^17 (A)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^(B)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, ^(C)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(D)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(E)freedom, ^(F)but they themselves are slaves^[a] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, ^(G)after they have escaped the defilements of the world ^(H)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^(I)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For ^(J)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^(K)the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^(L)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”