¹⁵ Forsaking the right way, ^(A)they have gone astray. They have followed ^(B)the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^(C)gain from wrongdoing, ¹⁶ but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^(D)a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

^17 (E)These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^(F)For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. ¹⁸ For, ^(G)speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^(H)escaping from those who live in error. ¹⁹ They promise them ^(I)freedom, ^(J)but they themselves are slaves^[a] of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. ²⁰ For if, ^(K)after they have escaped the defilements of the world ^(L)through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^(M)the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For ^(N)it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^(O)the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^(P)dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”