¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, ^(A)knowing this beforehand, ^(B)take care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability.

¹⁴ For we have come to share in Christ, ^(A)if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by ^(A)philosophy and ^(B)empty deceit, according to ^(C)human tradition, according to the ^(D)elemental spirits^[a] of the world, and not according to Christ.

¹³ For such men are ^(A)false apostles, ^(B)deceitful workmen, ^(C)disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as ^(D)an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as ^(E)servants of righteousness. ^(F)Their end will correspond to their deeds.

¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, ^(A)tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in ^(B)deceitful schemes.

^58 (A)Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in ^(B)the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord ^(C)your labor is not in vain.

¹² Therefore ^(A)let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

¹⁸ For, ^(A)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(B)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(C)freedom, ^(D)but they themselves are slaves^[a] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, ^(E)after they have escaped the defilements of the world ^(F)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^(G)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For ^(H)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^(I)the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^(J)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

A Tree and Its Fruit

^15 (A)“Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ^(B)ravenous wolves.