Thus he has given us his precious and splendid promises so that through them you may escape the corrupting influences that exist in the world through passion, and come to share in the divine nature.

For whoever lacks these qualities is blind or near-sighted, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his former sins.

Therefore I will always remind you of this, although you know it and are firmly grounded in the truth that you have.

for I know that I must soon put it away, as our Lord Jesus Christ has shown me.

I will also take care that after I am gone you will be able at any time to call these things to mind.

For they were no fictitious stories that we followed when we informed you of the power of our Lord Jesus Christ and of his coming, but we had been eye-witnesses of his majesty.

For when he was so honored and glorified by God the Father and from the supreme glory there were borne to him such words as these: "This is my Son, my Beloved! He is my Chosen!"??18 we heard these words borne from heaven when we were with him on that sacred mountain.

So we have the message of the prophets more fully guaranteed. Please pay attention to that message as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.

You must understand this in the first place, that no prophecy in Scripture can be understood through one's own powers,

and saved the upright Lot who was so distressed by the immoral conduct of unprincipled men??8 for as long as that upright man lived among them, day after day his upright soul was tormented by what he saw and heard of their lawless actions??9 then the Lord knows how to rescue God-fearing people from trial and to punish wrongdoers while they are being kept for the Day of Judgment,

especially those who yield to their physical nature and indulge in passions that defile them, and despise authority. Rash, headstrong men! They stand in no awe of majesty, but deride beings

What has happened to them shows the truth of the proverb, "A dog returns to what he has vomited up, and a sow that has washed goes back to wallow in the mire."

This is the second letter, dear friends, that I have now written to you, in the effort to arouse your unsullied minds

First of all, you must understand this, that in the last days mockers will come with their mockeries, going where their passions lead

For they wilfully ignore the fact that long ago there existed heavens and an earth which had been formed at God's command out of water and by water,

by which also that world was destroyed, through being flooded with water.

But do not overlook this one fact, dear friends, 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, in the sense that some men think; he is really showing his patience with you, because he does not want any to perish, but wishes all men to be brought to repentance.

Look upon our Lord's patience as salvation, just as our dear brother Paul, with the wisdom that God gave him, wrote you to do,

So you, dear friends, now that you are forewarned, must be on your guard against being led away by the errors of unprincipled men and losing your present firmness.