A Call to Persevere

¹⁷ But, dear friends, remember what the apostles^(A) of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.^{(B) 18} They said to you, “In the last times^(C) there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”^{(D) 19} These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.^(E)

²⁰ But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up^(F) in your most holy faith^(G) and praying in the Holy Spirit,^{(H) 21} keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait^(I) for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.^(J)

4 The Spirit^(A) clearly says that in later times^(B) some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits^(C) and things taught by demons. ² Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron.^(D)

¹⁶ Watch your life and doctrine closely. Persevere in them, because if you do, you will save^(A) both yourself and your hearers.

³ For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.^(A) Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.^(B)