³ And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced against them long ago, has not been idle, and their destruction is not asleep.^(A)

¹⁷ For we are not peddlers of God’s word like so many,^[a] but as persons of sincerity, as persons sent from God, we are speaking in Christ before God.^(A)

⁵ As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed,^(A)

¹⁸ For such people do not serve our Lord Christ but their own appetites,^[a] and by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the simple-minded.^(A)

¹⁵ to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly^[a] of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”

¹¹ they must be silenced, since they are upsetting whole families by teaching for sordid gain what it is not right to teach.^(A)

⁵ and wrangling among those who are depraved in mind and bereft of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain.^[a](A)

⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial and to keep the unrighteous until the day of judgment, when they will be punished^(A)

False Prophets and Their Punishment

2 But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions. They will even deny the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.^(A)