2 Peter 3:13 Meaning and Explanation
“Nevertheless we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein dwelleth righteousness.”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →The chapter's severe images do not end in ruin as the final word. Peter gives believers a promised future to look toward, one marked by the settled presence of righteousness. This hope answers the scoffers' doubt about God's promise and gives moral direction to those waiting for the day of God.
After speaking of judgment and dissolution, Peter directs hope toward God's promised renewed creation: new heavens and a new earth where righteousness has a lasting home.
The Context of 2 Peter 3:13
Peter writes to stir his readers' minds by remembrance of the prophets and apostles. He warns that scoffers will question the promise of Christ's coming because the world appears unchanged. Peter answers by recalling God's word in creation, the flood, coming judgment, and the Lord's longsuffering. Verses 10-12 speak of the day of the Lord and the dissolution of the present heavens and earth. Verse 13 turns with "Nevertheless" from that judgment to the promised future. Verse 14 then calls the beloved to diligence as they await it.
What Does 2 Peter 3:13 Mean?
"Nevertheless" marks a decisive turn in Peter's thought. The present order will not be the final setting of God's purposes. "We" places Peter alongside his readers as fellow waiters, and "according to his promise" grounds their expectation in God's faithfulness rather than in wishful thinking. They "look for" new heavens and a new earth, language of patient, alert expectation. Peter does not describe a disembodied destination. He speaks of heavens and earth, a renewed created order. Its defining feature is that righteousness "dwelleth" there. Righteousness belongs there as a settled inhabitant, rather than appearing only briefly amid resistance and injustice.
The promise of a righteous new creation answers the chapter's larger argument. Scoffers treat the apparent continuity of the world as proof that God will not act. Peter recalls that God has acted in judgment before and will act again. Yet God's patience has the saving purpose named in verse 9. Judgment therefore belongs within a larger movement toward God's promised future. The fire described in verses 10-12 is followed in verse 13 by new heavens and a new earth. Peter's emphasis falls on the reliability of the promise and on the moral character of the world to come. The future God promises is fit for righteousness to remain.
Peter's wording joins a line of biblical promise that looks beyond present corruption to God's renewed world. Isaiah speaks of new heavens and a new earth, and Revelation presents the holy city in the new creation. Revelation also echoes Peter's emphasis by describing a future in which what defiles is excluded and God dwells with his people. In Christ, God has already begun reconciling and renewing; yet Peter keeps our eyes on the promised completion still ahead. Christian hope therefore includes the world God will make righteous, the faithful God who promised it, and the life of holiness that accords with that expectation.
Bible Verses Related to 2 Peter 3:13
“For, behold, I create new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind.”
- Isaiah 65:17
“For as the new heavens and the new earth, which I will make, shall remain before me, saith the LORD, so shall your seed and your name remain.”
- Isaiah 66:22
“For the earnest expectation of the creature waiteth for the manifestation of the sons of God. For the creature was made subject to vanity, not willingly, but by reason of him who hath subjected the same in hope, Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body.”
- Romans 8:19-23
“And I saw a new heaven and a new earth: for the first heaven and the first earth were passed away; and there was no more sea. And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God. And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.”
- Revelation 21:1-4
Where 2 Peter 3:13 Echoes in Scripture
Revelation 21:1 gives a particularly strong canonical echo by presenting "a new heaven and a new earth" after the former order has passed away. Peter's brief statement and John's fuller vision share the same future horizon: God brings his work to a renewed creation. Revelation's surrounding vision also develops Peter's concern that righteousness dwell there, showing God dwelling with his people and removing the conditions of sorrow and defilement.
How to Apply 2 Peter 3:13 Today
This promise gives our hopes a shape larger than escape from present troubles. We may grieve real wrongs without deciding that wrong will always have the last word. In ordinary work, family life, worship, care for the body, and care for the created world, we can act as people who expect God's righteous future. The verse also invites patience. Waiting is not passive resignation when it rests on God's promise; it is faithful expectation expressed in prayer, truthfulness, mercy, and steady resistance to what corrupts peace and righteousness.
Reflection & Prayer
Where has the persistence of wrong made God's promised future seem distant to us? We might name that burden honestly before God, then ask for a steadier hope. Suggested prayer: "Faithful God, keep us looking to your promised new creation. Teach us to live now in ways that welcome righteousness, peace, and mercy. Amen."