⁴ Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^(A)is a liar, and ^(B)the truth is not in him,

¹³ suffering wrong as ^(A)the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^(B)to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,^[a] while ^(C)they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery,^{[b] (D)}insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^(E)trained in greed. ^(F)Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, ^(G)they have gone astray. They have followed ^(H)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(I)gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^(J)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

^17 (K)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^(L)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, ^(M)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(N)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(O)freedom, ^(P)but they themselves are slaves^[c] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, ^(Q)after they have escaped the defilements of the world ^(R)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^(S)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For ^(T)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^(U)the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^(V)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

Faith Without Works Is Dead

¹⁴ What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith ^(A)but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

⁶ and ^(A)then have fallen away, to restore them again to repentance, since ^(B)they are crucifying once again the Son of God to their own harm and holding him up to contempt.

^16 (A)They profess to know God, but they ^(B)deny him by their works. They are detestable, disobedient, ^(C)unfit for any good work.