2 Peter 2

¹⁵Beware of false prophets. They come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.

⁴For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

¹If a prophet or dreamer of dreams arises among you and proclaims a sign or wonder to you,

²and if the sign or wonder he has spoken to you comes about, but he says, “Let us follow other gods (which you have not known) and let us worship them,”

³For the time will come when men will not tolerate sound doctrine, but with itching ears they will gather around themselves teachers to suit their own desires.

¹¹and many false prophets will arise and deceive many.

³In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

²⁴As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”

¹⁰These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively.

²⁴For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.

¹⁵They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

⁸and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.

¹⁴Because of the signs it was given to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived those who dwell on the earth, telling them to make an image to the beast that had been wounded by the sword and yet had lived.

¹⁷For we are not like so many others, who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, as men sent from God.

¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

³⁵Vengeance is Mine; I will repay. In due time their foot will slip; for their day of disaster is near, and their doom is coming quickly.”

⁵As you know, we never used words of flattery or any pretext for greed. God is our witness!

¹⁵to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”

¹¹who must be silenced. For the sake of dishonorable gain, they undermine entire households and teach things they should not.

⁶And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.

⁴¹Then He will say to those on His left, ‘Depart from Me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.

³²He who did not spare His own Son but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also, along with Him, freely give us all things?

¹Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the Abyss, holding in his hand a great chain.

²He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years.

⁷Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.

⁸But the dragon was not strong enough, and no longer was any place found in heaven for him and his angels.

¹²How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.

⁶through which the world of that time perished in the flood.

⁷By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in godly fear built an ark to save his family. By faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

²⁶Just as it was in the days of Noah, so also will it be in the days of the Son of Man:

²⁷People were eating and drinking, marrying and being given in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark. Then the flood came and destroyed them all.

¹⁴Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones

¹⁵to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”

¹⁹in whom He also went and preached to the spirits in prison

²⁰who disobeyed long ago when God waited patiently in the days of Noah while the ark was being built. In the ark a few people, only eight souls, were saved through water.

¹Then the Lord said to Noah, “Go into the ark, you and all your family, because I have found you righteous in this generation.

²You are to take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal, a male and its mate; a pair of every kind of unclean animal, a male and its mate;

⁷In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.

²⁸It was the same in the days of Lot: People were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building.

²⁹But on the day Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained down from heaven and destroyed them all.

²³All its soil will be a burning waste of sulfur and salt, unsown and unproductive, with no plant growing on it, just like the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, Admah and Zeboiim, which the Lord overthrew in His fierce anger.

²⁴Then the Lord rained down sulfur and fire on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens.

²⁵Thus He destroyed these cities and the entire plain, including all the inhabitants of the cities and everything that grew on the ground.

¹⁰And the earth opened its mouth and swallowed them along with Korah, whose followers died when the fire consumed 250 men. They serve as a warning sign.

¹¹Now these things happened to them as examples and were written down as warnings for us, on whom the fulfillment of the ages has come.

¹⁶But when Lot hesitated, the men grabbed his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters. And they led them safely out of the city, because of the Lord’s compassion for them.

²⁹So when God destroyed the cities of the plain, He remembered Abraham, and He brought Lot out of the catastrophe that destroyed the cities where he had lived.

⁷“Please, my brothers,” he pleaded, “don’t do such a wicked thing!

⁸Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them to you, and you can do to them as you please. But do not do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.”

²²Hurry! Run there quickly, for I cannot do anything until you reach it.” That is why the town was called Zoar.

¹³But the men of Sodom were wicked, sinning greatly against the Lord.

⁹As for the prophets: My heart is broken within me, and all my bones tremble. I have become like a drunkard, like a man overcome by wine, because of the Lord, because of His holy words.

¹⁵⁸I look on the faithless with loathing because they do not keep Your word.

⁴“Go throughout the city of Jerusalem,” said the Lord, “and put a mark on the foreheads of the men sighing and groaning over all the abominations committed there.”

¹³⁶My eyes shed streams of tears because Your law is not obeyed.

⁹We realize that law is not enacted for the righteous, but for the lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinful, for the unholy and profane, for killers of father or mother, for murderers,

²⁶Like a muddied spring or a polluted well is a righteous man who gives way to the wicked.

¹³⁹My zeal has consumed me because my foes forget Your words.

¹⁵The eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are inclined to their cry.

¹⁶But the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to wipe out all memory of them from the earth.

¹³No temptation has seized you except what is common to man. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, He will also provide an escape, so that you can stand up under it.

¹⁰Because you have kept My command to persevere, I will also keep you from the hour of testing that is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.

¹²Indeed, all who desire to live godly lives in Christ Jesus will be persecuted,

¹⁴Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about them: “Behold, the Lord is coming with myriads of His holy ones

¹⁵to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”

⁷And by that same word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

¹⁶These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

¹⁰These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively.

²⁸You must not blaspheme God or curse the ruler of your people.

¹⁸when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.”

³Most importantly, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.

²⁴Therefore God gave them over in the desires of their hearts to impurity for the dishonoring of their bodies with one another.

²⁵They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is forever worthy of praise! Amen.

