| New King James Version | New American Standard Bible 1995 |
| 1But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. | 1But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will also be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction upon themselves. |
| 2And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. | 2Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; |
| 3By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. | 3and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. |
| 4For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; | 4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; |
| 5and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; | 5and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; |
| 6and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; | 6and if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; |
| 7and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked | 7and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men |
| 8(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— | 8(for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), |
| 9then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, | 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, |
| 10and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, | 10and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they do not tremble when they revile angelic majesties, |
| 11whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. | 11whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. |
| 12But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, | 12But these, like unreasoning animals, born as creatures of instinct to be captured and killed, reviling where they have no knowledge, will in the destruction of those creatures also be destroyed, |
| 13and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, | 13suffering wrong as the wages of doing wrong. They count it a pleasure to revel in the daytime. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions, as they carouse with you, |
| 14having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. | 14having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; |
| 15They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; | 15forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; |
| 16but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. | 16but he received a rebuke for his own transgression, for a mute donkey, speaking with a voice of a man, restrained the madness of the prophet. |
| 17These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. | 17These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. |
| 18For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. | 18For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, |
| 19While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. | 19promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. |
| 20For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. | 20For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world by the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and are 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 having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. | 21For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn away from the holy commandment handed on to them. |
| 22But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” | 22It has happened to them according to the true proverb, "A DOG RETURNS TO ITS OWN VOMIT," and, "A sow, after washing, returns to wallowing in the mire." |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org |
|
