⁸ in a fiery flame, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.^{(A) 9} These will suffer the punishment of eternal destruction, separated from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of his might,^(B)

⁸ But as for the cowardly, the faithless,^[a] the polluted, the murderers, the sexually immoral,^[b] the sorcerers, the idolaters, and all liars, their place will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”^(A)

⁷ But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and destruction of the godless.^(A)

³ When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and there will be no escape!^(A)

⁴⁵ But if that slave says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the other slaves, men and women, and to eat and drink and get drunk, ⁴⁶ the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour that he does not know and will cut him in pieces^[a] and put him with the unfaithful.