2 Peter 2
Complete Jewish Bible
2 But among the people there were also false prophets, just as there will be false teachers among you. Under false pretenses they will introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and thus bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 Many will follow their debaucheries; and because of them, the true Way will be maligned. 3 In their greed they will exploit you with fabricated stories.
Their punishment, decreed long ago, is not idle; their destruction is not asleep! 4 For God did not spare the angels who sinned; on the contrary, he put them in gloomy dungeons lower than Sh’ol to be held for judgment. 5 And he did not spare the ancient world; on the contrary, he preserved Noach, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, and brought the Flood upon a world of ungodly people. 6 And he condemned the cities of S’dom and ‘Amora, reducing them to ashes and ruin, as a warning to those in the future who would live ungodly lives; 7 but he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was distressed by the debauchery of those unprincipled people; 8 for the wicked deeds which that righteous man saw and heard, as he lived among them, tormented his righteous heart day after day. 9 So the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and how to hold the wicked until the Day of Judgment while continuing to punish them, 10 especially those who follow their old natures in lust for filth and who despise authority.
Presumptuous and self-willed, these false teachers do not tremble at insulting angelic beings; 11 whereas angels, though stronger and more powerful, do not bring before the Lord an insulting charge against them. 12 But these people, acting without thinking, like animals without reason, born to be captured and destroyed, insult things about which they have no knowledge. When they are destroyed, their destruction will be total — 13 they will be paid back harm as wages for the harm they are doing.
Their idea of pleasure is carousing in broad daylight; they are spots and defects reveling in their deceptions as they share meals with you — 14 for they have eyes always on the lookout for a woman who will commit adultery, eyes that never stop sinning; and they have a heart that has exercised itself in greed; so that they seduce unstable people. What a cursed brood!
15 These people have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Bil‘am Ben-B‘or, who loved the wages of doing harm 16 but was rebuked for his sin — a dumb beast of burden spoke out with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s insanity! 17 Waterless springs they are, mists driven by a gust of wind; for them has been reserved the blackest darkness. 18 Mouthing grandiosities of nothingness, they play on the desires of the old nature, in order to seduce with debaucheries people who have just begun to escape from those whose way of life is wrong.
19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption; for a person is slave to whatever has defeated him. 20 Indeed, if they have once escaped the pollutions of the world through knowing our Lord and Deliverer, Yeshua the Messiah, and then have again become entangled and defeated by them, their latter condition has become worse than their former. 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the Way of righteousness than, fully knowing, to turn from the holy command delivered to them. 22 What has happened to them accords with the true proverb, “A dog returns to its own vomit.”[a] Yes, “The pig washed itself, only to wallow in the mud!”
Footnotes
- 2 Peter 2:22 Proverbs 26:11
2 Peter 2
Expanded Bible
False Teachers
2 There used to be false prophets among God’s people [Deut. 13:1–5; 18:14–22; Jer. 28] just as you will have some false teachers ·in your group [L among you; Jude 4]. They will secretly ·teach [bring in; introduce] ·things that are wrong—teachings that will cause people to be lost [L destructive heresies/opinions/factions]. They will even ·refuse to accept [L deny] the Master [C Jesus] who bought ·their freedom [L them; C as a master purchases a slave; 1 Cor. 6:20; 1 Pet. 1:18]. So they will bring quick ·ruin [destruction] on themselves. 2 Many will follow their ·evil [depraved; debauched; licentious] ways and ·say evil things about [malign; slander] the way of truth. 3 ·Those false teachers only want your money, so [L In their greed] they will ·use [exploit] you ·by telling you lies [with deceptive/false words]. Their judgment spoken against them long ago is ·still coming [not idle], and their ruin ·is certain [does not sleep].
4 [L For if] When angels sinned, God did not ·let them go free without punishment [spare them]. [L But] He sent them to ·hell [L Tartarus; C a Greek term for the underworld] and put them in caves[a] of darkness where they are being held for judgment [Gen. 6:1–4; Jude 6]. 5 And God ·punished the world long ago [L did not spare the ancient world] when he brought a flood to the world that was full of ·people who were against him [the ungodly]. But God ·saved [protected; kept] Noah, ·who preached about being right with God [a preacher of righteousness; C Jewish tradition described Noah preaching repentance], and seven other people with him [C his wife plus his three sons and their wives; Gen. 6—9]. 6 And God also ·destroyed [condemned] the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them until they were ashes [Gen. 19; Jude 7]. He made those cities an example ·of what will happen to [or for future generations of] ·those who are against God [L the ungodly; Jude 7]. 7 But he saved Lot from those cities. Lot, a ·good [righteous] man, was ·troubled [distressed; or oppressed] because of the ·filthy lives [depraved behavior] of ·evil [lawless] people. 8 (Lot was a ·good [righteous] man, but because he lived with evil people ·every day [day after day], his ·good heart [righteous soul] was ·hurt [tormented] by the ·evil things [lawless deeds] he saw and heard.) 9 So the Lord knows how to save ·those who serve him [the godly] ·when troubles come [from trial/testing/temptation]. He will hold ·evil people [the wicked/unrighteous] ·and punish them, while waiting for the judgment day [or while they wait for their punishment on judgment day]. 10 That punishment is especially for those who ·live by doing the evil things their sinful selves want [L go after the flesh with defiling passion/lust] and who ·hate [despise] authority [Jude 8].
