For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:
Parallel translations
- WEB For this they willfully forget, that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water, by the word of God;
- BSB But 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,
- NKJV For this they willfully forget: that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of water and in the water,
- NASB For when they maintain this, it escapes their notice that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago and the earth was formed out of water and by water,
- NLT They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.
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
The mockers deliberately ignore that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed out of water by God's word. It matters because their skepticism rests on a willful forgetting of God's creative power.
Overview
Peter answers the scoffers by recalling creation: the world came into being by God's spoken word, not by mere natural continuity. Their argument fails because they choose to overlook God's past intervention. The same powerful word that created the world can also judge it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Heb 11:3Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.
- Ps 24:2For he hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods.
- Gen 1:9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
- Gen 1:6And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
- Ps 33:6By the word of the LORD were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth.
- Ps 136:6To him that stretched out the earth above the waters: for his mercy endureth for ever.
- John 3:19–20And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.
- 2 Th 2:10–12And with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.
- Rom 1:28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
- Col 1:17And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.
- Prov 17:16Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
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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.'
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Original language
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