2 Peter 2
New Living Translation
The Danger of False Teachers
2 But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them. In this way, they will bring sudden destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of these teachers, the way of truth will be slandered. 3 In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed.
4 For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell,[a] in gloomy pits of darkness,[b] where they are being held until the day of judgment. 5 And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God’s righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. 6 Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people. 7 But God also rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a righteous man who was sick of the shameful immorality of the wicked people around him. 8 Yes, Lot was a righteous man who was tormented in his soul by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day. 9 So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while keeping the wicked under punishment until the day of final judgment. 10 He is especially hard on those who follow their own twisted sexual desire, and who despise authority.
These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at supernatural beings[c] without so much as trembling. 11 But the angels, who are far greater in power and strength, do not dare to bring from the Lord[d] a charge of blasphemy against those supernatural beings.
12 These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed. They scoff at things they do not understand, and like animals, they will be destroyed. 13 Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They delight in deception[e] even as they eat with you in your fellowship meals. 14 They commit adultery with their eyes, and their desire for sin is never satisfied. They lure unstable people into sin, and they are well trained in greed. They live under God’s curse. 15 They have wandered off the right road and followed the footsteps of Balaam son of Beor,[f] who loved to earn money by doing wrong. 16 But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.
17 These people are as useless as dried-up springs or as mist blown away by the wind. They are doomed to blackest darkness. 18 They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. 19 They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. 20 And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before. 21 It would be better if they had never known the way to righteousness than to know it and then reject the command they were given to live a holy life. 22 They prove the truth of this proverb: “A dog returns to its vomit.”[g] And another says, “A washed pig returns to the mud.”
Footnotes
- 2:4a Greek Tartarus.
- 2:4b Some manuscripts read in chains of gloom.
- 2:10 Greek at glorious ones, which are probably evil angels.
- 2:11 Other manuscripts read to the Lord; still others do not include this phrase at all.
- 2:13 Some manuscripts read in fellowship meals.
- 2:15 Some manuscripts read Bosor.
- 2:22 Prov 26:11.
2 Peter 2
Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament
2 But de there were ginomai also kai false prophets pseudoprophētēs among en the ho people laos, just as hōs · kai there will be eimi false teachers pseudodidaskalos among en you hymeis, who hostis will bring in pareisagō destructive apōleia heresies hairesis, even kai denying arneomai the ho Master despotēs who bought agorazō them autos, bringing on epagō themselves heautou swift tachinos destruction apōleia. 2 · kai Many polys will follow exakoloutheō their autos · ho immoral lifestyle aselgeia, and because of dia them hos the ho way hodos of ho truth alētheia will be maligned blasphēmeō. 3 And kai in en their greed pleonexia they will exploit emporeuomai you hymeis with their fabricated plastos stories logos. Their hos · ho condemnation krima has not ou from ancient times ekpalai been idle argeō, · kai nor ou · ho has their autos destruction apōleia been sleeping nystazō.
