| New American Standard Bible 1995 | Christian Standard Bible |
| 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. | 1There were indeed false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves. |
| 2Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; | 2Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them. |
| 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. | 3They will exploit you in their greed with made-up stories. Their condemnation, pronounced long ago, is not idle, and their destruction does not sleep. |
| 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; | 4For if God didn't spare the angels who sinned but cast them into hell and delivered them in chains of utter darkness to be kept for judgment; |
| 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; | 5and if he didn't spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the 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; | 6and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes and condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly; |
| 7and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men | 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral |
| 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), | 8(for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)-- |
| 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, | 9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, |
| 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, | 10especially those who follow the polluting desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones; |
| 11whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. | 11however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord. |
| 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, | 12But these people, like irrational animals--creatures of instinct born to be caught and destroyed--slander what they do not understand, and in their destruction they too will be destroyed. |
| 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, | 13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, delighting in their deceptions while they feast with you. |
| 14having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; | 14They have eyes full of adultery that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse! |
| 15forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; | 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 wickedness |
| 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. | 16but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. |
| 17These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. | 17These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. |
| 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, | 18For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error. |
| 19promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. | 19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. |
| 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. | 20For if, having escaped the world's impurity through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 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." | 22It has happened to them according to the true proverb: A dog returns to its own vomit, and, "a washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud." |
| 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 | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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