2 Pedro 3

ARC · Chapter 3/3

¹Amados, escrevo-vos agora esta segunda carta, em ambas as quaes desperto com exhortação o vosso animo sincero;

²Para que vos lembreis das palavras que d'antes foram ditas pelos sanctos prophetas, e do mandamento do Senhor e Salvador, mediante vossos apostolos.

³Sabendo primeiro isto: que nos ultimos dias virão escarnecedores, andando segundo as suas proprias concupiscencias,

⁴E dizendo: Onde está a promessa da sua vinda? porque desde que os paes dormiram todas as coisas permanecem como desde o principio da creação.

⁵Porque voluntariamente ignoram isto, que pela palavra de Deus já desde a antiguidade foram os céus, e a terra, que foi tirada da agua e no meio da agua subsiste.

⁶Pelas quaes coisas pereceu o mundo de então, coberto com as aguas do diluvio.

⁷Mas os céus e a terra que agora são pela mesma palavra se reservam como thesouro e se guardam para o fogo, até o dia do juizo, e da perdição dos homens impios.

⁸Porém, amados, não ignoreis uma coisa: que um dia para com o Senhor é como mil annos, e mil annos como um dia.

⁹O Senhor não retarda a sua promessa, como alguns a teem por tardia; mas é longanimo para comnosco, não querendo que alguns se percam, senão que todos venham a arrepender-se.

¹⁰Mas o dia do Senhor virá como o ladrão de noite; no qual os céus passarão com grande estrondo, e os elementos, ardendo, se desfarão, e a terra, e as obras que n'ella ha, se queimarão.

¹¹Havendo pois de perecer todas estas coisas, quaes vos convém a vós ser em sancto trato, e piedade,

¹²Aguardando, e apressando-vos para a vinda do dia de Deus, em que os céus, incendidos, se desfarão, e os elementos, ardendo, se fundirão?

¹³Porém, segundo a sua promessa, aguardamos novos céus e nova terra, em que habita a justiça.

¹⁴Pelo que, amados, aguardando estas coisas, procurae que d'elle sejaes achados immaculados e irreprehensiveis em paz.

¹⁵E tende por salvação a longanimidade de nosso Senhor; como tambem o nosso amado irmão Paulo vos escreveu, segundo a sabedoria que lhe foi dada;

¹⁶Como tambem em todas as suas epistolas, fallando n'ellas d'estas coisas, entre as quaes ha algumas difficeis de entender, que os indoutos e inconstantes torcem, como tambem as outras Escripturas, para sua propria perdição.

¹⁷Vós, portanto, amados, sabendo isto d'antes, guardae-vos de que, pelo engano dos homens abominaveis, sejaes juntamente arrebatados, e descaiaes da vossa firmeza;

¹⁸Antes crescei na graça e conhecimento de nosso Senhor e Salvador, Jesus Christo. A elle seja a gloria, assim agora, como no dia da eternidade. Amen.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

Peter responds to scoffers who doubted Christ's return, explaining that to God a thousand years are like a day, and that He is patient because He does not want anyone to perish. He describes the expectation of new heavens and a new earth, and urges his readers to live in holiness while they wait.

Explanation

The scoffers questioned the delay of Christ's second coming, arguing that everything had continued the same since creation, and Peter responds by recalling the flood as historical proof that God has already intervened dramatically in history before. The statement that 'one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day' (quoting Psalm 90:4) is not a mathematical formula, but a way of saying that human perception of time differs from God's eternal perspective. Peter openly acknowledges that some of Paul's letters contain things hard to understand, which are twisted by ill-intentioned people — one of the only references in the New Testament recognizing Paul's writings as Scripture. Today's practical application is to interpret the apparent delay of God's promises as merciful patience, not as divine absence or indifference.

Fun facts

This is one of the only places in the New Testament where one apostle (Peter) explicitly refers to the letters of another apostle (Paul) as part of the 'Scriptures' (3:15-16), showing how the New Testament itself began to be recognized as sacred text as early as the first century.

Verse-by-verse explanation

2 Pedro 3:1Peter confirms that this is his second letter to the same readers (probably referring to 1 Peter), with the same purpose: to stir up a sincere mind through reminders.
2 Pedro 3:2Places side by side two sources of authority his readers should remember: the prophecies of the Old Testament and the teachings of Jesus passed down through the apostles.
2 Pedro 3:3Announces the chapter’s main subject: people who, driven by their own desires, will openly mock the Christian faith — the text already warns that this will happen, so it should be no surprise.
2 Pedro 3:4The scoffers’ ironic question — “Where is the promise of his coming?” — reflects a real doubt faced by the earliest Christians: as Christ’s return kept being delayed, some began to question whether it would happen at all.
2 Pedro 3:5Answers the scoffers by recalling creation: the world was already formed by the word of God once before, so it’s not reasonable to think that same word lacks the power to act again.
2 Pedro 3:6Uses the flood as historical proof that God has already intervened dramatically in the world before — against the scoffers’ idea that everything remains just as it was from the beginning.
2 Pedro 3:7Just as water destroyed the ancient world, the text says the present world is being kept in store for a future destruction by fire, on the day of judgment.
2 Pedro 3:8Saying that “one day is with the Lord as a thousand years,” a reference echoing Psalm 90, is the letter’s answer to the delay of Christ’s return: the idea isn’t an exact mathematical equation, but a way of saying that God’s patience operates on a different scale of time than ours.
2 Pedro 3:9Explains the delay of Christ’s return not as a delay at all, but as intentional patience: God is giving more time so that people still have a chance to repent.
2 Pedro 3:10Comparing the coming of “the day of the Lord” to “a thief in the night,” an image that also appears in the Gospels and in Paul, describes a sudden, unexpected arrival, not a predictable calculation of dates.
2 Pedro 3:11After describing the future destruction of the world, the text asks what that should change in practical life: living with holiness and devotion, knowing that nothing material will last forever.
2 Pedro 3:12Calls for an active posture toward the future: not just passively waiting for the day of God, but living in a way that cooperates with that expectation, even in the face of an intense description of destruction.
2 Pedro 3:13The expectation of “new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness” echoes language from the prophet Isaiah, describing a complete renewal, not merely the end of the present world.
2 Pedro 3:14Closes the section with a practical goal: given the expectation of the end, what matters is being found by Him in peace, without accumulated guilt.
2 Pedro 3:15Asks that the delay of Christ’s return be seen as an opportunity for salvation, not a reason for doubt — and cites the apostle Paul as someone who had already taught something similar.
2 Pedro 3:16The observation that Paul’s letters contain some things “hard to be understood” is a rare moment where one New Testament book openly comments on another, acknowledging that wrong interpretations were already circulating even among the earliest readers of those letters.
2 Pedro 3:17Closes the subject of false teachers with a final warning: already knowing these risks, readers should guard themselves so as not to be swept away along with that kind of deception.
2 Pedro 3:18Closes the letter with the same idea it opened with: keep growing in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ — an invitation to never stop maturing in faith, ending in praise to Him.

Chapters

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