2 Peter 2:10-22

English Standard Version

¹⁰ and especially ^(A)those who indulge^[a] in the lust of defiling passion and ^(B)despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^(C)as they blaspheme the glorious ones, ^11 (D)whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. ^12 (E)But these, like irrational animals, ^(F)creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, ¹³ suffering wrong as ^(G)the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^(H)to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,^[b] while ^(I)they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery,^{[c] (J)}insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^(K)trained in greed. ^(L)Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, ^(M)they have gone astray. They have followed ^(N)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(O)gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^(P)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

^17 (Q)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^(R)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, ^(S)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(T)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(U)freedom, ^(V)but they themselves are slaves^[d] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, ^(W)after they have escaped the defilements of the world ^(X)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^(Y)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For ^(Z)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^(AA)the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^(AB)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”