2 Peter 2

False Teachers and Their Destruction

1 But there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord who bought them-bringing swift destruction on themselves.2 Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.3 In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell,t putting them into gloomy dungeonst to be held for judgment;5 if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men8 (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment, while continuing their punishment.t10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful naturet and despise authority.
Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings;11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.12 But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.

13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, revelling in their pleasures while they feast with you.t14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed-an accursed brood!15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey-a beast without speech-who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.18 For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity-for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.22 Of them the proverbs are true: "A dog returns to its vomit,"t and, "A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud."

2 PETER 2

False Prophets and Teachers

1 Sometimes false prophets spoke to the people of Israel. False teachers will also sneak in and speak harmful lies to you. But these teachers don't really belong to the Master who paid a great price for them, and they will quickly destroy themselves. 2 Many people will follow their evil ways and cause others to tell lies about the true way.

3 They will be greedy and cheat you with smooth talk. But long ago God decided to punish them, and God doesn't sleep.
4 God did not have pity on the angels that sinned. He had them tied up and thrown into the dark pits of hell until the time of judgment.

5 t And during Noah's time, God did not have pity on the ungodly people of the world. He destroyed them with a flood, though he did save eight people, including Noah, who preached the truth.

6  t God punished the cities of Sodom and Gomorraht by burning them to ashes, and this is a warning to anyone else who wants to sin.
7-8  t Lot lived right and was greatly troubled by the terrible way those wicked people were living. He was a good man, and day after day he suffered because of the evil things he saw and heard. So the Lord rescued him.

9 This shows that the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their sufferings and to punish evil people while they wait for the day of judgment.
10 The Lord is especially hard on people who disobey him and don't think of anything except their own filthy desires. They are reckless and proud and are not afraid of cursing the glorious beings in heaven.

11 Although angels are more powerful than these evil beings, t even the angels don't dare to accuse them to the Lord.
12 These people are no better than senseless animals that live by their feelings and are born to be caught and killed. They speak evil of things they don't know anything about. But their own corrupt deeds will destroy them.

13 They have done evil, and they will be rewarded with evil.
They think it is fun to have wild parties during the day. They are immoral, and the meals they eat with you are spoiled by the shameful and selfish way they carry on.t

14 All they think about is having sex with someone else's husband or wife. There is no end to their wicked deeds. They trick people who are easily fooled, and their minds are filled with greedy thoughts. But they are headed for trouble!
15  t They have left the true road and have gone down the wrong path by following the example of the prophet Balaam. He was the son of Beor and loved what he got from being a crook.

16 But a donkey corrected him for this evil deed. It spoke to him with a human voice and made him stop his foolishness.
17 These people are like dried up water holes and clouds blown by a windstorm. The darkest part of hell is waiting for them. 18 They brag out loud about their stupid nonsense. And by being vulgar and crude, they trap people who have barely escaped from living the wrong kind of life.

19 They promise freedom to everyone. But they are merely slaves of filthy living, because people are slaves of whatever controls them.
20 When they learned about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they escaped from the filthy things of this world. But they are again caught up and controlled by these filthy things, and now they are in worse shape than they were at first. 21 They would have been better off if they had never known about the right way. Even after they knew what was right, they turned their backs on the holy commandments they were given.

22 t What happened to them is just like the true saying,
“A dog will come back
to lick up its own vomit.
A pig that has been washed
will roll in the mud.”