4 For gar if ei · ho God theos did pheidomai not ou spare pheidomai the angels angelos when they sinned hamartanō but alla cast tartaroō them into hell tartaroō, committing paradidōmi them to chains seira of utter darkness zophos, there to be kept tēreō until eis the judgment krisis; 5 and kai if he did pheidomai not ou spare pheidomai the ancient archaios world kosmos ( but alla preserved phylassō Noah Nōe, the eighth ogdoos, a herald kēryx of righteousness dikaiosynē) when he brought epagō the deluge kataklysmos on an ungodly asebēs world kosmos; 6 · kai if by reducing the cities polis of Sodom Sodoma and kai Gomorrah Gomorra to ashes tephroō he condemned katakrinō them to extinction katastrophē, making tithēmi them an example hypodeigma of what is going to happen mellō to the ungodly asebēs, 7 and kai rescued rhyomai the righteous dikaios man Lot Lōt, who was distressed kataponeō by hypo the ho immoral aselgeia lifestyle anastrophē of ho lawless men athesmos 8 ( for gar while that ho righteous dikaios man was living enkatoikeō among en them autos day hēmera after ek day hēmera, he was tormented basanizō in his righteous dikaios soul psychē by the lawless anomos deeds ergon that he saw blemma and kai heard akoē); 9 then the Lord kyrios knows oida how to rescue rhyomai the godly eusebēs from ek trial peirasmos, but de to keep tēreō the unrighteous adikos under guard tēreō awaiting punishment kolazō on eis the day hēmera of judgment krisis, 10 especially malista · de those ho who in en polluting miasmos lust epithumia indulge poreuō the flesh sarx and kai despise kataphroneō authority kyriotēs. These bold tolmētēs and insolent authadēs people are not ou afraid tremō to slander blasphēmeō the glorious ones doxa, 11 whereas hopou angels angelos, although eimi greater megas in strength ischus and kai power dynamis, do not ou bring pherō a slanderous blasphēmos judgment krisis against kata them autos before para the Lord kyrios. 12 But de these houtos people , like hōs irrational alogos animals zōon, born gennaō creatures of instinct physikos to be eis captured halōsis and kai destroyed phthora, are ignorant agnoeō of en those hos whom they slander blasphēmeō, and in en · ho their autos destruction phthora will themselves also kai be destroyed phtheirō, 13 suffering harm adikeō as the reward misthos for the harm adikia they have done. They consider hēgeomai indulgence hēdonē · ho in en the daytime hēmera a pleasure tryphē. They are spots spilos and kai blemishes mōmos, reveling entryphaō in en · ho their autos deceitful pleasures apatē while they feast with syneuōcheomai you hymeis. 14 They have echō eyes ophthalmos full mestos of adultery moichalis · kai that do not stop akatapaustos sinning hamartia. They seduce deleazō unstable astēriktos souls psychē and have echō hearts kardia well trained gymnazō in greed pleonexia. Accursed katara brood teknon! 15 Forsaking kataleipō the right way hodos, they have gone astray planaō, following exakoloutheō the ho way hodos of ho Balaam Balaam, the son of ho Beor Bosor, who hos loved agapaō the reward misthos of wrongdoing adikia. 16 But de he was echō rebuked elenxis for his own idios transgression paranomia—a dumb aphōnos donkey hypozygion, speaking phthengomai with en the voice phōnē of a man anthrōpos, restrained kōlyō the ho madness paraphronia of the ho prophet prophētēs. 17 These people houtos are eimi wells pēgē without water anydros, · kai mists homichlē driven elaunō by hypo a squall lailaps. For them hos the ho gloom zophos of ho darkness skotos has been reserved tēreō. 18 For gar by speaking phthengomai pompous hyperonkos words phthengomai of vanity mataiotēs, they entice deleazō, by en lusts epithumia of the flesh sarx and debauchery aselgeia, those ho who are just oligōs escaping apopheugō from those ho who are living anastrephō in en error planē. 19 They promise epangellomai them autos freedom eleutheria, but they themselves autos are hyparchō slaves of ho corruption phthora; for gar by hos whatever a man tis is overcome hēttaomai, to this houtos he is enslaved douloō. 20 For gar if ei after they have escaped apopheugō the ho defilements miasma of the ho world kosmos through en the knowledge epignōsis of ho our hēmeis Lord kyrios and kai Savior sōtēr Jesus Iēsous Christ Christos, they are again palin entangled emplekō in them houtos · de and overcome hēttaomai, the ho last eschatos state has become ginomai for them autos worse cheirōn than the ho first prōtos. 21 For gar it would have been eimi better kreittōn for them autos never mē to have come to know epiginōskō the ho way hodos of ho righteousness dikaiosynē than ē, having come to know epiginōskō it, to turn back hypostrephō from ek the ho holy hagios commandment entolē that was delivered paradidōmi to them autos. 22 What has happened symbainō to them autos illustrates the ho · ho true alēthēs proverb paroimia: “A dog kyōn returns epistrephō to epi · ho its own idios vomit exerama, and kai a sow hys, after washing herself louō, returns to eis wallow kylismos in the mire borboros.”
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