2Pe 2 | ESV | STEP | But false prophets also arose among the people , just as there will be false teachers among you , who will secretly bring in destructive heresies , even denying the Master who bought them , bringing upon themselves swift destruction .

‏ 2 Peter 2

False Prophets and Teachers

1 But ^afalse prophets also arose among the people, ^bjust as there will be false teachers among you, who will ^csecretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master ^dwho bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth ^ewill be blasphemed. 3 And ^fin their greed they will exploit you ^gwith false words. ^hTheir condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare ⁱangels when they sinned, but ^jcast them into hell ^{▼▼Greek Tartarus} and committed them to chains ^{▼▼Some manuscripts pits} of gloomy darkness ^mto be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but ⁿpreserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought ^oa flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by ^pturning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, ^qmaking them an example of ^rwhat is going to happen to the ungodly; ^{▼▼Some manuscripts an example to those who were to be ungodly} 7 and ^tif he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, ^uhe was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then ^vthe Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, ^{▼▼Or temptations} and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially ^xthose who indulge ^{▼▼Greek who go after the flesh} in the lust of defiling passion and ^zdespise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^aaas they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 ^abwhereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 ^acBut these, like irrational animals, ^adcreatures 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 ^aethe wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^afto revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, ^{▼▼Some manuscripts love feasts} while ^ahthey feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery, ^aiinsatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^ajtrained in greed. ^akAccursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, ^althey have gone astray. They have followed ^amthe way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^angain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^aoa speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17 ^apThese are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^aqFor them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, ^arspeaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping ^asfrom those who live in error. 19 They promise them ^atfreedom, ^aubut they themselves are slaves ^{▼▼Greek bondservants} of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, ^awafter they have escaped the defilements of the world ^axthrough the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^aythe last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For ^azit would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^bathe holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^bbdog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”