2 Peter 2

False Teachers and Their Fate

1 There were fake prophets back in the day, and there will be fake teachers among you all. They will secretly bring destructive lies and deny the Lord who bought them.

2 A lot of folks will follow their reckless ways and disrespect God’s truth because of them.

3 In their greed, they will make up lies to hustle you. But their judgment is coming, and it will not wait.

4 If God did not spare the angels who sinned but locked them up in darkness,

5 and if He did not spare the old world but saved Noah and his fam during the flood,

6 and if He turned Sodom and Gomorrah into ash as an example,

7 but rescued righteous Lot, who was distressed by the wild living around him,

8 Because every day, his righteous soul was tormented by their mess,

9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly and punish the wicked when the time comes.

10 He especially has smoke for those who follow their flesh and disrespect authority. These folks are bold and arrogant.

11 Even angels do not bring reckless accusations against such folks in front of God.

12 But these people are like wild animals, they speak on what they do not understand and will perish like beasts.

13 They will get what they deserve. They wild out in the daytime, living for pleasure. They are stains and blemishes.

14 Their eyes are full of lust. They never stop sinning and bait unstable souls. They are greedy like Balaam, who loved getting paid but got checked by a donkey.

15 They have left the straight path and gone astray.

16 Balaam’s donkey spoke with a human voice and called him out for his madness.

17 These people are like dried-up springs and clouds pushed by storms. They are headed for utter darkness.

18 They talk big but are empty. They lure folks who just escaped sin back into it.

19 They promise freedom, but they are slaves to corruption. You are a slave to whatever controls you.

20 If someone escapes sin through Jesus but gets entangled again, they are worse off than before.

21 It would be better if they never knew the truth than to know it and turn away.

22 Like the saying goes: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and “A washed pig goes back to the mud.”