2:1 But false prophets arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. ¹  These false teachers ²  will ³  infiltrate your midst ⁴  with destructive heresies, ⁵  even to the point of ⁶  denying the Master who bought them. As a result, they will bring ⁷  swift destruction on themselves. 2:2 And many will follow their debauched lifestyles. ⁸  Because of these false teachers, ⁹  the way of truth will be slandered. ¹⁰  2:3 And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their ¹¹  condemnation pronounced long ago ¹²  is not sitting idly by; ¹³  their ¹⁴  destruction is not asleep.

2:4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, ¹⁵  but threw them into hell ¹⁶  and locked them up ¹⁷  in chains ¹⁸  in utter darkness, ¹⁹  to be kept until the judgment, 2:5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, ²⁰  when God ²¹  brought a flood on an ungodly world, ²²  2:6 and if he turned to ashes the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah when he condemned them to destruction, ²³  having appointed ²⁴  them to serve as an example ²⁵  to future generations of the ungodly, ²⁶  2:7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless ²⁷  men, ²⁸  2:8 (for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul ²⁹  by the lawless deeds he saw and heard ³⁰ ) 2:9 – if so, ³¹  then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, ³²  and to reserve the unrighteous for punishment ³³  at the day of judgment, 2:10 especially those who indulge their fleshly desires ³⁴  and who despise authority.

Brazen and insolent, ³⁵  they are not afraid to insult ³⁶  the glorious ones, ³⁷  2:11 yet even ³⁸  angels, who are much more powerful, ³⁹  do not bring a slanderous ⁴⁰  judgment against them before the Lord. ⁴¹  2:12 But ⁴²  these men, ⁴³  like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed ⁴⁴  – do not understand whom ⁴⁵  they are insulting, and consequently ⁴⁶  in their destruction they will be destroyed, ⁴⁷  2:13 suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways. ⁴⁸  By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, ⁴⁹  they are stains and blemishes, indulging ⁵⁰  in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you. 2:14 Their eyes, ⁵¹  full of adultery, ⁵²  never stop sinning; ⁵³  they entice ⁵⁴  unstable people. ⁵⁵  They have trained their hearts for greed, these cursed children! ⁵⁶  2:15 By forsaking the right path they have gone astray, because they followed the way of Balaam son of Bosor, ⁵⁷  who loved the wages of unrighteousness, ⁵⁸  2:16 yet was rebuked ⁵⁹  for his own transgression (a dumb donkey, ⁶⁰  speaking with a human voice, ⁶¹  restrained the prophet’s madness). ⁶² 

2:17 These men ⁶³  are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm, for whom the utter depths of darkness ⁶⁴  have been reserved. 2:18 For by speaking high-sounding but empty words ⁶⁵  they are able to entice, ⁶⁶  with fleshly desires and with debauchery, ⁶⁷  people ⁶⁸  who have just escaped ⁶⁹  from those who reside in error. ⁷⁰  2:19 Although these false teachers promise ⁷¹  such people ⁷²  freedom, they themselves are enslaved to ⁷³  immorality. ⁷⁴  For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved. ⁷⁵  2:20 For if after they have escaped the filthy things ⁷⁶  of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, ⁷⁷  they ⁷⁸  again get entangled in them and succumb to them, ⁷⁹  their last state has become worse for them than their first. 2:21 For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. 2:22 They are illustrations of this true proverb: ⁸⁰  “A dog returns to its own vomit,” ⁸¹  and “A sow, after washing herself, ⁸²  wallows in the mire.” ⁸³ 

3:1 Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written ⁸⁴  you, in which ⁸⁵  I am trying to stir up ⁸⁶  your pure mind by way of reminder: 3:2 I want you to recall ⁸⁷  both ⁸⁸  the predictions ⁸⁹  foretold by the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles. ⁹⁰  3:3 Above all, understand this: ⁹¹  In the last days blatant scoffers ⁹²  will come, being propelled by their own evil urges ⁹³  3:4 and saying, ⁹⁴  “Where is his promised return? ⁹⁵  For ever since ⁹⁶  our ancestors ⁹⁷  died, ⁹⁸  all things have continued as they were ⁹⁹  from the beginning of creation.” 3:5 For they deliberately suppress this fact, ¹⁰⁰  that by the word of God ¹⁰¹  heavens existed long ago and an earth ¹⁰²  was formed out of water and by means of water. 3:6 Through these things ¹⁰³  the world existing at that time was destroyed when it was deluged with water. 3:7 But by the same word the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, by being kept for the day of judgment and destruction of the ungodly. ¹⁰⁴ 

3:8 Now, dear friends, do not let this one thing escape your notice, ¹⁰⁵  that a single day is like a thousand years with the Lord and a thousand years are like a single day. 3:9 The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, ¹⁰⁶  as some regard slowness, but is being patient toward you, because he does not wish ¹⁰⁷  for any ¹⁰⁸  to perish but for all to come to repentance. ¹⁰⁹  3:10 But the day of the Lord will come like a thief; when it comes, ¹¹⁰  the heavens will disappear ¹¹¹  with a horrific noise, ¹¹²  and the celestial bodies ¹¹³  will melt away ¹¹⁴  in a blaze, ¹¹⁵  and the earth and every deed done on it ¹¹⁶  will be laid bare. ¹¹⁷  3:11 Since all these things are to melt away ¹¹⁸  in this manner, ¹¹⁹  what sort of people must we ¹²⁰  be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, ¹²¹  3:12 while waiting for and hastening ¹²²  the coming of the day of God? ¹²³  Because of this day, ¹²⁴  the heavens will be burned up and ¹²⁵  dissolve, and the celestial bodies ¹²⁶  will melt away in a blaze! ¹²⁷  3:13 But, according to his promise, we are waiting for ¹²⁸  new heavens and a new earth, in which ¹²⁹  righteousness truly resides. ¹³⁰ 

3:14 Therefore, dear friends, since you are waiting for ¹³¹  these things, strive to be found ¹³²  at peace, without spot or blemish, when you come into his presence. ¹³³  3:15 And regard the patience of our Lord as salvation, ¹³⁴  just as also our dear brother Paul ¹³⁵  wrote to you, ¹³⁶  according to the wisdom given to him, 3:16 speaking of these things in all his letters. ¹³⁷  Some things in these letters ¹³⁸  are hard to understand, things ¹³⁹  the ignorant and unstable twist ¹⁴⁰  to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures. ¹⁴¹  3:17 Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, ¹⁴²  be on your guard that you do not get led astray by the error of these unprincipled men ¹⁴³  and fall from your firm grasp on the truth. ¹⁴⁴  3:18 But grow in the grace and knowledge ¹⁴⁵  of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on ¹⁴⁶  that eternal day. ¹⁴⁷