^12 (A)But these, like irrational animals, ^(B)creatures 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 ^(C)the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^(D)to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,^[a] while ^(E)they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery,^{[b] (F)}insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^(G)trained in greed. ^(H)Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, ^(I)they have gone astray. They have followed ^(J)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(K)gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^(L)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

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