¹⁴ With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce^(A) the unstable;^(B) they are experts in greed^(C)—an accursed brood!^(D)

¹⁸ For they mouth empty, boastful words^(A) and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping^(B) from those who live in error.

³ 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.

³ All of us also lived among them at one time,^(A) gratifying the cravings of our flesh^[a](B) and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath.

¹⁶ He writes the same way in all his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable^(A) people distort,^(B) as they do the other Scriptures,^(C) to their own destruction.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants,^(A) tossed back and forth by the waves,^(B) and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.^(C)

¹⁸ For such people are not serving our Lord Christ,^(A) but their own appetites.^(B) By smooth talk and flattery they deceive^(C) the minds of naive people.

¹⁹ No doubt there have to be differences among you to show which of you have God’s approval.^(A)

⁴⁴ How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God^[a]?^(A)