New American Standard Bible 1995 | International Standard Version |
1But 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. | 1Now there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. |
2Many will follow their sensuality, and because of them the way of the truth will be maligned; | 2Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned. |
3and in their greed they will exploit you with false words; their judgment from long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. | 3In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed. |
4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment; | 4For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into the lowest hell and imprisoned them in chains of deepest darkness, holding them for judgment; |
5and 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; | 5and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a righteous preacher, along with seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people; |
6and 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; | 6and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them; |
7and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men | 7and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was greatly distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people— |
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), | 8for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions— |
9then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, | 9then the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on the day of judgment, |
10and 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, | 10especially those who satisfy their flesh by indulging in its passions and who despise authority. Being bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to slander glorious beings. |
11whereas angels who are greater in might and power do not bring a reviling judgment against them before the Lord. | 11Yet even angels, although they are greater in strength and power, do not bring a slanderous accusation against them from the Lord. |
12But 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, | 12These people, like irrational animals, are mere creatures of instinct that are born to be caught and killed. They insult what they don't understand, and like animals they, too, will be destroyed, |
13suffering 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, | 13suffering harm as punishment for their wrongdoing. They take pleasure in wild parties in broad daylight. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures while they eat with you. |
14having eyes full of adultery that never cease from sin, enticing unstable souls, having a heart trained in greed, accursed children; | 14With eyes full of adultery, they cannot get enough of sin. They seduce unsteady souls and have had their hearts expertly trained in greed. They are doomed to a curse. |
15forsaking the right way, they have gone astray, having followed the way of Balaam, the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; | 15They have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Bosor's son Balaam, who loved the reward he got for doing wrong. |
16but 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. | 16But he was rebuked for his offense. A donkey that normally cannot talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's insanity. |
17These are springs without water and mists driven by a storm, for whom the black darkness has been reserved. | 17These men are dried-up springs, mere clouds driven by a storm. Gloomy darkness is reserved for them. |
18For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, | 18By talking high-sounding nonsense and using sinful cravings of the flesh, they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. |
19promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved. | 19Promising them freedom, they themselves are slaves to depravity, for a person is a slave to whatever conquers him. |
20For 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. | 20For if, after escaping the world's corruptions through a full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah, they are again entangled and conquered by those corruptions, then their last condition is worse than their former one. |
21For 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. | 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them. |
22It 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." | 22The proverb is true that describes what has happened to them: "A dog returns to its vomit," and "A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud." |
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org | The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. |
|