as 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.
Parallel translations
- WEB looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
- KJV Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God, wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat?
- NKJV looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat?
- NASB looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be destroyed by burning, and the elements will melt with intense heat!
- NLT looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along. On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Believers are to look for and even hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be dissolved and the elements melt with fire. It matters because Christians are to eagerly anticipate, not dread, Christ's return.
Overview
Peter calls for an active, expectant longing for the day of God. The phrase 'hastening' suggests that godly lives and the spread of the gospel are bound up with that day's arrival. Rather than fearing the cosmic dissolution, believers welcome the coming of their Lord.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- 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.
- Isa 34:4All the stars of heaven will be dissolved. The skies will be rolled up like a scroll, and all their stars will fall like withered leaves from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree.
- Mic 1:4The mountains will melt beneath Him, and the valleys will split apart, like wax before the fire, like water rushing down a slope.
- Titus 2:13as we await the blessed hope and glorious appearance of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.
- Isa 64:1–12If only You would rend the heavens and come down, so that mountains would quake at Your presence,
- 1 Cor 1:7–8Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly await the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
- Ps 50:3Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him.
- 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.
- Rev 6:13–14and the stars of the sky fell to the earth like unripe figs dropping from a tree shaken by a great wind.
- Phil 1:6being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
- Isa 2:1–22This is the message that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz concerning Judah and Jerusalem:
- Jude 1:21keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.
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Christ at the center
The sure word of the prophets and the promise of the coming day of the Lord anchor the believer in the knowledge of 'our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.'
How 2 Peter 3:12 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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