False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 But there were also false prophets^(A) among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.^(B) They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord^(C) who bought them^(D)—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct^(E) and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.

¹⁷ I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned.^(A) Keep away from them.^(B)

A Church Divided Over Leaders

¹⁰ I appeal to you, brothers and sisters,^[a](A) in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you,^(B) but that you be perfectly united^(C) in mind and thought. ¹¹ My brothers and sisters, some from Chloe’s household^(D) have informed me that there are quarrels among you. ¹² What I mean is this: One of you says, “I follow Paul”;^(E) another, “I follow Apollos”;^(F) another, “I follow Cephas^[b]”;^(G) still another, “I follow Christ.”

¹³ Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized in the name of Paul?^(H)

³ You are still worldly. For since there is jealousy and quarreling^(A) among you, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?

¹⁸ In the first place, I hear that when you come together as a church, there are divisions^(A) among you, and to some extent I believe it. ¹⁹ No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.^{(B) 20} So then, when you come together, it is not the Lord’s Supper you eat, ²¹ for when you are eating, some of you go ahead with your own private suppers.^(C) As a result, one person remains hungry and another gets drunk. ²² Don’t you have homes to eat and drink in? Or do you despise the church of God^(D) by humiliating those who have nothing?^(E) What shall I say to you? Shall I praise you?^(F) Certainly not in this matter!

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy,^(A) which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces^[a] of this world^(B) rather than on Christ.

¹⁹ They went out from us,^(A) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.^(B)

¹⁹ These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.^(A)