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

When this voice was conveyed from heaven, we ourselves ¹  heard it, for we were with him on the holy mountain. ² 

Above all, understand this: ¹  In the last days blatant scoffers ²  will come, being propelled by their own evil urges ³ 

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

Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written ¹  you, in which ²  I am trying to stir up ³  your pure mind by way of reminder:

since I know that my tabernacle will soon be removed, ¹  because ²  our Lord Jesus Christ revealed this to me. ³ 

Above all, you do well if you recognize ¹  this: ²  No prophecy of scripture ever comes about by the prophet’s own imagination, ³ 

Therefore, brothers and sisters, ¹  make every effort to be sure of your calling and election. ²  For by doing this ³  you will never ⁴  stumble into sin. ⁵ 

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.

Since all these things are to melt away ¹  in this manner, ²  what sort of people must we ³  be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, ⁴ 

For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that ¹  voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” ² 

For they deliberately suppress this fact, ¹  that by the word of God ²  heavens existed long ago and an earth ³  was formed out of water and by means of water.

They are illustrations of this true proverb: ¹  “A dog returns to its own vomit,” ²  and “A sow, after washing herself, ³  wallows in the mire.” ⁴ 

I can pray this because his divine power ¹  has bestowed on us everything necessary ²  for life and godliness through the rich knowledge ³  of the one who called ⁴  us by ⁵  his own glory and excellence.

while waiting for and hastening ¹  the coming of the day of God? ²  Because of this day, ³  the heavens will be burned up and ⁴  dissolve, and the celestial bodies ⁵  will melt away in a blaze! ⁶ 

Moreover, ¹  we ²  possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. ³  You do well if you pay attention ⁴  to this ⁵  as you would ⁶  to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star ⁷  rises in your hearts. ⁸ 

For thus an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, will be richly provided for you.

Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, ¹  be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men ²  and fall from your firm grasp on the truth. ³ 

Therefore, I intend to remind you constantly ¹  of these things even though you know them and are well established in the truth that you now have.

and saying, ¹  “Where is his promised return? ²  For ever since ³  our ancestors ⁴  died, ⁵  all things have continued as they were ⁶  from the beginning of creation.”