RKJNT - II Peter - 2

2:1  But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who secretly shall bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.

2:2  And many shall follow their licentious ways; and because of them the way of truth shall be maligned.

2:3  And in greed they shall exploit you with false words: the judgment against them from of old does not linger, and their condemnation does not slumber.

2:4  For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into pits of gloom, to be reserved for judgment;

2:5  And did not spare the old world, but saved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

2:6  If he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, overthrowing them and turning them into ashes, and made them an example to those who would be ungodly;

2:7  And delivered righteous Lot, who was vexed by the licentious lives of the wicked:

2:8  (For that righteous man dwelt among them, seeing and hearing, and his righteous soul was vexed from day to day by their unlawful deeds;)

2:9  Then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust under punishment until the day of judgment:

2:10  And particularly those who walk after the flesh in its unclean lusts, and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of the glorious ones.

2:11  Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, do not bring slanderous accusation against them before the Lord.

2:12  But these, like brute beasts, creatures of instinct, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of things they do not understand; and shall utterly perish with them in the same destruction;

2:13  And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness. They count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, revelling in their own deceptions while they feast with you;

2:14  Having eyes full of adultery, who cannot cease from sin; enticing unstable souls: they have a heart trained in greed; cursed children:

2:15  Who have forsaken the right way, and have gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

2:16  But was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

2:17  These are wells without water, mists driven before a tempest; for whom the blackest darkness is reserved.

2:18  For they speak great swelling words of vanity, and allure through the lusts of the flesh, through sensuality, those who are just escaping from the ones who live in error.

2:19  While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the slaves of depravity: for by that which a man is overcome, to that he is enslaved.

2:20  For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled by them, and overcome, they are worse off in the end than at the beginning.

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.

2:22  But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, The dog returns to its own vomit; and the sow that is washed returns to wallowing in the mire.