| Holman Christian Standard Bible | International 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. | 1Now there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. |
| 2Many will follow their unrestrained ways, and the way of truth will be blasphemed because of them. | 2Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned. |
| 3They will exploit you in their greed with deceptive words. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep. | 3In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed. |
| 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 threw them into the lowest hell and imprisoned them in chains of deepest darkness, holding them for 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; | 5and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a righteous preacher, along with seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people; |
| 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; | 6and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them; |
| 7and if He rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the unrestrained behavior of the immoral | 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was greatly distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people— |
| 8(for as he lived among them, that righteous man tormented himself day by day with the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- | 8for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions— |
| 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 godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on 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; | 10especially those who satisfy their flesh by indulging in its passions and who despise authority. Being bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to slander glorious beings. |
| 11however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. | 11Yet even angels, although they are greater in strength and power, do not bring a slanderous accusation against them from 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, | 12These people, like irrational animals, are mere creatures of instinct that are born to be caught and killed. They insult what they don't understand, and like animals they, too, will be destroyed, |
| 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 harm as punishment for their wrongdoing. They take pleasure in wild parties in broad daylight. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures while they eat 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! | 14With eyes full of adultery, they cannot get enough of sin. They seduce unsteady souls and have had their hearts expertly trained in greed. They are doomed to a curse. |
| 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 | 15They have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Bosor's son Balaam, who loved the reward he got for doing wrong. |
| 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 he was rebuked for his offense. A donkey that normally cannot talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's insanity. |
| 17These people are springs without water, mists driven by a whirlwind. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. | 17These men are dried-up springs, mere clouds driven by a storm. Gloomy darkness is reserved for them. |
| 18For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error. | 18By talking high-sounding nonsense and using sinful cravings of the flesh, they entice people who have just escaped 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. | 19Promising them freedom, they themselves are slaves to depravity, for a person is a slave to whatever conquers him. |
| 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 escaping the world's corruptions through a full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah, they are again entangled and conquered by those corruptions, then their last condition is worse than their former one. |
| 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. | 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed 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." | 22The proverb is true that describes what has happened to them: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud." |
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