Daily Bread

¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come like a thief.^(A) The heavens will disappear with a roar;^(B) the elements will be destroyed by fire,^(C) and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.^[a](D)

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives ¹² as you look forward^(E) to the day of God and speed its coming.^[b](F) That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.^{(G) 13} But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth,^(H) where righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to be found spotless, blameless^(I) and at peace with him. ¹⁵ Bear in mind that our Lord’s patience^(J) means salvation,^(K) just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him.^{(L) 16} He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable^(M) people distort,^(N) as they do the other Scriptures,^(O) to their own destruction.

¹⁷ Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard^(P) so that you may not be carried away by the error^(Q) of the lawless^(R) and fall from your secure position.^{(S) 18} But grow in the grace^(T) and knowledge^(U) of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.^(V) To him be glory both now and forever! Amen.^(W)