1 But ^mfalse prophets also arose among the people, ⁿjust as there will be false teachers among you, who will ^osecretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master ^pwho bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of truth ^qwill be blasphemed. 3 And ^rin their greed they will exploit you ^swith false words. ^tTheir condemnation from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 For if God did not spare ^uangels when they sinned, but ^vcast them into hell¹ and committed them to chains² of gloomy darkness ^wto be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but ^xpreserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought ^ya flood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by ^zturning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, ^amaking them an example of ^bwhat is going to happen to the ungodly;³ 7 and ^cif he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, ^dhe was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then ^ethe Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,⁴ and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially ^fthose who indulge⁵ in the lust of defiling passion and ^gdespise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^gas they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 ^hwhereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 ⁱBut these, like irrational animals, ^jcreatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as ^kthe wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure ^lto revel in the daytime. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,⁶ while ^mthey feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery,^{7 n}insatiable for sin. They entice unsteady souls. They have hearts ^otrained in greed. ^pAccursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, ^qthey have gone astray. They have followed ^rthe way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved ^sgain from wrongdoing, 16 but was rebuked for his own transgression; ^ta speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17 ^uThese are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. ^vFor them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, ^wspeaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^xescaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them ^yfreedom, ^zbut they themselves are slaves⁸ of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, ^aafter they have escaped the defilements of the world ^bthrough the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^cthe last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 For ^dit would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from ^ethe holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: “The ^fdog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after washing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”

1 This is now the second letter that I am writing to you, beloved. In both of them ^gI am stirring up your sincere mind by way of reminder, 2 ^hthat you should remember the predictions of ⁱthe holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, 3 knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come ^jin the last days with scoffing, ^kfollowing their own sinful desires. 4 ^lThey will say, “Where is the promise of ^mhis coming? For ever since the fathers fell asleep, all things are continuing as they were from the beginning of creation.” 5 For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth ⁿwas formed out of water and through water ^oby the word of God, 6 and that by means of these the world that then existed ^pwas deluged with water and ^qperished. 7 But by the same word ^rthe heavens and earth that now exist are stored up for fire, being kept until the day of judgment and ^sdestruction of the ungodly.

8 But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and ^ta thousand years as one day. 9 ^uThe Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise ^vas some count slowness, but ^wis patient toward you,^{9 x}not wishing that any should perish, but ^ythat all should reach repentance. 10 But ^zthe day of the Lord will come like a thief, and then ^athe heavens will pass away with a roar, and ^bthe heavenly bodies¹⁰ will be burned up and dissolved, and the earth and the works that are done on it will be exposed.¹¹

11 Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, ^cwhat sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness, 12 ^dwaiting for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be set on fire and dissolved, and ^ethe heavenly bodies will melt as they burn! 13 But according to his promise we are waiting for ^fnew heavens and a new earth ^gin which righteousness dwells.

14 ^hTherefore, beloved, since you are waiting for these, be diligent to be found by him ⁱwithout spot or ^jblemish, and ^kat peace. 15 And count ^lthe patience of our Lord as salvation, just as ^mour beloved brother Paul also wrote to you ⁿaccording to the wisdom given him, 16 as he does in all his letters when he speaks in them of these matters. ^oThere are some things in them that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unstable twist to their own destruction, ^pas they do the other Scriptures. 17 You therefore, beloved, ^qknowing this beforehand, ^rtake care that you are not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose your own stability. 18 But ^sgrow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. ^tTo him be the glory both now and to the day of ^ueternity. Amen.