¹⁶ Only ^(A)let us hold true to what we have attained.

Alive in Christ

^6 (A)Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him,

^3 (A)Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent. If you will not wake up, ^(B)I will come ^(C)like a thief, and you will not know at what hour I will come against you.

⁴ But I have this against you, that you have abandoned ^(A)the love you had at first. ⁵ Remember therefore from where you have fallen; repent, and do ^(B)the works you did at first. If not, ^(C)I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place, unless you repent.

³⁹ But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who have faith and preserve their souls.

¹⁶ And as for all who walk by this rule, ^(A)peace and mercy be upon them, and upon ^(B)the Israel of God.

⁵ May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you ^(A)to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus,

¹⁰ and especially ^(A)those who indulge^[a] in the lust of defiling passion and ^(B)despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^(C)as they blaspheme the glorious ones, ^11 (D)whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. ^12 (E)But these, like irrational animals, ^(F)creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, ¹³ suffering wrong as ^(G)the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^(H)to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,^[b] while ^(I)they feast with you. ¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery,^{[c] (J)}insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^(K)trained in greed. ^(L)Accursed children! ¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, ^(M)they have gone astray. They have followed ^(N)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(O)gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^(P)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

^17 (Q)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^(R)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, ^(S)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(T)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(U)freedom, ^(V)but they themselves are slaves^[d] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, ^(W)after they have escaped the defilements of the world ^(X)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^(Y)the last state has become worse for them than the first.

Exhortation, Encouragement, and Prayer

² I entreat Euodia and I entreat Syntyche to ^(A)agree in the Lord.