False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 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. ² Many will follow their depraved conduct^(E) and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³ 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.

⁴ 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) 5} 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) 6} 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) 7} and if he rescued Lot,^(P) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless^{(Q) 8} (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)— ⁹ 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.”

The Day of the Lord

3 Dear friends,^(AQ) this is now my second letter to you. I have written both of them as reminders^(AR) to stimulate you to wholesome thinking. ² I want you to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets^(AS) and the command given by our Lord and Savior through your apostles.^(AT)

³ Above all, you must understand that in the last days^(AU) scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.^{(AV) 4} They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ he promised?^(AW) Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation.”^{(AX) 5} But they deliberately forget that long ago by God’s word^(AY) the heavens came into being and the earth was formed out of water and by water.^{(AZ) 6} By these waters also the world of that time^(BA) was deluged and destroyed.^{(BB) 7} By the same word the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire,^(BC) being kept for the day of judgment^(BD) and destruction of the ungodly.

⁴ 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)

⁵ Though you already know all this,^(C) I want to remind you^(D) that the Lord^[b] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.^{(E) 6} And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.^{(F) 7} In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah^(G) and the surrounding towns^(H) gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.^(I)

⁸ In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.^{(J) 9} But even the archangel^(K) Michael,^(L) when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses,^(M) did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”^{[c](N) 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.^(O)

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

¹² These people are blemishes at your love feasts,^(S) eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves.^(T) They are clouds without rain,^(U) blown along by the wind;^(V) autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted^(W)—twice dead. ¹³ They are wild waves of the sea,^(X) foaming up their shame;^(Y) wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.^(Z)

¹⁴ Enoch,^(AA) the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming^(AB) with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones^{(AC) 15} to judge^(AD) everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”^{[d](AE) 16} These people are grumblers^(AF) and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires;^(AG) they boast^(AH) about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

A Call to Persevere

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles^(AI) of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.^{(AJ) 18} They said to you, “In the last times^(AK) there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”^{(AL) 19} These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.^(AM)