2 Peter 2
1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you; who will privately introduce destructive sects, denying even the Lord who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
False prophets came to the people, and false teachers will also come to you. They will secretly bring with them destructive heresies, and they will deny the master who bought them. They are bringing quick destruction upon themselves.
2 And many will follow their lewd practices, on account of whom, they way of truth will be evil spoken of.
Many will follow their sensuality, and through them the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 And through covetousness, they will make merchandise of you, by fictitious tales: to whom the punishment threatened of old lingers not, and their destruction slumbers not.
In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. For a long time their condemnation has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 For God, indeed, did not spare the angels who sinned, but with chains of darkness confining them in Tartarus, delivered them over to be kept for judgment; (Tartaroō g5020)
For God did not spare the angels who sinned. Instead he handed them down to Tartarus to be kept in chains of lower darkness until the judgment. (Tartaroō g5020)
5 and did not spare the old world, but saved Noah, the eighth, a proclaimer of righteousness, when he brought the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
Also, he did not spare the ancient world. Instead, he preserved Noah, who was a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly.
6 and having reduced to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, punished them with an overthrow, making them an example to those who should afterward live ungodly:
God also reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to destruction, as an example of what is to happen to the ungodly.
7 and rescued righteous Lot, exceedingly grieved by the lewd behavior of the lawless:
But as for the righteous Lot, he was oppressed by the sensual behavior of lawless people.
8 (for; --that righteous man, dwelling among them, by the sight and report of their unlawful deeds, tormented his righteous soul from day to day; )
So that righteous man, who was living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul because of what he saw and heard.
9 the Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unrighteous to a day of judgment to be punished;
The Lord knows how to rescue godly men out of trials, and how to hold unrighteous men for punishment at the day of judgment.
10 but especially those who go after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and who despise government: being audacious, self-willed, who fear not to revile dignitaries;
This is especially true for those who continue in the corrupt desires of the flesh and who despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are not afraid to blaspheme the glorious ones.
11 whereas, angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.
Angels have greater strength and power, but they do not bring insulting judgments against them to the Lord.
12 But these, as natural, irrational animals, made for capture and destruction, speaking evil of matters which they do not understand, shall be utterly destroyed by their own corruptions;
But these unreasoning animals are naturally made for capture and destruction. They do not know what they insult. They will be destroyed.
13 receiving the due reward of unrighteousness. These delight to spend the day in luxurious festivity: they are spots and blemishes, reveling in their deceits when they feast with you;
They will receive the reward of their wrongdoing. They think that luxury during the day is a pleasure. They are stains and blemishes. They enjoy their deceitful actions while they are feasting with you.
14 having eyes full of the adulteress, incessantly sinning, alluring unstable souls; having a heart exercised with insatiable desires; an accursed progeny:
They have eyes full of adultery, they are never satisfied with sin. They entice unstable souls into wrongdoing, and they have their hearts trained in covetousness. They are cursed children!
15 having forsaken the right path, they have wandered, following in the way of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of iniquity,
They have abandoned the right way and have wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to receive payment for unrighteousness.
16 and was convicted of his transgression; the dumb brute, speaking with man's voice, reprimanded the madness of the prophet.
But he obtained a rebuke for his own transgression—a mute donkey speaking in a human voice stopped the prophet's insanity.
17 These are wells without water, clouds driven by a tempest; for whom the blackness of darkness is reserved forever:
These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. The gloom of thick darkness is reserved for them.
18 for, speaking great swelling words of falsehood, they allure by the lusts of the flesh, even by lasciviousness, those who have actually fled away from them who are living in error.
They speak with vain arrogance. They entice people through the lusts of the flesh. They entice people who try to escape from those who live in error.
19 They promise them liberty, whilst they themselves are slaves of corruption: for every one is enslaved by that which overcomes him.
They promise freedom to them, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For a man is a slave to whatever overcomes him.
20 Now, if, having fled away from the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, and being again entangled, they are overcome by them; their last condition is worse than the first.
If they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
21 Therefore, it has been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.
It would have been better for them not to know the way of righteousness than to know it and turn away from the holy commandment delivered to them.
22 But the saying of the true proverb has happened to them: "The dog is returned to his own vomit; and the washed hog, to its wallowing in the mire."
This proverb is true for them: “A dog returns to its own vomit, and a washed pig returns to the mud.”
