| New King James Version | Christian Standard Bible |
| 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. | 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. |
| 2And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. | 2Many will follow their depraved ways, and the way of truth will be maligned because of them. |
| 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. | 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 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 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 saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on 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 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 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 delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked | 7and if he rescued righteous Lot, distressed by the depraved behavior of the immoral |
| 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 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 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 trials 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, | 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 power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation 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 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 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. |
| 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, | 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 and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are 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! |
| 15They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following 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 was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice 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 wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. | 17These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them. |
| 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 by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those 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. | 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 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, 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 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 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. |
| 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 washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud." |
| The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. | The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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