember the predictions of ^(C)the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, ³ knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come ^(D)in the last days with scoffing, ^(E)following their own sinful desires. ^4 (F)They will say, “Where is the promise of ^(G)his coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth ^(H)was formed out of water and through water ^(I)by the word of God, ⁶ and that by means of these the world that then existed ^(J)was deluged with water and ^(K)perished. ⁷ But by the same word ^(L)the heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and ^(M)destruction of the ungodly.

⁸ But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ^(N)a thousand years as one day. ^9 (O)The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise ^(P)as some count slowness, but ^(Q)is patient toward you,^{[a] (R)}not wishing that any should perish, but ^(S)that all should reach repentance. ¹⁰ But ^(T)the day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then ^(U)the heavens will pass away with a roar, and ^(V)the heavenly bodies^[b] will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.^[c]

¹¹ Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, ^(W)what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, ^12 (X)waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and ^(Y)the heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! ¹³ But according to his promise we are waiting for ^(Z)new heavens and a new earth ^(AA)in which righteousness dwells.

Final Words

^14 (AB)Therefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him ^(AC)without spot or ^(AD)blemish, and ^(AE)at peace. ¹⁵ And count ^(AF)the patience of our Lord as salvation, just as ^(AG)our beloved brother Paul also wrote to you ^(AH)according to the wisdom given him, ¹⁶ as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. ^(AI)There are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, ^(AJ)as they do the other Scriptures. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, ^(AK)knowing this beforehand, ^(AL)take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. ¹⁸ But ^(AM)grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ^(AN)To him be the glory both now and to the day of ^(AO)eternity. Amen.

The Word of Life

1 ^(AP)That which was ^(AQ)from the beginning, ^(AR)which we have heard, ^(AS)which we have seen with our eyes, ^(AT)which we looked upon and ^(AU)have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— ^2 (AV)the life ^(AW)was made manifest, and we have seen it, and ^(AX)testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, ^(AY)which was with the Father and ^(AZ)was made manifest to us— ^3 (BA)that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed ^(BB)our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we are writing these things so ^(BC)that our^[d] joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

^5 (BD)This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that ^(BE)God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ^6 (BF)If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and ^(BG)do not practice the truth. ⁷ But ^(BH)if we walk in the light, ^(BI)as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and ^(BJ)the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ^8 (BK)If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and ^(BL)the truth is not in us. ^9 (BM)If we confess our sins, he is ^(BN)faithful and just to forgive us our sins and ^(BO)to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say we have not sinned, ^(BP)we make him a liar, and ^(BQ)his word is not in us.

Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ^(BR)we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ^2 (BS)He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ^(BT)also for the sins of the whole world. ³ And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^(BU)keep his commandments. ⁴ Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^(BV)is a liar, and ^(BW)the truth is not in him, ⁵ but whoever ^(BX)keeps his word, in him truly ^(BY)the love of God is perfected. ^(BZ)By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶ whoever says he ^(CA)abides in him ^(CB)ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

⁷ Beloved, I am writing you ^(CC)no new commandment, but ^(CD)an old commandment ^(CE)that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. ⁸ At the same time, it is ^(CF)a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because^{[e] (CG)}the darkness is passing away and ^(CH)the true light is already shining. ⁹ Whoever says he is in the light and ^(CI)hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him^[f] there is no ^(CJ)cause for stumbling. ¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and ^(CK)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Do Not Love the World

^15 (CR)Do not love the world or the things in the world. ^(CS)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—^(CT)the desires of the flesh and ^(CU)the desires of the eyes and pride of life^[g]—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And ^(CV)the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists

¹⁸ Children, ^(CW)it is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^(CX)antichrist is coming, so now ^(CY)many antichrists have come. ^(CZ)Therefore we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (DA)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^(DB)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^(DC)that it might become plain that they all are not of us. ²⁰ But you have been ^(DD)anointed by ^(DE)the Holy One, and ^(DF)you all have knowledge.^{[h] 21} I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(DG)he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^(DH)the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (DI)No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ Let ^(DJ)what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ^(DK)you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that he made to us^[i]—^(DL)eternal life.

²⁶ I write these things to you about ^(DM)those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ But ^(DN)the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and ^(DO)you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and ^(DP)is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^(DQ)when he appears ^(DR)we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^(DS)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(DT)he is righteous, you may be sure that ^(DU)everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

3 See ^(DV)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^(DW)children of God; and so we are. The reason why ^(DX)the world does not know us is that ^(DY)it did not know him. ² Beloved, we are ^(DZ)God's children ^(EA)now, and what we will be ^(EB)has not yet appeared; but we know that ^(EC)when he appears^{[j] (ED)}we shall be like him, because ^(EE)we shall see him as he is. ³ And everyone who ^(EF)thus hopes in him ^(EG)purifies himself as he is pure.

⁴ Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ^(EH)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that ^(EI)he appeared in order to ^(EJ)take away sins, and ^(EK)in him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ^(EL)no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷ Little children, ^(EM)let no one deceive you. ^(EN)Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ^8 (EO)Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was ^(EP)to destroy the works of the devil. ^9 (EQ)No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's^[k] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, ^(ER)nor is the one who ^(ES)does not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹ For ^(ET)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^(EU)that we should love one another. ¹² We should not be like ^(EV)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^(EW)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers,^{[l] (EX)}that the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that ^(EY)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ^15 (EZ)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(FA)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶ By this we know love, that ^(FB)he laid down his life for us, and ^(FC)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But ^(FD)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^(FE)closes his heart against him, ^(FF)how does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not ^(FG)love in word or talk but in deed and ^(FH)in truth.

¹⁹ By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰ for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, ^(FI)if our heart does not condemn us, ^(FJ)we have confidence before God; ²² and ^(FK)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^(FL)do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, ^(FM)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^(FN)love one another, ^(FO)just as he has commanded us. ^24 (FP)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,^[m] and God^[n] in him. And ^(FQ)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.