2 Peter 2:17-22

New International Reader's Version

¹⁷ These people are like springs without water. They are like mists driven by a storm. The blackest darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ They speak empty, bragging words. They make their appeal to the evil desires that come from sin’s power. They tempt new believers who are just escaping from the company of sinful people. ¹⁹ They promise to give freedom to these new believers. But they themselves are slaves to sinful living. That’s because “people are slaves to anything that controls them.” ²⁰ They may have escaped the sin of the world. They may have come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But what if they are once again caught up in sin? And what if it has become their master? Then they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. ²¹ Suppose they had not known the way of godliness. This would have been better than to know godliness and then turn away from it. The way of godliness is the sacred command passed on to them. ²² What the proverbs say about them is true. “A dog returns to where it has thrown up.” (Proverbs 26:11) And, “A pig that is washed goes back to rolling in the mud.”