1.

This second epistle, beloved, I now write unto you; in both which I stir up your pure minds by way of remembrance:

2.

That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:

Verse 2
The commandment of us; the commandment delivered by us.

3.

Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

Verse 3
Walking after their own lusts, living in open sin, and deriding the warnings of the gospel.

4.

And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

Verse 4
The promise of his coming, that is, the coming of Christ.--Since the fathers, &c. Their argument was, that the course of nature had gone on steadily the same from the days of the fathers, and that it still continued without any indication of an approaching change. To this the apostle replies in the 2 Peter 3:4-13, that the course of nature had not always gone on unchanged,--that the earth has once been destroyed by water, and he asserts that it will be again destroyed by fire.

5.

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

Verse 5
They willingly are ignorant of; they will not consider it.--By the word of God; by the power of God.--The heavens were; that is, they existed.

6.

Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished:

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 ungodly men.

8.

But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Verse 8
One day is with the Lord, &c., an expression suggested, perhaps, to the apostle's mind by Psalms 90:4.

9.

The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

Verse 9
Not slack concerning his promise; not negligent in fulfilling it.--As some men count slackness; infer slackness,--that is, from the long delay. The idea is, that the lapse of time which intervenes before the threatenings of God are executed does not arise from neglect or forgetfulness, as some men suppose, but from forbearance and long-suffering, in hope that the sinner may repent.

10.

But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in the which the heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat, the earth also and the works that are therein shall be burned up.

Verse 10
As a thief in the might; unexpectedly and suddenly.

11.

Seeing then that all these things shall be dissolved, what manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness,

12.

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?

Verse 12
Hasting unto the coming, &c.; anticipating it with interest, and making active preparation for it.

13.

Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

Verse 13
New heavens and a new earth; an entire new constitution of things. The phrase heavens and earth, comprising, as it does, the whole visible creation, is often used as a general expression to denote all things. A "new heavens and a new earth" means therefore, simply, all things new. Some have understood this and other similar passages to imply that this earth, after undergoing a great change in its constitution, so as to be purified of its corruption, and divested of its elements of frailty and decay, and also of its means and sources of danger and suffering will be made the abode of the redeemed, after they have risen from the dead, and have been clothed in bodies which shall have undergone a similar transformation. There has been much other reasoning and speculation in regard to the future world, but the word of God has not revealed to us any details respecting its conditions and circumstances, and of course, on such a subject, what divine revelation has withheld, it is vain for human speculations to attempt to supply.

14.

Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.

15.

And account that the longsuffering of our Lord is salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also according to the wisdom given unto him hath written unto you;

16.

As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are some things hard to be understood, which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their own destruction.

Verse 16
In which; in which things, that is, in the truths revealed in respect to the end of the world and the general judgment. The difficulties which the apostle here refers to are not difficulties in Paul's writings, but in the subject which he has himself been discussing. This the original conclusively shows.--Which they that are unlearned and unstable wrest; in the manner already explained in 2 Peter 3:3-5.

17.

Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

Verse 17
The error of the wicked; that is, the error referred to above,--their becoming careless and unconcerned about the displeasure of God, because his sentence is not speedily executed.

18.

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.

Verse 18
A similar doxology occurs before in 2 Peter 3:18; 1 Peter 4:11; 1 Peter 4:11,1 Peter 5:11, in both which cases it apparently, though not so unquestionably as in this case, stands as an ascription to the Savior. The certainty of the application of it, in this case, goes very far towards removing any doubt which we might feel in those.