15 It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.(A)

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19 Their destiny(A) is destruction, their god is their stomach,(B) and their glory is in their shame.(C) Their mind is set on earthly things.(D)

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For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[a] long ago have secretly slipped in among you.(A) They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.(B)

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Footnotes

  1. Jude 1:4 Or individuals who were marked out for condemnation

11 They had as king over them the angel of the Abyss,(A) whose name in Hebrew(B) is Abaddon(C) and in Greek is Apollyon (that is, Destroyer).

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If the ministry that brought condemnation(A) was glorious, how much more glorious is the ministry that brings righteousness!(B)

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14 And among the prophets of Jerusalem
    I have seen something horrible:(A)
    They commit adultery and live a lie.(B)
They strengthen the hands of evildoers,(C)
    so that not one of them turns from their wickedness.(D)
They are all like Sodom(E) to me;
    the people of Jerusalem are like Gomorrah.”(F)

15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says concerning the prophets:

“I will make them eat bitter food
    and drink poisoned water,(G)
because from the prophets of Jerusalem
    ungodliness(H) has spread throughout the land.”

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The Judgment of Satan

When the thousand years are over,(A) Satan will be released from his prison and will go out to deceive the nations(B) in the four corners of the earth(C)—Gog and Magog(D)—and to gather them for battle.(E) In number they are like the sand on the seashore.(F) They marched across the breadth of the earth and surrounded(G) the camp of God’s people, the city he loves.(H) But fire came down from heaven(I) and devoured them. 10 And the devil, who deceived them,(J) was thrown into the lake of burning sulfur,(K) where the beast(L) and the false prophet(M) had been thrown. They will be tormented day and night for ever and ever.(N)

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He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan,(A) and bound him for a thousand years.(B) He threw him into the Abyss,(C) and locked and sealed(D) it over him, to keep him from deceiving the nations(E) anymore until the thousand years were ended. After that, he must be set free for a short time.

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19 Then I saw the beast(A) and the kings of the earth(B) and their armies gathered together to wage war against the rider on the horse(C) and his army. 20 But the beast was captured, and with it the false prophet(D) who had performed the signs(E) on its behalf.(F) With these signs he had deluded(G) those who had received the mark of the beast(H) and worshiped its image.(I) The two of them were thrown alive into the fiery lake(J) of burning sulfur.(K) 21 The rest were killed with the sword(L) coming out of the mouth of the rider on the horse,(M) and all the birds(N) gorged themselves on their flesh.

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14 Because of the signs(A) it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived(B) the inhabitants of the earth.(C) It ordered them to set up an image in honor of the beast who was wounded by the sword and yet lived.(D)

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The beast I saw resembled a leopard,(A) but had feet like those of a bear(B) and a mouth like that of a lion.(C) The dragon gave the beast his power and his throne and great authority.(D)

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10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.(A)

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain;(B) they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error;(C) they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.(D)

12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts,(E) eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves.(F) They are clouds without rain,(G) blown along by the wind;(H) autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted(I)—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea,(J) foaming up their shame;(K) wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.(L)

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13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.(A) They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.[a](B) 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce(C) the unstable;(D) they are experts in greed(E)—an accursed brood!(F) 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam(G) son of Bezer,[b] 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.(H)

17 These people are springs without water(I) and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.(J) 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words(K) and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping(L) 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.”(M) 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing(N) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ(O) and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.(P) 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.(Q) 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”[c](R) and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

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Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:13 Some manuscripts in their love feasts
  2. 2 Peter 2:15 Greek Bosor
  3. 2 Peter 2:22 Prov. 26:11

In their greed(A) these teachers will exploit you(B) with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

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And then the lawless one will be revealed,(A) whom the Lord Jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth(B) and destroy by the splendor of his coming.(C) The coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with how Satan(D) works. He will use all sorts of displays of power through signs and wonders(E) that serve the lie, 10 and all the ways that wickedness deceives those who are perishing.(F) They perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.(G) 11 For this reason God sends them(H) a powerful delusion(I) so that they will believe the lie(J) 12 and so that all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness.(K)

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12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood,(A) but against the rulers, against the authorities,(B) against the powers(C) of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.(D)

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But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you,(A) let them be under God’s curse!(B) As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,(C) let them be under God’s curse!

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23 Are they servants of Christ?(A) (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder,(B) been in prison more frequently,(C) been flogged more severely,(D) and been exposed to death again and again.(E)

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13 For such people are false apostles,(A) deceitful(B) workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.(C)

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11 If we have sown spiritual seed among you, is it too much if we reap a material harvest from you?(A)

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10 “You are a child of the devil(A) and an enemy of everything that is right! You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord?(B)

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True and False Prophets

15 “Watch out for false prophets.(A) They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ferocious wolves.(B) 16 By their fruit you will recognize them.(C) Do people pick grapes from thornbushes, or figs from thistles?(D)

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22 Because you disheartened the righteous with your lies,(A) when I had brought them no grief, and because you encouraged the wicked not to turn from their evil ways and so save their lives,(B)

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10 “‘Because they lead my people astray,(A) saying, “Peace,”(B) when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash,(C) 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones(D) hurtling down,(E) and violent winds will burst forth.(F) 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?”

13 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: In my wrath I will unleash a violent wind, and in my anger hailstones(G) and torrents of rain(H) will fall with destructive fury.(I) 14 I will tear down the wall(J) you have covered with whitewash and will level it to the ground so that its foundation(K) will be laid bare. When it[a] falls,(L) you will be destroyed in it; and you will know that I am the Lord. 15 So I will pour out my wrath against the wall and against those who covered it with whitewash. I will say to you, “The wall is gone and so are those who whitewashed it,

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Footnotes

  1. Ezekiel 13:14 Or the city

32 this is what the Lord says: I will surely punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite and his descendants.(A) He will have no one left among this people, nor will he see the good(B) things I will do for my people, declares the Lord, because he has preached rebellion(C) against me.’”

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