¹⁴ so that we may no longer be children, ^(A)tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in ^(B)deceitful schemes.

⁹ Do not be ^(A)led away by diverse and strange teachings, for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, ^(B)not by foods, which have not benefited those devoted to them.

²⁰ Brothers, ^(A)do not be children in your thinking. ^(B)Be infants in evil, but in your thinking be ^(C)mature.

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, ^(A)do not believe every spirit, but ^(B)test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^(C)many ^(D)false prophets ^(E)have gone out into the world.

⁶ But ^(A)let him ask in faith, ^(B)with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like ^(C)a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.

Final Instructions and Greetings

¹⁷ I appeal to you, brothers, to watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles ^(A)contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught; ^(B)avoid them. ¹⁸ For such persons do not serve our Lord Christ, but ^(C)their own appetites,^[a] and ^(D)by smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

¹² For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again ^(A)the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need ^(B)milk, not solid food, ¹³ for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is ^(C)a child. ¹⁴ But solid food is for ^(D)the mature, for those who have their powers ^(E)of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.

¹⁷ For we are not, like so many, peddlers of God's word, but as men of sincerity, as commissioned by God, in the sight of God we speak in Christ.

False Prophets and Teachers

2 But ^(A)false prophets also arose among the people, ^(B)just as there will be false teachers among you, who will ^(C)secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master ^(D)who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. ² And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth ^(E)will be blasphemed. ³ And ^(F)in their greed they will exploit you ^(G)with false words. ^(H)Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.