2Pet.2.1

But there were also lying prophets among the people then, just as there will be lying religious teachers among you. They'll smuggle in destructive divisions, pitting you against each other--biting the hand of the One who gave them a chance to have their lives back! They've put themselves on a fast downhill slide to destruction,

2Pet.2.1

But 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 sovereign Lord who bought them--bringing swift destruction on themselves.

2Pet.2.1

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

2Pet.2.1

But there were also false prophets in Israel, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will cleverly teach their destructive heresies about God and even turn against their Master who bought them. Theirs will be a swift and terrible end.

2Pet.2.2

but not before they recruit a crowd of mixed-up followers who can't tell right from wrong. They give the way of truth a bad name.

2Pet.2.2

Many will follow their shameful ways and will bring the way of truth into disrepute.

2Pet.2.2

And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

2Pet.2.2

Many will follow their evil teaching and shameful immorality. And because of them, Christ and his true way will be slandered.

2Pet.2.3

They're only out for themselves. They'll say anything, anything, that sounds good to exploit you. They won't, of course, get by with it. They'll come to a bad end, for God has never just stood by and let that kind of thing go on.

2Pet.2.3

In their greed these teachers will exploit you with stories they have made up. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

2Pet.2.3

By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

2Pet.2.3

In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction is on the way.

2Pet.2.4

God didn't let the rebel angels off the hook, but jailed them in hell till Judgment Day.

2Pet.2.4

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgment;

2Pet.2.4

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

2Pet.2.4

For God did not spare even the angels when they sinned; he threw them into hell, in gloomy caves and darkness until the judgment day.

2Pet.2.5

Neither did he let the ancient ungodly world off. He wiped it out with a flood, rescuing only eight people--Noah, the sole voice of righteousness, was one of them.

2Pet.2.5

if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;

2Pet.2.5

and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;

2Pet.2.5

And God did not spare the ancient world--except for Noah and his family of seven. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. Then God destroyed the whole world of ungodly people with a vast flood.

2Pet.2.6

God decreed destruction for the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. A mound of ashes was all that was left--grim warning to anyone bent on an ungodly life.

2Pet.2.6

if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;

2Pet.2.6

and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;

2Pet.2.6

Later, he turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into heaps of ashes and swept them off the face of the earth. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.

2Pet.2.7

But that good man Lot, driven nearly out of his mind by the sexual filth and perversity, was rescued.

2Pet.2.7

and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men

2Pet.2.7

and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked

2Pet.2.7

But at the same time, God rescued Lot out of Sodom because he was a good man who was sick of all the immorality and wickedness around him.

2Pet.2.8

Surrounded by moral rot day after day after day, that righteous man was in constant torment.

2Pet.2.8

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

2Pet.2.8

(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--

2Pet.2.8

Yes, he was a righteous man who was distressed by the wickedness he saw and heard day after day.

2Pet.2.9

So God knows how to rescue the godly from evil trials. And he knows how to hold the feet of the wicked to the fire until Judgment Day.

2Pet.2.9

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

2Pet.2.9

then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment,

2Pet.2.9

So you see, the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials, even while punishing the wicked right up until the day of judgment.

2Pet.2.10

God is especially incensed against these "teachers" who live by lust, addicted to a filthy existence. They despise interference from true authority, preferring to indulge in self-rule. Insolent egotists, they don't hesitate to speak evil against the most splendid of creatures.

2Pet.2.10

This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the sinful nature and despise authority.

2Pet.2.10

and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,

2Pet.2.10

He is especially hard on those who follow their own evil, lustful desires and who despise authority. These people are proud and arrogant, daring even to scoff at the glorious ones without so much as trembling.

2Pet.2.11

Even angels, their superiors in every way, wouldn't think of throwing their weight around like that, trying to slander others before God.

2Pet.2.11

Bold and arrogant, these men are not afraid to slander celestial beings; yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not bring slanderous accusations against such beings in the presence of the Lord.

