Behold this second epistle I write to you, my dearly beloved, in which I stir up by way of admonition your sincere mind:

Hanc ecce vobis, carissimi, secundam scribo epistolam, in quibus vestram excito in commonitione sinceram mentem:

This is my second letter to you, beloved; I write such letters as a reminder, to awaken in you your clear sense of the truth.

That you may be mindful of those words which I told you before from the holy prophets, and of your apostles, of the precepts of the Lord and Saviour.

ut memores sitis eorum, quæ prædixi, verborum, a sanctis prophetis et apostolorum vestrorum, præceptorum Domini et Salvatoris.

Do not forget those predictions of the holy prophets which I mentioned to you, or the charge which our Lord and Saviour laid on your apostles.

Knowing this first, that in the last days there shall come deceitful scoffers, walking after their own lusts,

Hoc primum scientes, quod venient in novissimis diebus in deceptione illusores, juxta proprias concupiscentias ambulantes,

Remember always that in the last days mocking deceivers must needs come, following the rule of their own appetites,

Saying: Where is his promise or his coming? for since the time that the fathers slept, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.

dicentes: Ubi est promissio, aut adventus ejus? ex quo enim patres dormierunt, omnia sic perseverant ab initio creaturæ.

who will ask, What has become of the promise that he would appear? Ever since the fathers went to their rest, all is as it was from the foundation of the world.

For this they are wilfully ignorant of, that the heavens were before, and the earth out of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God,

Latet enim eos hoc volentes, quod cæli erant prius, et terra de aqua, et per aquam consistens Dei verbo:

They are fain to forget how, long ago, heaven stood there, and an earth which God’s word had made with water for its origin, water for its frame;

Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished.

per quæ, ille tunc mundus aqua inundatus, periit.

and those were the very means by which the world, as it then was, came to perish, overwhelmed by water.

But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire against the day of judgment and perdition of the ungodly men.

Cæli autem, qui nunc sunt, et terra eodem verbo repositi sunt, igni reservati in diem judicii, et perditionis impiorum hominum.

That same word keeps heaven and earth, as they now are, stored up, ready to feed the fire on the day when the godless will be judged, and perish.

But of this one thing be not ignorant, my beloved, that one day with the Lord is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

Unum vero hoc non lateat vos, carissimi, quia unus dies apud Dominum sicut mille anni, et mille anni sicut dies unus.

But one thing, beloved, you must keep in mind, that with the Lord a day counts as a thousand years, and a thousand years count as a day.

The Lord delayeth not his promise, as some imagine, but dealeth patiently for your sake, not willing that any should perish, but that all should return to penance,

Non tardat Dominus promissionem suam, sicut quidam existimant: sed patienter agit propter vos, nolens aliquos perire, sed omnes ad pœnitentiam reverti.

The Lord is not being dilatory over his promise, as some think; he is only giving you more time, because his will is that all of you should attain repentance, not that some should be lost.

But the day of the Lord shall come as a thief, in which the heavens shall pass away with great violence, and the elements shall be melted with heat, and the earth and the works which are in it, shall be burnt up.

Adveniet autem dies Domini ut fur: in quo cæli magno impetu transient, elementa vero calore solventur, terra autem et quæ in ipsa sunt opera, exurentur.

But the day of the Lord is coming, and when it comes, it will be upon you like a thief. The heavens will vanish in a whirlwind, the elements will be scorched up and dissolve, earth, and all earth’s achievements, will burn away.

Seeing then that all these things are to be dissolved, what manner of people ought you to be in holy conversation and godliness?

Cum igitur hæc omnia dissolvenda sunt, quales oportet vos esse in sanctis conversationibus, et pietatibus,

All so transitory; and what men you ought to be! How unworldly in your life, how reverent towards God,

Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of the Lord, by which the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with the burning heat?

exspectantes, et properantes in adventum diei Domini, per quem cæli ardentes solventur, et elementa ignis ardore tabescent?

as you wait, and wait eagerly, for the day of the Lord to come, for the heavens to shrivel up in fire, and the elements to melt in its heat!

But we look for new heavens and a new earth according to his promises, in which justice dwelleth.

Novos vero cælos, et novam terram secundum promissa ipsius exspectamus, in quibus justitia habitat.

And meanwhile, we have new heavens and a new earth to look forward to, the dwelling-place of holiness; that is what he has promised.

Wherefore, dearly beloved, waiting for these things, be diligent that you may be found before him unspotted and blameless in peace,

Propter quod, carissimi, hæc exspectantes, satagite immaculati, et inviolati ei inveniri in pace:

Beloved, since these expectations are yours, do everything to make sure that he shall find you innocent, undefiled, at peace.

And account the longsuffering of our Lord, salvation; as also our most dear brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, hath written to you:

et Domini nostri longanimitatem, salutem arbitremini: sicut et carissimus frater noster Paulus secundum datam sibi sapientiam scripsit vobis,

If our Lord stays his hand, count it part of his mercy. Our beloved brother Paul, with the wisdom God has granted him, has written you a letter,

As also in all his epistles, speaking in them of these things; in which are certain things hard to be understood, which the unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, to their own destruction.

sicut et omnibus epistolis, loquens in eis de his in quibus sunt quædam difficilia intellectu, quæ indocti et instabiles depravant, sicut et ceteras Scripturas, ad suam ipsorum perditionem.

in which, as in all his letters, he talks of this. (Though indeed, there are passages in them difficult to understand, and these, like the rest of scripture, are twisted into a wrong sense by ignorant and restless minds, to their own undoing.)

You therefore, brethren, knowing these things before, take heed, lest being led aside by the error of the unwise, you fall from your own steadfastness.

Vos igitur fratres, præscientes custodite, ne insipientium errore traducti excidatis a propria firmitate:

For yourselves, beloved, be warned in time; do not be carried away by their rash errors, and lose the firm foothold you have won;

But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and unto the day of eternity. Amen.

crescite vero in gratia, et in cognitione Domini nostri, et Salvatoris Jesu Christi. Ipsi gloria et nunc, et in diem æternitatis. Amen.

grow up in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory, now and for all eternity. Amen.