< 2 Peter 2 >

1 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.
But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be among you lying teachers, who will introduce divisions of perdition, and they will deny him who bought them, the Lord, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
2 Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.
And many persons will follow their indulgences; through such persons, the way of truth will be blasphemed.
3 In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old does not linger, and their destruction is not asleep.
And in avarice, they will negotiate about you with false words. Their judgment, in the near future, is not delayed, and their perdition does not sleep.
4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to the lower parts of hell, and committed them to chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; (Tartaroō g5020)
For God did not spare those Angels who sinned, but instead delivered them, as if dragged down by infernal ropes, into the torments of the underworld, to be reserved unto judgment. (Tartaroō g5020)
5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;
And he did not spare the original world, but he preserved the eighth one, Noah, the herald of justice, bringing the flood upon the world of the impious.
6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;
And he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemning them to be overthrown, setting them as an example to anyone who might act impiously.
7 and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked
And he rescued a just man, Lot, who was oppressed by the unjust and lewd behavior of the wicked.
8 (for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds):
For in seeing and in hearing, he was just, though he lived with those who, from day to day, crucified the just soul with works of iniquity.
9 the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;
Thus, the Lord knows how to rescue the pious from trials, and how to reserve the iniquitous for torments on the day of judgment;
10 but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to blaspheme the glories;
even more so, those who walk after the flesh in unclean desires, and who despise proper authority. Boldly pleasing themselves, they do not dread to introduce divisions by blaspheming;
11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.
whereas the Angels, who are greater in strength and virtue, did not bring against themselves such a deplorable judgment.
12 But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,
Yet truly, these others, like irrational beasts, naturally fall into traps and into ruin by blaspheming whatever they do not understand, and so they shall perish in their corruption,
13 suffering the penalty as the wages of evil; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and blemishes, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;
receiving the reward of injustice, the fruition of valuing the delights of the day: defilements and stains, overflowing with self-indulgences, taking pleasure in their feasts with you,
14 having eyes full of adultery, and insatiable for sin, enticing unstable people, having a heart trained in greed. Children under a curse.
having eyes full of adultery and of incessant offenses, luring unstable souls, having a heart well-trained in avarice, sons of curses!
15 Forsaking the right way they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness.
Abandoning the straight path, they wandered astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of iniquity.
16 But he was rebuked for his own transgression; a donkey that could not talk spoke with a human voice and stopped the irrationality of the prophet.
Yet truly, he had a correction of his madness: the mute animal under the yoke, which, by speaking with a human voice, forbid the folly of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, and mists driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved.
These ones are like fountains without water, and like clouds stirred up by whirlwinds. For them, the mist of darkness is reserved.
18 For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who actually escape from those who live in error;
For, speaking with the arrogance of vanity, they lure, by the desires of fleshly pleasures, those who are fleeing to some extent, who are being turned from error,
19 promising them liberty, while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for a person is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.
promising them freedoms, while they themselves are the servants of corruption. For by whatever a man is overcome, of this also is he the servant.
20 For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.
For if, after taking refuge from the defilements of the world in the understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled and overcome by these things, then the latter state becomes worse than the former.
21 For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.
For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of justice than, after acknowledging it, to turn away from that holy commandment which was handed on to them.
22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "The dog turns to his own vomit again," and "the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire."
For the truth of the proverb has happened to them: The dog has returned to his own vomit, and the washed sow has returned to her wallowing in the mud.

< 2 Peter 2 >