2 Peter 2
False Teachers and Their Destruction
"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 depraved conduct and will bring THE WAY OF TRUTH into
disrepute.
3 In their
greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. 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, putting them in chains of
darkness 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 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 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 This is
especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh[c] and despise
authority.
Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial
beings;
11 yet even
angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such
beings when bringing judgment on them from THE LORD.
12 But
these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like
unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and
destroyed, and like animals 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, reveling in
their pleasures while they feast with you.
14 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 Bezer, who loved the wages of wickedness.
16 But he
was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke
with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.
17 These
people 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
the flesh, 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 ‘people
are slaves to whatever has mastered them.’
20 If they
have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing OUR LORD AND SAVIOR
JESUS CHRIST and are again entangled in it and are 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,’ and, ‘A sow that is
washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.’”