These false teachers are bold and ·do anything they want [arrogant; self-willed]. They ·are not afraid [L do not tremble] to ·speak against [slander; blaspheme] ·the angels [L the glorious ones; C probably angelic beings; unclear whether referring to good or evil angels; Jude 8]. 11 But even the angels, who are much stronger and more powerful ·than false teachers [or than the evil angels; C unclear whether referring to false teachers or to “the glorious ones” (seen as evil angels) of v. 10], do not ·accuse them with insults [L bring a slanderous charge against them] before[b] the Lord [see Jude 9]. 12 But these people ·speak against [slander; blaspheme] things they do not understand. They are like ·animals that act without thinking [irrational animals], animals [of simple instinct] born to be caught and killed. And, ·like animals, these false teachers will be destroyed [or like the evil angels, these false teachers will be destroyed; L in their destruction they will be destroyed; Jude 10]. 13 ·They have caused many people to suffer, so they themselves will suffer. That is their pay for what they have done [L …suffering harm as the wage of unrighteousness; C a wordplay based on the similarity of the Greek words translated “suffering harm” and “unrighteousness”]. They take pleasure in ·openly doing evil [doing evil/carousing in the daylight], so they are like dirty spots and ·stains [blemishes] among you. They delight in deceiving you while ·eating meals [or feasting] with you [C perhaps an allusion to the fellowship meal, or “love feast,” celebrated with the Lord’s Supper; Jude 12]. 14 ·Every time they look at a woman they want her [L They have eyes full of adultery], and ·their desire for sin is never satisfied [or they never stop sinning]. They ·lead weak people into the trap of sin [ensnare/entice/lure unstable people/souls], and they have ·taught [exercised; trained] their hearts to be greedy. ·God will punish them [L Accursed children; C under God’s curse]! 15 These false teachers ·left [abandoned] the ·right [or straight] road and ·lost their way [wandered away; went astray], following the way Balaam went. Balaam, the son of ·Beor [or Bosor], loved ·being paid for doing wrong [L the wages of unrighteousness; Num. 25; 31:16; Rev. 2:14]. 16 But a donkey, which cannot talk, ·told Balaam he was sinning [L rebuked his wrongdoing]. It spoke with a ·man’s [human] voice and stopped the prophet’s ·crazy thinking [madness; Num. 22:21–35; Jude 11].
17 Those false teachers are like ·springs [or wells] without water and ·clouds [or mists] blown by a ·storm [whirlwind; squall; Jude 12]. A place in the ·blackest [deepest; L gloomy] darkness has been kept for them [Jude 12—13]. 18 They ·brag with [speak with bombastic, boastful] words that ·mean nothing [are empty]. By their ·evil [fleshly] desires they ·lead people into the trap of sin—[entice] people who ·are just beginning to escape [or have barely escaped] from others who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom [C perhaps from the law or from fear of judgment], but they themselves are not free. They are slaves of ·things that will be destroyed [corruption; depravity]. For people are slaves of anything that ·controls [masters; overpowers; defeats] them [C this last sentence may be a common proverb]. 20 They ·were made free [escaped] from the ·evil [depravity; defilement] in the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if they ·return to [L get entangled again with] evil things and those things ·control [master; overpower; defeat] them, then ·it is worse for them than it was before [their last/final state is worse than the first; Matt. 12:45; Luke 11:26]. 21 ·Yes, [L For] it would be better for them to have never known the ·right way [or the way of righteousness] than to know it and to turn away from the holy ·teaching [L commandment; law] that was ·given [passed on; handed down] to them. 22 What they did is like this true ·saying [proverb; parable]: “A dog ·goes back to what it has thrown up [T returns to its vomit; Prov. 26:11],” and, “After a pig is washed, it goes back and rolls in the mud.”
Footnotes
- 2 Peter 2:4 caves Some Greek copies read “chains.”
- 2 Peter 2:11 before Some Greek copies read “from.”
Copyright © 1998 by David H. Stern. All rights reserved.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.