2Pe 2:9-22, Jude 4-13 | ESV | STEP | then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials , and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment ,

2 Peter 2:9-22

9 then ^athe Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, ^{▼▼Or temptations} and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially ^cthose who indulge ^{▼▼Greek who go after the flesh} in the lust of defiling passion and ^edespise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^fas they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 ^gwhereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 ^hBut these, like irrational animals, ⁱcreatures 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 ^jthe wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^kto revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts love feasts} while ^mthey feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, ⁿinsatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^otrained in greed. ^pAccursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, ^qthey have gone astray. They have followed ^rthe way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^sgain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^ta speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17 ^uThese are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^vFor them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, ^wspeaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^xescaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them ^yfreedom, ^zbut they themselves are slaves ^{▼▼Greek bondservants} of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, ^abafter they have escaped the defilements of the world ^acthrough the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^adthe last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For ^aeit would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^afthe holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^agdog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Jude 4-13

4 For ^ahcertain people ^aihave crept in unnoticed ^ajwho long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert ^akthe grace of our God into sensuality and ^aldeny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

5 Now I want ^amto remind you, although you once fully knew it, that ^anJesus, who saved ^{▼▼Some manuscripts although you fully knew it, that the Lord who once saved} a people out of the land of Egypt, ^apafterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And ^aqthe angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 7 just as ^arSodom and Gomorrah and ^asthe surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and ^atpursued unnatural desire, ^{▼▼Greek other flesh} serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and ^avblaspheme the glorious ones. 9 But when ^awthe archangel ^axMichael, contending with the devil, was disputing ^ayabout the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ^az“The Lord rebuke you.” 10 ^baBut these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in ^bbthe way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain ^bcto Balaam’s error and ^bdperished in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs ^{▼▼Or are blemishes} ^bfat your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, ^bgshepherds feeding themselves; ^bhwaterless clouds, ^biswept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, ^bjuprooted; 13 ^bkwild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of ^bltheir own shame; ^bmwandering stars, ^bnfor whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.