2 Peter 3:8
What does 2 Peter 3:8 mean?
A plain-English look at 2 Peter 3:8 in WEB alongside six other public-domain English translations, with cross-references and chapter context.
What 2 Peter 3:8 means
Peter urges believers not to forget God’s different relation to time: with the Lord, one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. God is not constrained by human clocks. What seems like delay to us is not delay to Him. This perspective guards faith from impatience and presumption. It also reorients hope: the promise stands firm regardless of our sense of waiting. God’s eternity means He can advance or withhold at perfect moments. This truth does not make the promise vague; it makes it surer, because it rests on the character of the eternal Lord rather than on our short-lived expectations.
Parallel translations
WEB
World English Bible · 2000But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
KJV
King James Version · 1611But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
ASV
American Standard Version · 1901But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
BBE
Bible in Basic English · 1949But, my loved ones, keep in mind this one thing, that with the Lord one day is the same as a thousand years, and a thousand years are no more than one day.
YLT
Young's Literal Translation · 1862And this one thing let not be unobserved by you, beloved, that one day with the Lord <FI>is<Fi> as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day;
DRA
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · 1752But 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.
DBY
Darby Bible · 1890But let not this one thing be hidden from you, beloved, that one day with [the] Lord [is] as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.
Context
After asserting the certainty of judgment (v7), Peter addresses the timing question. Verse 8 corrects a key assumption: human measures of time do not bind God. This prepares the theological basis for verse 9, which explains the moral reason for the apparent delay—God’s longsuffering aimed at repentance. Then, verse 10 will stress that, despite the wait, the day will arrive suddenly and decisively, like a thief.
v.7but the heavens that now are, and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.
v.8This passage
v.9The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some count slackness; but is longsuffering to you-ward, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.
Cross references
Related passages from across Scripture, drawn from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge.
- Psalms 90:4
For a thousand years in thy sight Are but as yesterday when it is past, And as a watch in the night.
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