Walimu Wa Uongo

Lakini pia walikuwepo manabii wa uongo miongoni mwa watu, kama watakavyotokea walimu wa uongo kati yenu. Kwa siri, watain giza mafundisho ya upotovu hata kumkana Bwana aliyewakomboa, na kwa njia hiyo watajiletea maangamizi ya haraka. Na wengi wata fuata tamaa zao potovu, na kwa ajili ya matendo yao njia ya kweli itadharauliwa. Nao katika tamaa yao watajaribu kuwanunua kwa kuwaambia hadithi walizotunga wenyewe. Lakini hukumu yao imekuwa tayari tangu zamani, wala mwangamizi wao hajalala usingizi.

Maana kama Mungu hakuwahurumia malaika walipotenda dhambi bali aliwatupa kuzimu, katika vifungo vya giza wakae huko mpaka siku ya hukumu; kama hakuuhurumia ulimwengu wa kale alipoleta gharika juu ya ulimwengu wa watu wasiomcha Mungu, akamlinda Noe mjumbe wa haki, pamoja na watu saba wengine; kama aliihukumu miji ya Sodoma na Gomora kwa kuiteketeza ikawa majivu, akaifanya kuwa mfano kwa wote ambao hawatamcha Mungu; na kama alimwokoa Loti, mtu mwenye haki ambaye alihuzunishwa na maisha ya uchafu ya watu wahalifu - kwa sababu yale maasi aliyoona na kusikia huyo mtu wa Mungu alipoishi kati yao yalimhuzunisha usiku na mchana - basi ikiwa ni hivyo, Bwana anajua jinsi ya kuwaokoa watu wa Mungu kutoka katika majaribu na kuwaweka waasi katika hali ya adhabu mpaka siku ya hukumu. 10 Hii ni hakika hasa kwa wale wanaofuata tamaa chafu za mwili na kudharau mamlaka. Watu hawa ni shupavu na katika kiburi chao, hawaogopi kuwatu kana viumbe vitukufu wa mbinguni;

11 ingawa hata malaika, ambao wana nguvu na uwezo zaidi, hawawashtaki au kuwatukana viumbe hao mbele za Bwana. 12 Lakini watu hawa hukufuru katika mambo wasiy oyafahamu. Wao ni kama wanyama wasio na akili, viumbe wanaotawal iwa na hisia za mwili, ambao wamezaliwa ili wakamatwe na kuchinjwa, na kama wanyama, wao pia wataangamizwa.

13 Watalipizwa madhara kwa ajili ya madhara waliyowatendea wengine. Furaha yao ni kufanya karamu za ufisadi mchana, wazi wazi. Wao huleta aibu na fedheha wanaposhiriki katika karamu zenu kwa kuwa wakati wote huo, wanajifurahisha katika upotevu wao. 14 Macho yao yamejaa uzinzi, nao hutenda dhambi bila kikomo. Huwahadaa watu dhaifu. Mioyo yao imezoea kutamani. Hawa ni wana wa laana! 15 Wameiacha njia iliyonyooka, wakapotoka na kuifuata njia ya Balaamu mwana wa Beori aliyependa kupata fedha kwa kufa nya maovu. 16 Balaamu alikaripiwa kwa ajili ya uovu wake. Punda ambaye hasemi alinena kwa sauti ya binadamu akamzuia huyo nabii asiendelee na kichaa chake.

17 Watu hawa ni kama chemchemi zilizokauka na ukungu upeper ushwao na tufani, na lile giza jeusi limewekwa tayari kwa ajili yao. 18 Wao hutamka maneno matupu ya majivuno na kutumia tamaa mbaya za mwili kuwanasa tena wale ambao ndio kwanza wameepukana na watu wanaoishi maisha ya uovu. 19 Huwaahidi hao waliowanasa kuwa watakuwa huru kabisa, lakini wao wenyewe ni watumwa wa upo tovu. Kwa maana mtu huwa mtumwa wa kitu kile kinachomshinda nguvu. 20 Kwa maana wale waliokwisha kuponyoka kutoka katika uchafu wa dunia hii kwa kumjua Bwana na Mwokozi Yesu Kristo , kisha wakanaswa tena na kushindwa, hali yao ya mwisho ni mbaya zaidi kuliko ile ya kwanza. 21 Ingekuwa heri kwao kama hawa kuijua kamwe njia ya haki, kuliko kuifahamu kisha wakaiacha ile amri takatifu waliyopewa. 22 Kama methali moja isemavyo, “Mbwa huyarudia matapishi yake mwenyewe,” na nyingine, “Nguruwe huoshwa na kurudi kugaa-gaa matopeni.”

False Teachers and Their Destruction

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. Many will follow their depraved conduct(E) and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. In their greed(F) these teachers will exploit you(G) with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,(H) but sent them to hell,[a] putting them in chains of darkness[b] to be held for judgment;(I) if he did not spare the ancient world(J) when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,(K) but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;(L) if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,(M) and made them an example(N) of what is going to happen to the ungodly;(O) and if he rescued Lot,(P) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless(Q) (for that righteous man,(R) living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials(S) and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.(T) 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire(U) of the flesh[c] and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;(V) 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from[d] the Lord.(W) 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.(X)

13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.(Y) They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.[e](Z) 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce(AA) the unstable;(AB) they are experts in greed(AC)—an accursed brood!(AD) 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam(AE) son of Bezer,[f] who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.(AF)

17 These people are springs without water(AG) and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.(AH) 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words(AI) and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping(AJ) from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”(AK) 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing(AL) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ(AM) and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.(AN) 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.(AO) 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”[g](AP) and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:4 Greek Tartarus
  2. 2 Peter 2:4 Some manuscripts in gloomy dungeons
  3. 2 Peter 2:10 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verse 18.
  4. 2 Peter 2:11 Many manuscripts beings in the presence of
  5. 2 Peter 2:13 Some manuscripts in their love feasts
  6. 2 Peter 2:15 Greek Bosor
  7. 2 Peter 2:22 Prov. 26:11