The Judgment of False Teachers
1There were indeed false prophets2:1 Dt 13:1–5; Mt 7:15 among the people, just as there will be false teachers2:1 Ac 20:29; 2Co 11:13–15; Gl 2:4; 1Tm 4:1; 2Tm 4:3 among you. They will bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought2:1 1Co 6:20; 7:23 them, and will bring swift destruction on themselves.
4For if God didn’t spare2:4 Rm 8:32; Jd 6 the angels who sinned but cast them into hell2:4 Gk Tartarus2:4 Rv 20:2–3,10 and delivered them in chains2:4 Other mss read in pits of utter darkness to be kept for judgment;2:4 Mt 25:41
5and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah,2:5 Gn 5:29 a preacher of righteousness, and seven others,2:5 Lit Noah, the eighth, a preacher of righteousness2:5 1Pt 3:20 when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;
6and if he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah2:6 Gn 19:24; Jd 7 to ashes and condemned them to extinction,2:6 Other mss omit to extinction making them an example of what is coming to the ungodly;2:6 Is 1:9; Jd 15
8(for as that righteous man lived among them day by day, his righteous soul was tormented by the lawless deeds he saw and heard2:8 Ps 119:136,158; Ezk 9:4) —
Bold, arrogant people! They are not afraid to slander the glorious ones;
11however, angels, who are greater in might and power, do not bring a slanderous charge against them before the Lord.2:11 Other mss read them from the Lord
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.
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 deceptions2:13 Other mss read delighting in the love feasts while they feast with you.
14They have eyes full of adultery2:14 Mt 5:27–28 that never stop looking for sin. They seduce unstable people and have hearts trained in greed. Children under a curse!2:14 Jr 23:14; Hs 4:2; Eph 2:3; Heb 2:13
15They have gone astray by abandoning the straight path2:15 Ac 13:10 and have followed the path of Balaam,2:15 Nm 22:5–7; Dt 23:4; Neh 13:2; Jd 11; Rv 2:14 the son of Bosor,2:15 Other mss read Beor who loved the wages of wickedness2:15 Hs 9:1; Mc 1:7; Ac 1:18
16but received a rebuke for his lawlessness: A speechless donkey spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.2:16 Nm 22:22–35
17These people are springs without water, mists driven by a storm. The gloom of darkness has been reserved for them.2:17 Jd 13
18For by uttering boastful, empty words,2:18 Jd 16 they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped2:18 Or people who are actually escaping from those who live in error.
19They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them.2:19 Jn 8:34; Rm 6:16; 7:5
20For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord2:20 Other mss read our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,2:20 2Pt 1:2 they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.2:20 Mt 12:45; Lk 11:26
Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Christian Standard
Bible®, and CSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.
