| Berean Study Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing 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 in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. | 2And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. |
| 3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, 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 did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for 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; |
| 5if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; | 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; |
| 6if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the 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 Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless | 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked |
| 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by 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); |
| 9if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on 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, |
| 10Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings. | 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, |
| 11Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord. | 11whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. |
| 12These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, 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, |
| 13The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception 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. |
| 14Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. | 14They have eyes full of adultery, insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! |
| 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. | 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 he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. | 16but was rebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. |
| 17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. | 17These are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. |
| 18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others 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, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. | 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. |
| 20If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at 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. |
| 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on 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. |
| 22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing 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.” |
| The Berean Bible (Berean Study Bible (BSB) © 2016, 2018 by Bible Hub and Berean.Bible. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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