2Pe 2 | BSB | STEP | Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. [They] will secretly introduce destructive heresies [that] even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves.

2 Peter 2

Deliverance from False Prophets

1 Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. [They] will secretly introduce destructive heresies [that] even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow in their depravity, [and] because of [them] the way of truth will be defamed. 3 In their greed, [these false teachers] will exploit you with tales they have concocted. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction {does} not sleep. 4 For if God {did} not spare [the] angels when they sinned, ^{▼▼See the First Book of Enoch.} but cast [them] into hell, delivering [them] in chains to be held in gloomy darkness ^{▼▼Or in gloomy dungeons} until [their] judgment; 5 [if] He did not spare [the] ancient world when He brought [the] flood [on its] ungodly [people] , but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; 6 [if] He condemned [the] cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, ^{▼▼WH condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah} reducing [them] to ashes [as] an example of what is coming on the ungodly; ^{▼▼NE, NA, BYZ, and TR those who were to be ungodly} 7 and [if] He rescued Lot, a righteous [man] distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless 8 (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 all this is so, then the ] Lord knows how to rescue [the] godly from trials and to hold [the] unrighteous for punishment on [the] day of judgment. 10 [ Such punishment is ] specially [reserved] for those who indulge [the] corrupt desires of [the] flesh and despise authority. Bold [and] self-willed, [these men] are unafraid to slander angelic majesties. 11 Yet not even angels, [though] greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before [the] Lord. 12 These [men] [are] like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in [matters] they do not understand, [and like] [such creatures] , they too will be destroyed. 13 The harm they will suffer [is the] wages of [their] wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. [They are] blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you. 14 [Their] eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce [the] unstable. [They are] accursed children with hearts trained in greed. 15 They have left [the] straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam [son] of Beor, ^{▼▼Greek Bosor} who loved [the] wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, [ otherwise ] without speech, that 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 With lofty [but] empty words, they appeal [to the] sensual passions of [the] flesh [and] entice those [who are] just escaping from [others] who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. 20 If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through [their] knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts our Lord and Savior} only to be entangled [and] overcome by it again, their final [condition] is worse than [it was] at first. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known [it] and turned away from the holy commandment passed on to them. 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to [its] vomit,” ^{▼▼Proverbs 26:11} and, “A sow that is washed [goes back] to [her] wallowing in [the] mud.”