1 B ut 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.

But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction.

2 M any will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned;

Many will follow their immoral ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned.

3 a nd in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber.

4 F or if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment;

For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus, and committed them to pits of darkness, to be reserved for judgment;

5 a nd 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;

and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

6 a nd 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;

and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly;

7 a nd if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men

and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked

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),

(for that righteous man dwelling among them, was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds):

9 t hen the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment,

the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment;

10 a nd 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,

but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries;

11 w hereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord.

whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord.

12 B ut 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,

But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed,

13 s uffering 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,

receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;

14 h aving eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children;

having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing;

15 f orsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;

forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;

16 b ut 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.

but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet.

17 T hese are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved.

These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.

18 F or speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error,

For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error;

19 p romising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.

promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

20 F or 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.

For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

21 F or 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.

For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them.

22 I t 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.”

But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,” and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”