2Pet.2.11

whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

2Pet.2.11

But the angels, even though they are far greater in power and strength than these false teachers, never speak out disrespectfully against the glorious ones.

2Pet.2.12

These people are nothing but brute beasts, born in the wild, predators on the prowl. In the very act of bringing down others with their ignorant blasphemies, they themselves will be brought down, losers in the end.

2Pet.2.12

But these men blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like beasts they too will perish.

2Pet.2.12

But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption,

2Pet.2.12

These false teachers are like unthinking animals, creatures of instinct, who are born to be caught and killed. They laugh at the terrifying powers they know so little about, and they will be destroyed along with them.

2Pet.2.13

Their evil will boomerang on them. They're so despicable and addicted to pleasure that they indulge in wild parties, carousing in broad daylight.

2Pet.2.13

They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.

2Pet.2.13

and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you,

2Pet.2.13

Their destruction is their reward for the harm they have done. They love to indulge in evil pleasures in broad daylight. They are a disgrace and a stain among you. They revel in deceitfulness while they feast with you.

2Pet.2.14

They're obsessed with adultery, compulsive in sin, seducing every vulnerable soul they come upon. Their specialty is greed, and they're experts at it. Dead souls!

2Pet.2.14

With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed--an accursed brood!

2Pet.2.14

having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children.

2Pet.2.14

They commit adultery with their eyes, and their lust is never satisfied. They make a game of luring unstable people into sin. They train themselves to be greedy; they are doomed and cursed.

2Pet.2.15

They've left the main road and are directionless, having taken the way of Balaam, son of Beor, the prophet who turned profiteer, a connoisseur of evil.

2Pet.2.15

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

2Pet.2.15

They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

2Pet.2.15

They have wandered off the right road and followed the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved to earn money by doing wrong.

2Pet.2.16

But Balaam was stopped in his wayward tracks: A dumb animal spoke in a human voice and prevented the prophet's craziness.

2Pet.2.16

But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey--a beast without speech--who spoke with a man's voice and restrained the prophet's madness.

2Pet.2.16

but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

2Pet.2.16

But Balaam was stopped from his mad course when his donkey rebuked him with a human voice.

2Pet.2.17

There's nothing to these people--they're dried-up fountains, storm-scattered clouds, headed for a black hole in hell.

2Pet.2.17

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

2Pet.2.17

These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

2Pet.2.17

These people are as useless as dried-up springs of water or as clouds blown away by the wind--promising much and delivering nothing. They are doomed to blackest darkness.

2Pet.2.18

They are loudmouths, full of hot air, but still they're dangerous. Men and women who have recently escaped from a deviant life are most susceptible to their brand of seduction.

2Pet.2.18

For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of sinful human nature, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error.

2Pet.2.18

For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.

2Pet.2.18

They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With lustful desire as their bait, they lure back into sin those who have just escaped from such wicked living.

2Pet.2.19

They promise these newcomers freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, for if they're addicted to corruption--and they are--they're enslaved.

2Pet.2.19

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

2Pet.2.19

While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage.

2Pet.2.19

They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves to sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you.

2Pet.2.20

If they've escaped from the slum of sin by experiencing our Master and Savior, Jesus Christ, and then slid back into that same old life again, they're worse than if they had never left.

2Pet.2.20

If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.

2Pet.2.20

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

2Pet.2.20

And when people escape from the wicked ways of the world by learning about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up with sin and become its slave again, they are worse off than before.

2Pet.2.21

Better not to have started out on the straight road to God than to start out and then turn back, repudiating the experience and the holy command.

2Pet.2.21

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.

2Pet.2.21

For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them.

2Pet.2.21

It would be better if they had never known the right way to live than to know it and then reject the holy commandments that were given to them.

2Pet.2.22

They prove the point of the proverbs, "A dog goes back to its own vomit," and, "A scrubbed-up pig heads for the mud."

2Pet.2.22

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

2Pet.2.22

But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."

2Pet.2.22

They make these proverbs come true: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A washed pig returns to the mud."