24 I say, “O my God, please do not take me away in the middle of my life. You endure through all generations. 25 In earlier times you established the earth; the skies are your handiwork. 26 They will perish, but you will endure. They will wear out like a garment; like clothes you will remove them and they will disappear. 27 But you remain; your years do not come to an end. 28 The children of your servants will settle down here, and their descendants will live securely in your presence.”

8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. 9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you because he does not wish for any to perish but for all to come to repentance. 10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, the heavens will disappear with a horrific noise, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze, and the earth and every deed done on it will be laid bare. 11 Since all these things are to melt away in this manner, what sort of people must you be, conducting your lives in holiness and godliness, 12 while waiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God? Because of this day, the heavens will be burned up and dissolve, and the celestial bodies will melt away in a blaze!