2 Peter 2
Christian Standard Bible
The Judgment of False Teachers
2 There were indeed false prophets(A) among the people, just as there will be false teachers(B) among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought(C) them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them.(D) 3 They will exploit(E) you in their greed(F) with made-up stories. Their condemnation,(G) pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
4 For if God didn’t spare(H) the angels who sinned but cast them into hell[a](I) and delivered them in chains[b] of utter darkness to be kept for judgment;(J) 5 and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah,(K) a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,[c](L) when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah(M) to ashes and condemned them to extinction,[d] making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;(N) 7 and if he rescued righteous Lot,(O) distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard(P))— 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue(Q) the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,(R) 10 especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority.(S)
Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones; 11 however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.[e] 12 But these people, like irrational animals—creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed—slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed. 13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions[f] while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery(T) that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse!(U) 15 They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path(V) and have followed the path of Balaam,(W) the son of Bosor,[g] who loved the wages of wickedness(X) 16 but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.(Y)
17 These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.(Z) 18 For by uttering boastful, empty words,(AA) they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped[h] from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.(AB) 20 For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord[i] and Savior Jesus Christ,(AC) they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.(AD) 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness(AE) than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command(AF) delivered(AG) to them.(AH) 22 It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit,[j](AI) and, “A washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
Footnotes
- 2:4 Gk Tartarus
- 2:4 Other mss read in pits
- 2:5 Lit Noah, the eighth, a preacher of righteousness
- 2:6 Other mss omit to extinction
- 2:11 Other mss read them from the Lord
- 2:13 Other mss read delighting in the love feasts
- 2:15 Other mss read Beor
- 2:18 Or people who are actually escaping
- 2:20 Other mss read our Lord
- 2:22 Pr 26:11
2 Peter 2
King James Version
2 But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man's voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
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