^2 (A)Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, serving as overseers, ^(B)not by compulsion but ^[a]willingly, ^(C)not for dishonest gain but eagerly; ³ nor as ^(D)being ^[b]lords over ^(E)those entrusted to you, but ^(F)being examples to the flock;

⁸ Heal the sick, ^[a]cleanse the lepers, ^[b]raise the dead, cast out demons. ^(A)Freely you have received, freely give.

^11 (A)“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep. ¹² But a ^[a]hireling, he who is not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and ^(B)leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. ¹³ The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep.

¹⁷ For we are not, as ^[a]so many, ^(A)peddling^[b] the word of God; but as ^(B)of sincerity, but as from God, we speak in the sight of God in Christ.

¹⁸ What is my reward then? That ^(A)when I preach the gospel, I may present the gospel ^[a]of Christ without charge, that I ^(B)may not abuse my authority in the gospel.

⁸ nor did we eat anyone’s bread ^[a]free of charge, but worked with ^(A)labor and toil night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, ⁹ not because we do not have ^(B)authority, but to make ourselves an example of how you should follow us.

¹⁰ For even when we were with you, we commanded you this: If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat.

³ By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction ^[a]does not slumber.

¹⁵ They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of ^(A)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

^17 (B)These are wells without water, ^[a]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness ^[b]forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who ^[c]have actually escaped from those who live in error.