¹³ For such men are counterfeit apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, since Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no great surprise if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness, but their end will correspond with their deeds.

²⁹ I know that after I am gone, [false teachers like] ferocious wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰ even from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse and distorted things, to draw away the disciples after themselves [as their followers]. ³¹ Therefore be continually alert, remembering that for three years, night or day, I did not stop admonishing and advising each one [of you] with tears.

Apostasy

4 But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons, ² [misled] by the hypocrisy of liars whose consciences are seared as with a branding iron [leaving them incapable of ethical functioning],

³ For the time will come when people will not tolerate sound doctrine and accurate instruction [that challenges them with God’s truth]; but wanting to have their ears tickled [with something pleasing], they will accumulate for themselves [many] teachers [one after another, chosen] to satisfy their own desires and to support the errors they hold, ⁴ and will turn their ears away from the truth and will wander off into myths and man-made fictions [and will accept the unacceptable].