2 UPhetro 2
1 Kodwa kwakukhona labaprofethi bamanga phakathi kwabantu, njengoba lakini kuzakuba khona abafundisi bamanga, abazangenisa ngensitha imfundiso ezehlukanisayo ezichithayo, bephika leNkosi eyabathengayo, bezehlisela ukuchitheka okuphangisayo,
But there were false prophets, too, among the people, just as among you also there will be false teachers. These will secretly bring in destructive sects, denying even the Master who bought them, and bringing swift ruin upon themselves.
2 labanengi bazalandela incithakalo zabo; okungabo indlela yeqiniso izahlanjazwa,
Then there will be many who will follow their immorality, because of whom the Way of the Truth will be maligned.
3 njalo emhawini ngamazwi alungisiweyo bazakwenza inzuzo ngani; okulahlwa kwabo kwakudala kakulibalanga, lencithakalo yabo kayiwozeli.
In their covetousness, with cunning words, they will make merchandise of you; those whose doom has not been idle from of old, and whose destruction has not been slumbering.
4 Ngoba uba uNkulunkulu engaziyekelanga ingilosi ezonayo, kodwa eziphosela esihogweni ezinikela emaketaneni obumnyama ukuze zigcinelwe isigwebo; (Tartaroō g5020)
For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to chains of darkness, and reserved them for judgment; (Tartaroō g5020)
5 njalo kaliyekelanga ilizwe lendulo, kodwa walondoloza owesificaminwembili uNowa umtshumayeli wokulunga, mhla eletha uzamcolo emhlabeni wabeyisa uNkulunkulu;
if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon an ungodly world;
6 ngokuyichitha eyitshisa imizi yeSodoma leGomora waseyilahla, waseyenza isibonelo kulabo abazakweyisa uNkulunkulu;
if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and reduced them to ashes, thus holding them up as a warning to all who would live ungodly;
7 wasemophula uLothi olungileyo, owahlutshwa yikuhamba ngamanyala kwabangalunganga;
and he delivered righteous Lot who was worn out by the lascivious life of the wicked
8 ngoba lowo olungileyo, ehlala phakathi kwabo, ngokubona lokuzwa insuku ngensuku wazwisa ubuhlungu umphefumulo wakhe olungileyo ngemisebenzi yabo engelamthetho;
(for that righteous man, living among them, tormented his righteous soul in seeing and hearing, day after day, their lawless deeds),
9 iNkosi iyakwazi ukubophula ekulingweni labo abamkhonzayo uNkulunkulu, lokubagcina abangalunganga kuze kube lusuku lwesigwebo, bajeziswe;
then be sure that the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the wicked (who are even now enduring punishment) for the "Day of Judgment";
10 kodwa ikakhulu bona abalandela inyama enkanukweni engcolileyo, labadelela ubukhosi. Abangakhathaliyo, abalenkani, kabesabi ukuhlambaza ubukhosi;
especially those who spend their lives following the flesh in the lust of defilement, and in despising all authority. Audacious and wilful, they feel no awe in railing against dignities;
11 kanti ingilosi, ezinkulu ngamandla langengalo, kazilethi isigwebo senhlamba ukumelana labo phambi kweNkosi.
even where angels, though surpassing them in strength and might, do not bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.
12 Kodwa laba, njengezinyamazana ngemvelo ezingelangqondo ezazalelwa ukubanjwa lokubulawa, bahlambaza izinto abangazaziyo, bazabhujiswa ekuboleni kwazo,
But these men, like irrational creatures, mere animals, born to be taken and destroyed, continually rail about matters of which they know nothing. In their corruption they will surely be destroyed,
13 bazakwemukela umvuzo wokungalungi, abathi kuyintokozo ukuminza emini; bayisici loyangiso, bejabula enkohlisweni zabo, besidla idili lani,
suffering wrong as the wage of wrong which they have done. These are men who count it pleasure to carouse in open daylight; they are spots and blemishes reveling in their deceit, even while they are feasting with you.
14 balamehlo agcwele ubufebe, labangayekeli isono, bayenga imiphefumulo ebuthakathaka, belenhliziyo ezejwayele ubuhwaba, abantwana besiqalekiso;
They have eyes full of harlots, eyes that cannot stop sinning. They entice unsteady souls. Their heart is trained in greed. They are an accursed generation.
15 batshiye indlela eqondileyo baduha, balandela indlela kaBalami kaBosori, owathanda inzuzo yokungalungi,
They have forsaken the right way; they have lost their way, and followed the road of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrong-doing.
16 kodwa waba lokusolwa kwesakhe isiphambeko; ubabhemi oyisimungulu, ekhuluma ngelizwi lomuntu, wanqanda ubuhlanya bomprofethi.
He was, however, rebuked for his own transgression; a dumb ass spoke with a man’s voice, and stopped the madness of the prophet.
17 Laba bayimithombo engelamanzi, amayezi aqhutshwa yisiphepho, okugcinelwe bona ubumnyama bomnyama kuze kube phakade. (questioned)
Such men are like waterless springs, or mists storm-driven; for them the blackness of darkness has been reserved.
18 Ngoba bakhuluma okokuziqakisa okweze, babayenga ngenkanuko zenyama langobufebe labo abaphunyuke sibili kubo abahamba ekuduheni,
For speaking great swelling words of vanity, they entangle, by their lasciviousness, in the lusts of the flesh, those who are just about to escape from the men that live in misconduct.
19 bebathembisa inkululeko, bona uqobo beyizigqili zokubola; ngoba lowo umuntu ehlulwe ngaye, lakuye wenziwa isigqili.
They promise them liberty, while they themselves are slaves of rottenness! (For indeed a man is the slave of anything which masters him.)
20 Ngoba uba sebephunyukile ekungcoleni komhlaba ngolwazi lweNkosi loMsindisi uJesu Kristu, besebebuya behilelwa behlulwa yikho, izinto zokucina sezibe zimbi kubo kulezokuqala.
For if, after having escaped the pollutions of the world, through the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, men are again entangled in them and overpowered, their last state is become worse than their first.
21 Ngoba ngabe kwaba ngcono kubo uba babengayazanga indlela yokulunga, kulokuthi sebeyazile bafulathele umlayo ongcwele onikelwe kibo.
Indeed it would have been better for them not to have known the Way of Righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command delivered to them.
22 Kodwa kubehlele lokhu okwesaga esiqinisileyo esithi: Inja ibuyela kwawayo amahlanzo; lengulube ensikazi egezileyo ekugiqikeni edakeni.
In their case it has happened according to the true proverb, The dog returns again to his own vomit, and The sow, after washing, to her wallowing in the mire.
