| Holman Christian Standard Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1But 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. | 1But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. |
| 2Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them. | 2And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. |
| 3They will exploit you in their greed with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep. | 3And in their greed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. |
| 4For if God didn't spare the angels who sinned but threw them down into Tartarus and delivered them to be kept in chains of darkness until judgment; | 4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; |
| 5and if He didn't spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when He brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; | 5if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; |
| 6and if He reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to ruin, making them an example to those who were going to be ungodly; | 6if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; |
| 7and if He rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the unrestrained behavior of the immoral | 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked |
| 8(for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- | 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); |
| 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, | 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, |
| 10especially 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; | 10and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, |
| 11however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. | 11whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. |
| 12But 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, | 12But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, |
| 13suffering 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 as they feast with you. | 13suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, while they feast with you. |
| 14They 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! | 14They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! |
| 15They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path and have followed the path of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness | 15Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved gain from wrongdoing, |
| 16but received a rebuke for his transgression: A donkey that could not talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's irrationality. | 16but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. |
| 17These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. | 17These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. |
| 18For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error. | 18For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. |
| 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. | 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. |
| 20For 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. | 20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. |
| 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 command delivered to them. | 21For it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. |
| 22It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, "a sow, after washing itself, wallows in the mud." | 22What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.” |
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