Passage Resources Hebrew/Greek Your Content
Previous Next
Add parallel Print Page Options Listen to 2 Peter 2
Close NKJV

2 Peter 2
New King James Version

Destructive Doctrines

2 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be (A)false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction [a]does not slumber.

Doom of False Teachers

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to [b]hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6 and turning the cities of (B)Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 and (C)delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, (D)tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— 9 then (E)the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially (F)those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. (G)They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of [c]dignitaries, 11 whereas (H)angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Depravity of False Teachers

12 But these, (I)like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 (J)and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure (K)to [d]carouse in the daytime. (L)They are spots and blemishes, [e]carousing in their own deceptions while (M)they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of [f]adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. (N)They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of (O)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

17 (P)These are wells without water, [g]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness [h]forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who [i]have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of [j]corruption; (Q)for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into [k]bondage. 20 For if, after they (R)have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are (S)again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For (T)it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: (U)“A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”

Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:3 M will not
  2. 2 Peter 2:4 Lit. Tartarus
  3. 2 Peter 2:10 glorious ones, lit. glories
  4. 2 Peter 2:13 revel
  5. 2 Peter 2:13 reveling
  6. 2 Peter 2:14 Lit. an adulteress
  7. 2 Peter 2:17 NU and mists
  8. 2 Peter 2:17 NU omits forever
  9. 2 Peter 2:18 NU are barely escaping
  10. 2 Peter 2:19 depravity
  11. 2 Peter 2:19 slavery
Listen to 2 Peter 2
Close LEB

2 Peter 2
Lexham English Bible

The Rise and Fall of the False Teachers

2 But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you also, who will bring in destructive heresies[a], even denying the Master who bought them, thus[b] bringing on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their licentious ways, because of whom the way of truth will be reviled. 3 And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but held them captive in Tartarus with chains of darkness and handed them over to be kept for judgment, 5 and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, and seven others[c] when he[d] brought a flood on the world of the ungodly, 6 and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having appointed them as an example for those who are going to be ungodly, 7 and rescued righteous Lot, worn down by the way of life of lawless persons in licentiousness 8 (for that righteous man, as he[e] lived among them day after day, was tormenting his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he was seeing and hearing), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to reserve the unrighteous to be punished at[f] the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who go after the flesh in defiling lust[g] and who despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they do not tremble in awe as they[h] blaspheme majestic beings, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring against them a demeaning judgment.[i] 12 But these persons, like irrational animals born only with natural instincts for capture and killing, blaspheming about things[j] they do not understand, in their destruction will also be destroyed, 13 being harmed as the wages of unrighteousness. Considering reveling in the daytime a pleasure, they are stains and blemishes, carousing in their deceitful pleasures when they[k] feast together with you, 14 having eyes full of desire for an adulteress and unceasing from sin, enticing unstable persons, and[l] having hearts trained for greediness. Accursed children! 15 By[m] leaving the straight path, they have gone astray, because they[n] followed the way of Balaam the son of Bosor,[o] who loved the wages of unrighteousness, 16 but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained the prophet’s madness[p].

17 These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words[q], they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error, 19 promising them freedom although they[r] themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also[s] enslaved. 20 For if, after they[t] have escaped from the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord[u] and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in these things and succumb to them, the last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 22 The statement of the true proverb has happened to them, “A dog returns to its own vomit,”[v] and “A sow, after[w] washing herself, returns[x] to wallowing in the mud.”[y]

Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:1 Literally “heresies of destruction”
  2. 2 Peter 2:1 Here “thus” is supplied as a component of the participle (“bringing on”) which is understood as result
  3. 2 Peter 2:5 Literally “eighth”
  4. 2 Peter 2:5 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“brought”) which is understood as temporal
  5. 2 Peter 2:8 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“lived”) which is understood as temporal
  6. 2 Peter 2:9 Or “until”
  7. 2 Peter 2:10 Literally “in lust of defilement,” translated here as an attributive genitive
  8. 2 Peter 2:10 Here “as” is supplied as a component of the participle (“blaspheme”) which is understood as temporal
  9. 2 Peter 2:11 Some manuscripts have “a demeaning judgment from the Lord”
  10. 2 Peter 2:12 Literally “with reference to which”
  11. 2 Peter 2:13 Here “when” is supplied as a component of the participle (“feast together”) which is understood as temporal
  12. 2 Peter 2:14 Here “and” is supplied in keeping with English style
  13. 2 Peter 2:15 Here “by” is supplied as a component of the participle (“leaving”) which is understood as means
  14. 2 Peter 2:15 Here “because” is supplied as a component of the participle (“followed”) which is understood as causal
  15. 2 Peter 2:15 Although some English versions use “Beor” here, this is due to harmonization with the Old Testament; the vast majority of Greek manuscripts read “Bosor” here
  16. 2 Peter 2:16 Literally “the of the prophet madness”
  17. 2 Peter 2:18 Literally “for speaking pompous words of emptiness”
  18. 2 Peter 2:19 Here “although” is supplied as a component of the participle (“are”) which is understood as concessive
  19. 2 Peter 2:19 Some manuscripts omit “also”
  20. 2 Peter 2:20 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“have escaped from”) which is understood as temporal
  21. 2 Peter 2:20 Some manuscripts have “of our Lord”
  22. 2 Peter 2:22 A paraphrased quotation from Prov 26:11
  23. 2 Peter 2:22 Here “after” is supplied as a component of the participle (“washing herself”) which is understood as temporal
  24. 2 Peter 2:22 The verb “returns” is not in the Greek text, but is an understood repetition from the previous clause
  25. 2 Peter 2:22 The source of this quotation is uncertain
Next
2 Peter 1
2 Peter 3
Next
dropdown
New King James Version (NKJV)

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Learn the Bible in 30 days
Lexham English Bible (LEB)

2012 by Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software