⁹But even the archangel Michael, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not presume to bring a slanderous charge against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”

⁷and to grant relief to you who are oppressed and to us as well. This will take place when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with His mighty angels

²⁰Bless the Lord, all His angels mighty in strength who carry out His word, who hearken to the voice of His command.

²²My God sent His angel and shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, for I was found innocent in His sight, and I have done no wrong against you, O king.”

⁴He makes the winds His messengers, flames of fire His servants.

¹⁰These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively.

³But You know me, O Lord; You see me and test my heart toward You. Drag away the wicked like sheep to the slaughter and set them apart for the day of carnage.

⁸The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.

¹⁹They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

⁶A senseless man does not know, and a fool does not understand,

²¹For the shepherds have become senseless; they do not seek the Lord. Therefore they have not prospered, and all their flock is scattered.

¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

⁸But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.

⁹There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil, first for the Jew, then for the Greek;

²For if the message spoken by angels was binding, and every transgression and disobedience received its just punishment,

³how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation? This salvation was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard Him,

¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

¹²These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.

¹³They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

⁴Because of this, they consider it strange of you not to plunge with them into the same flood of reckless indiscretion, and they heap abuse on you.

³In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.

¹⁸With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

³All of us also lived among them at one time, fulfilling the cravings of our flesh and indulging its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature children of wrath.

¹⁶He writes this way in all his letters, speaking in them about such matters. Some parts of his letters are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, as they do the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

¹⁴But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.

¹¹Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.

⁴For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.

⁵Yet the Lord your God would not listen to Balaam, and the Lord your God turned the curse into a blessing for you, because the Lord your God loves you.

¹⁶“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the Lord at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the Lord.

⁵he sent messengers to summon Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.

⁶So please come now and put a curse on this people, because they are too mighty for me. Perhaps I may be able to defeat them and drive them out of the land; for I know that those you bless are blessed, and those you curse are cursed.”

²because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).

²¹So in the morning Balaam got up, saddled his donkey, and went with the princes of Moab.

²²Then God’s anger was kindled because Balaam was going along, and the angel of the Lord stood in the road to oppose him. Balaam was riding his donkey, and his two servants were with him.

¹¹I frequently had them punished in the synagogues, and I tried to make them blaspheme. In my raging fury against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.

¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

²⁵I directed my mind to understand, to explore, to search out wisdom and explanations, and to understand the stupidity of wickedness and the folly of madness.

³This is an evil in everything that is done under the sun: There is one fate for everyone. Furthermore, the hearts of men are full of evil and madness while they are alive, and afterward they join the dead.

⁷The days of punishment have come; the days of retribution have arrived—let Israel know it. The prophet is called a fool, and the inspired man insane, because of the greatness of your iniquity and hostility.

¹²These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.

¹³They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

³The nobles send their servants for water; they go to the cisterns, but find no water; their jars return empty. They are ashamed and humiliated; they cover their heads.

¹⁴Then we will no longer be infants, tossed about by the waves and carried around by every wind of teaching and by the clever cunning of men in their deceitful scheming.

³⁰And throw that worthless servant into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’

⁴For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment;

¹²But the sons of the kingdom will be thrown into the outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

²⁰If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.

¹⁵to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”

¹⁶These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.

¹³Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy.

⁵You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in the day of slaughter.

⁵The beast was given a mouth to speak arrogant and blasphemous words, and authority to act for 42 months.

⁶And the beast opened its mouth to speak blasphemies against God and to slander His name and His tabernacle—those who dwell in heaven.

⁴He will oppose and exalt himself above every so-called god or object of worship. So he will seat himself in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God.

³⁴Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin.

¹⁶Do you not know that when you offer yourselves as obedient slaves, you are slaves to the one you obey, whether you are slaves to sin leading to death, or to obedience leading to righteousness?

¹⁷But thanks be to God that, though you once were slaves to sin, you wholeheartedly obeyed the form of teaching to which you were committed.

¹³For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

¹It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.

¹⁶Live in freedom, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

²⁶If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,

²⁷but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume all adversaries.

⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—

¹⁹Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and their glory is in their shame. Their minds are set on earthly things.

²⁴When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’

²⁵On its return, it finds the house swept clean and put in order.

²⁹If only they were wise, they would understand it; they would comprehend their fate.

⁴³When an unclean spirit comes out of a man, it passes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it.

⁴⁴Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ On its return, it finds the house vacant, swept clean, and put in order.

²⁴But if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and practices iniquity, committing the same abominations as the wicked, will he live? None of the righteous acts he did will be remembered. Because of the unfaithfulness and sin he has committed, he will die.

⁴It is impossible for those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the Holy Spirit,

⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—

¹⁷Anyone, then, who knows the right thing to do, yet fails to do it, is guilty of sin.

²⁰Now if a righteous man turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity, and I put a stumbling block before him, he will die. If you did not warn him, he will die in his sin, and the righteous acts he did will not be remembered. And I will hold you responsible for his blood.

⁴⁷That servant who knows his master’s will but does not get ready or follow his instructions will be beaten with many blows.

²²If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin. Now, however, they have no excuse for their sin.

¹¹As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.