2 Peter 1:12-2:22

New American Standard Bible 1995

¹² Therefore, ^(A)I will always be ready to remind you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in ^(B)the truth which is present with you. ¹³ I consider it ^(C)right, as long as I am in ^(D)this earthly dwelling, to ^(E)stir you up by way of reminder, ¹⁴ knowing that ^(F)the laying aside of my earthly dwelling is imminent, ^(G)as also our Lord Jesus Christ has made clear to me. ¹⁵ And I will also be diligent that at any time after my ^(H)departure you will be able to call these things to mind.

Eyewitnesses

¹⁶ For we did not follow cleverly devised ^(I)tales when we made known to you the ^(J)power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were ^(K)eyewitnesses of His majesty. ¹⁷ For when He received honor and glory from God the Father, such an ^[a](L)utterance as this was ^[b]made to Him by the ^(M)Majestic Glory, “This is My beloved Son with whom I am well-pleased”— ¹⁸ and we ourselves heard this ^[c]utterance made from heaven when we were with Him on the ^(N)holy mountain.

^19 [d]So we have ^(O)the prophetic word made more ^(P)sure, to which you do well to pay attention as to ^(Q)a lamp shining in a dark place, until the ^(R)day dawns and the ^(S)morning star arises ^(T)in your hearts. ²⁰ But ^(U)know this first of all, that ^(V)no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹ for ^(W)no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men ^(X)moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

The Rise of False Prophets

2 But ^(Y)false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be ^(Z)false teachers ^(AA)among you, who will ^(AB)secretly introduce ^(AC)destructive heresies, even ^(AD)denying the ^(AE)Master who ^(AF)bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. ² Many will follow their ^(AG)sensuality, and because of them ^(AH)the way of the truth will be ^(AI)maligned; ³ and in their ^(AJ)greed they will ^(AK)exploit you with ^(AL)false words; ^(AM)their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

⁴ For ^(AN)if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and ^(AO)committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; ⁵ and did not spare ^(AP)the ancient world, but preserved ^(AQ)Noah, a ^[e]preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a ^(AR)flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and if He ^(AS)condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an ^(AT)example to those who would ^(AU)live ungodly lives thereafter; ⁷ and if He ^(AV)rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the ^(AW)sensual conduct of ^(AX)unprincipled men ⁸ (for by what he saw and heard that ^(AY)righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), ^9 (AZ)then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from ^[f]temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the ^(BA)day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially those who ^[g](BB)indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and ^(BC)despise authority.

Daring, ^(BD)self-willed, they do not tremble when they ^(BE)revile angelic ^[h]majesties, ^11 (BF)whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. ¹² But ^(BG)these, like unreasoning animals, ^(BH)born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in ^[i]the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, ¹³ suffering wrong as ^(BI)the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to ^(BJ)revel in the ^(BK)daytime. They are stains and blemishes, ^(BL)reveling in their ^[j]deceptions, as they ^(BM)carouse with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, ^(BN)enticing ^(BO)unstable souls, having a heart trained in ^(BP)greed, ^(BQ)accursed children; ¹⁵ forsaking ^(BR)the right way, they have gone astray, having followed ^(BS)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(BT)the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, ^(BU)for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet.

¹⁷ These are ^(BV)springs without water and mists driven by a storm, ^(BW)for whom the ^[k]black darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For speaking out ^(BX)arrogant words of ^(BY)vanity they ^(BZ)entice by fleshly desires, by ^(CA)sensuality, those who barely ^(CB)escape from the ones who live in error, ¹⁹ promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for ^(CC)by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, after they have ^(CD)escaped the defilements of the world by ^(CE)the knowledge of the ^(CF)Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again ^(CG)entangled in them and are overcome, ^(CH)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ^21 (CI)For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from ^(CJ)the holy commandment ^(CK)handed on to them. ^22 [l]It has happened to them according to the true proverb, “^(CL)A dog returns to its own vomit,” and, “A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire.”