2 Peter 2:17-22

Evangelical Heritage Version

¹⁷ These men are wells without water, clouds driven away by a windstorm, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved.^{[a] 18} For by uttering arrogant, empty words, they use the depraved lusts of the flesh to seduce those who are barely^[b] escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ While they promise these people freedom, they themselves are slaves to corruption, for a person is a slave to what has control of him.

The Tragedy of Being Led Back Into a Sinful Life

²⁰ Indeed, if, after escaping the defiling things of the world through the knowledge of our^[c] Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and controlled by them again, they are worse off than they were at first. ²¹ In fact, it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command passed on to them. ²² They demonstrate the truth of the proverb: “A dog returns to its own vomit,”^[d] and a washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.