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2 Peter 2

Holman Christian Standard Bible, 2009 (HCSB)

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¹ But there were also false prophets ⓐ among the people, just as there will be false teachers ⓑ among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought ⓒ them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.

² Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them. ⓓ

³ They will exploit ⓔ you in their greed ⓕ with deceptive words. Their condemnation, ⓖ pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.

⁴ For if God didn’t spare ⓗ the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus [1] ⓘ and delivered them to be kept in chains [2] of darkness until judgment; ⓙ

⁵ and if He didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, ⓚ a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, [3] ⓛ when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

⁶ and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah ⓜ to ashes and condemned them to ruin, [4] making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly; [5] ⓝ

⁷ and if He rescued righteous Lot, ⓞ distressed by the unrestrained behavior of the immoral

⁸ (for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard ⓟ) —

⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue ⓠ the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ⓡ

¹⁰ especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. ⓢ Bold, arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones;

¹¹ however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. [6]

¹² But these people, like irrational animals — creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed — speak blasphemies about things they don’t understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed,

¹³ suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions [7] as they feast with you.

¹⁴ They have eyes full of adultery ⓣ and are always looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse! ⓤ

¹⁵ They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path ⓥ and have followed the path of Balaam, ⓦ the son of Bosor, [8] who loved the wages of unrighteousness ⓧ

¹⁶ but received a rebuke for his transgression: A donkey that could not talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s irrationality. ⓨ

¹⁷ These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. ⓩ

¹⁸ For by uttering boastful, empty words, ⓐ they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped [9] from those who live in error.

¹⁹ They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. ⓑ

²⁰ For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, ⓒ they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first. ⓓ

²¹ For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness ⓔ than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command ⓕ delivered ⓖ to them. ⓗ

²² It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, ⓘ [10] and, “a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud.”

#	HCSB
1	But there were also false prophets ⓐ among the people, just as there will be false teachers ⓑ among you. They will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought ⓒ them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.
2	Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them. ⓓ
3	They will exploit ⓔ you in their greed ⓕ with deceptive words. Their condemnation, ⓖ pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep.
4	For if God didn’t spare ⓗ the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus [1] ⓘ and delivered them to be kept in chains [2] of darkness until judgment; ⓙ
5	and if He didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, ⓚ a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, [3] ⓛ when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;
6	and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah ⓜ to ashes and condemned them to ruin, [4] making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly; [5] ⓝ
7	and if He rescued righteous Lot, ⓞ distressed by the unrestrained behavior of the immoral
8	(for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard ⓟ) —
9	then the Lord knows how to rescue ⓠ the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ⓡ
10	especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. ⓢ Bold, arrogant people! They do not tremble when they blaspheme the glorious ones;
11	however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. [6]
12	But these people, like irrational animals — creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed — speak blasphemies about things they don’t understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed,
13	suffering harm as the payment for unrighteousness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions [7] as they feast with you.
14	They have eyes full of adultery ⓣ and are always looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse! ⓤ
15	They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path ⓥ and have followed the path of Balaam, ⓦ the son of Bosor, [8] who loved the wages of unrighteousness ⓧ
16	but received a rebuke for his transgression: A donkey that could not talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s irrationality. ⓨ
17	These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. ⓩ
18	For by uttering boastful, empty words, ⓐ they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped [9] from those who live in error.
19	They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. ⓑ
20	For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, ⓒ they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first. ⓓ
21	For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness ⓔ than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy command ⓕ delivered ⓖ to them. ⓗ
22	It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, ⓘ [10] and, “a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud.”

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