2 Peter 2:17-22

New Century Version

¹⁷ Those false teachers are like springs without water and clouds blown by a storm. A place in the blackest darkness has been kept for them. ¹⁸ They brag with words that mean nothing. By their evil desires they lead people into the trap of sin—people who are just beginning to escape from others who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. For people are slaves of anything that controls them. ²⁰ They were made free from the evil in the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if they return to evil things and those things control them, then it is worse for them than it was before. ²¹ Yes, it would be better for them to have never known the right way than to know it and to turn away from the holy teaching that was given to them. ²² What they did is like this true saying: “A dog goes back to what it has thrown up,”^[a] and, “After a pig is washed, it goes back and rolls in the mud.”