The Second Epistle General of Peter

⭑ Berean Study Bible :: World English Bible Catholic ⭑

- Chapter 2 -

(Jude 1:3–16)

Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.

In 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.

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

if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction,(b) reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly;(c)

and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless

(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—

if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.

Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.(d)

Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord.

These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed.

The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.

Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

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

But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

With 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.

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

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

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.

Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”(g) and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

Footnotes

(a)2:4 Greek cast them into Tartarus; see the First Book of Enoch (1 Enoch 13:1–11 and 1 Enoch 20:1–4).

(b)2:6 WH does not include to destruction.

(d)2:10 Or to blaspheme angelic majesties

(e)2:15 NA, SBL, BYZ, and TR Bosor

(f)2:20 SBL and WH the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ

(g)2:22 Proverbs 26:11

(Jude 1:3–16)

But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.

Many will follow their immoral(a) ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.

In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.

For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus,(b) and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment;

and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly,

and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way,

and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked

(for that righteous man dwelling among them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds),

then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,

whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a slanderous judgment against them before the Lord.

But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,

receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;

having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin, enticing unsettled souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children!

Forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;

but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A speechless donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.

These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.

For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;

promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,”(c) and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”

Footnotes

(a)2:2 TR reads “destructive” instead of “immoral”

(b)2:4 Tartarus is another name for Hell