2 Pedro 3

BLIVRE · Chapter 3/3

¹Amados, eu já vos escrevo esta segunda carta, em [ambas] as quais eu desperto vosso sincero entendimento por meio da relembrança;

²Para que vos lembreis das palavras que anteriormente foram ditas pelos santos profetas, e do nosso mandamento, dos apóstolos do Senhor e Salvador.

³Sabendo primeiro isto: que nos últimos dias virão escarnecedores, andando segundo seus próprios maus desejos,

⁴E dizendo: Onde está a promessa da vinda dele? Pois desde que os pais dormiram, todas as coisas continuam como desde o princípio da criação.

⁵Porque eles ignoram isto por sua própria vontade, que pela palavra de Deus desde os [tempos] antigos [é que] foram os céus, e [que] a terra [saiu] da água, e sobre a água continua.

⁶Pelas quais o mundo anterior foi destruído, coberto com as águas do dilúvio.

⁷E os céus e a terra de agora, pela mesma palavra estão reservados, e são guardados para o fogo até o dia do juízo, e da perdição das pessoas ímpias.

⁸Mas amados, desta uma coisa não ignoreis: que um dia para o Senhor [é] como mil anos, e mil anos como um dia.

⁹O Senhor não é tardio [em sua] promessa (como alguns [a] consideram tardia); mas ele é paciente para conosco, não querendo que alguns pereçam, mas sim que todos venham ao arrependimento.

¹⁰Mas o dia do Senhor virá como um ladrão durante a noite, no qual os céus se desfarão com grande estrondo, e os elementos queimando se dissolverão, e a terra e as obras que nela [há] serão queimadas.

¹¹Visto, pois, que todas estas coisas estão para serem desfeitas, de que maneira vós deveis ser em santo comportamento e piedade,

¹²esperando, e tendo pressa para a vinda do dia de Deus, pelo qual os céus, incendiados, se desfarão, e os elementos, inflamados, se derreterão.

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

¹⁴Por isso, amados, aguardando essas coisas, procurai que por ele sejais achados incontaminados e irrepreensíveis em paz;

¹⁵E considerai como salvação a paciência de nosso Senhor; assim como também nosso irmão Paulo vos escreveu, segundo a sabedoria que lhe foi dada;

¹⁶Como também em duas as [suas] cartas, ele fala nelas destas coisas; entre as quais há algumas coisas difíceis de entender, as quais os ignorantes e os inconstantes distorcem, assim como também as outras Escrituras, para a própria perdição deles.

¹⁷Portanto vós, amados, sabendo [disto] com antecedência, guardai-vos para que, pelo engano dos maus, não sejais juntamente arrebatados, e caiais de vossa firmeza.

¹⁸Mas crescei em graça e conhecimento de nosso Senhor e Salvador Jesus Cristo. A ele seja a glória, tanto agora como no dia da eternidade, Amém!

📖 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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