to knowledge, self-control; to self-control, perseverance; ¹  to perseverance, godliness;

to godliness, brotherly affection; to brotherly affection, unselfish ¹  love. ² 

For this very reason, ¹  make every effort ²  to add to your faith excellence, ³  to excellence, knowledge;

But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, ¹  the heavens will disappear ²  with a horrific noise, ³  and the celestial bodies ⁴  will melt away ⁵  in a blaze, ⁶  and the earth and every deed done on it ⁷  will be laid bare. ⁸ 

Indeed, as long as I am in this tabernacle, ¹  I consider it right to stir you up by way of a reminder,

Indeed, I will also make every effort that, after my departure, you have a testimony of these things. ¹ 

– if so, ¹  then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, ²  and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment ³  at the day of judgment,

But, according to his promise, we are waiting for ¹  new heavens and a new earth, in which ²  righteousness truly resides. ³ 

especially those who indulge their fleshly desires ¹  and who despise authority. Brazen and insolent, ²  they are not afraid to insult ³  the glorious ones, ⁴ 

But ¹  these men, ²  like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed ³  – do not understand whom ⁴  they are insulting, and consequently ⁵  in their destruction they will be destroyed, ⁶ 

yet was rebuked ¹  for his own transgression (a dumb donkey, ²  speaking with a human voice, ³  restrained the prophet’s madness). ⁴ 

But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. ¹ 

Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, ¹  that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day.

But grow in the grace and knowledge ¹  of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on ²  that eternal day. ³ 

But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. ¹  These false teachers ²  will ³  infiltrate your midst ⁴  with destructive heresies, ⁵  even to the point of ⁶  denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring ⁷  swift destruction on themselves.

For if after they have escaped the filthy things ¹  of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, ²  they ³  again get entangled in them and succumb to them, ⁴  their last state has become worse for them than their first.