2 Peter · 18 verses
2 Peter 3
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
The letter invites its readers to hasten the arrival of the day when the heavens vanish, the elements melt, and the earth's works are laid bare—a remarkably brisk appointment with the end of everything.
The scoffers and the floodvv. 1–7
The letter begins as a second reminder, reaching back to the holy prophets and the command given through the apostles. Then come the scoffers, asking where the promise of the Lord’s coming has got to, since creation appears to be carrying on in its usual fashion. Their argument has one awkward omission: the world once perished in a flood, and the present heavens and earth are being kept for fire. The universe, in this telling, has already had one dramatic rearrangement and is waiting for another.
A day, a thousand years, and the thiefvv. 8–14
The Lord’s calendar refuses ordinary arithmetic: a day and a thousand years exchange places with perfect symmetry. Delay is not treated as forgetfulness but as patience, while the coming day remains thief-like and spectacularly destructive. Stranger still, the readers are told to anticipate and hasten it. Beyond the fire lies a new heaven and a new earth where righteousness dwells, and the desired condition is peace—spotless and blameless in the Lord’s sight.
Paul’s difficult lettersvv. 15–18
The letter turns from the patience of the Lord to Paul, called a beloved brother who wrote with God-given wisdom. His letters concern these same matters, though some passages are hard to understand and are distorted by ignorant and unstable people, alongside the rest of the Scriptures. The final warning is against being carried away by the error of the lawless; the final movement is towards the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ, with glory extending to the day of eternity.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
2 Pet 3:1Beloved, this is now my second letter to you. Both of them are reminders to stir you to wholesome thinking
2 Pet 3:2by recalling what was foretold by the holy prophets and commanded by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.
2 Pet 3:3Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.
2 Pet 3:4“Where is the promise of His coming?” they will ask. “Ever since our fathers fell asleep, everything continues as it has from the beginning of creation.”
2 Pet 3:5But they deliberately overlook the fact that long ago by God’s word the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
2 Pet 3:6through which the world of that time perished in the flood.
2 Pet 3:7And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
2 Pet 3:8Beloved, do not let this one thing escape your notice: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day.
2 Pet 3:9The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise as some understand slowness, but is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish but everyone to come to repentance.
2 Pet 3:10But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and its works will be laid bare.
2 Pet 3:11Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to conduct yourselves in holiness and godliness
2 Pet 3:12as you anticipate and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be destroyed by fire and the elements will melt in the heat.
2 Pet 3:13But in keeping with God’s promise, we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells.
2 Pet 3:14Therefore, beloved, as you anticipate these things, make every effort to be found at peace—spotless and blameless in His sight.
2 Pet 3:15Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.
2 Pet 3:16He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.
2 Pet 3:17Therefore, beloved, since you already know these things, be on your guard so that you will not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure standing.
2 Pet 3:18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
01 — Also here
Who else the chapter reaches
Names written in the English are linked in the text above. These are the ones that are not: an entity the Hebrew or Greek names under a spelling the translation does not use, or one reached only by an assertion about a verse of this chapter.
Reached by an assertion Atlas extracted from a verse of this chapter rather than by a name written in it — a pronoun, a title, or a participant the sentence carries without naming. This layer is model-read and measured at 88.6–90.3% precision, and it is kept separate from the names above for that reason.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 293 passages were voted onto 18 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 91 Timothy 2:4who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.
- 9Romans 2:4Or do you disregard the riches of His kindness, tolerance, and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you to repentance?
- 8Psalms 90:4For in Your sight a thousand years are but a day that passes, or a watch of the night.
- 9Habakkuk 2:3For the vision awaits an appointed time; it testifies of the end and does not lie. Though it lingers, wait for it, since it will surely come and will not delay.
- 9Psalms 86:15But You, O Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness.
- 18Colossians 1:10so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,
- 9Isaiah 30:18Therefore the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore He rises to show you compassion, for the LORD is a just God. Blessed are all who wait for Him.
- 9Revelation 2:21Even though I have given her time to repent of her immorality, she is unwilling.
- 18Ephesians 4:15Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.
- 9Luke 18:7–8Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He delay in helping them?
- 92 Peter 3:15Consider also that our Lord’s patience brings salvation, just as our beloved brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom God gave him.
- 91 Timothy 1:16But for this very reason I was shown mercy, so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display His perfect patience as an example to those who would believe in Him for eternal life.
- 9Hebrews 10:37For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay.
- 10Revelation 21:1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and earth had passed away, and the sea was no more.
- 181 Peter 2:2Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation,
- 10Matthew 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.
Onward