⁴ They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ that was promised? Ever since our ancestors^[a] died, everything has remained just as it was from the beginning of creation.”

^5 [b]These people deliberately ignore the fact that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago, and that the earth stands out of water and in water. ⁶ Furthermore, by these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.