1But there were also false prophets among the people, as indeed there will be false teachers among you, who will stealthily introduce destructive heresies, personally denying the Lord who bought them, and bringing swift destruction upon themselves. 2And many people will follow as authoritative their destructive ways; and because of them, the way of the truth will be blasphemed. 3Also, through insatiable greed they will with enticing messages exploit you for gain; for whom the judgment of old is in full force, and their destruction is ever watching.

4For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but, having cast them into Tartarus, delivered them into chains of darkness to be kept for the judgment; 5And if God did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, the eighth, a preacher of righteousness, when He brought the Flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6And having reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemned them with a catastrophic destruction, making them an example for those who would be ungodly in the future;

7And if He personally rescued righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the lawless ones living in licentious conduct; 8(For that righteous man, dwelling among them, through seeing and hearing their lawless activities, was tormented day by day in his righteous soul;) 9The Lord knows how to rescue the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unrighteous to the day of judgment to be punished;

10But particularly those who walk after the flesh in corrupting lust, and hold in utter contempt the lordship of God. They are audacious and self-willed. They are not afraid to blaspheme the divine powers 11Whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring a railing condemnation against them before the Lord. 12But these--as irrational brute beasts, born to be caught and destroyed-- blaspheme those things of which they are ignorant, and shall be utterly destroyed in their own corruption. 13They are bringing upon themselves the reward of unrighteousness, while finding pleasure in satisfying their lustful desires day by day. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their own deceptions, while feasting together with you. 14Having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, they are engaged in seducing unstable souls, having a heart trained in lustful cravings--cursed children 15Who have abandoned the straight way. They have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the reward of wickedness. 16But he received a rebuke for his own transgression; the dumb donkey, speaking in a man's voice, restrained the madness of the prophet.

17These false prophets are fountains without water, clouds driven by a storm, for whom is reserved the blackest of darkness forever. 18For they speak bombastic words of vanity, enticing others through the lusts of the flesh by granting indulgences to sin, and ensnaring those who had indeed escaped from those who live in deception. 19While promising them freedom, they themselves are actually slaves of corruption because by whatever anyone is overcome, he is also held in bondage. 20For if, after escaping the moral defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled in them, and are overcome, the final end is worse than the beginning. 21For 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 commandment that was delivered to them. 22But the pronouncement found in the true proverb has happened to them: The dog has returned to eat his own vomit; and the sow that was washed has returned to her wallowing place in the filthy mire.