| New King James Version | Berean Study Bible |
| 1But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. | 1Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. |
| 2And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. | 2Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed. |
| 3By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. | 3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep. |
| 4For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; | 4For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them deep into hell, placing them in chains of darkness to be held for judgment; |
| 5and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; | 5if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight; |
| 6and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; | 6if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes as an example of what is coming on the ungodly; |
| 7and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked | 7and if He rescued Lot, a righteous man distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless |
| 8(for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)— | 8(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— |
| 9then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, | 9if all this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment. |
| 10and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, | 10Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings. |
| 11whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. | 11Yet not even angels, though greater in strength and power, dare to bring such slanderous charges against them before the Lord. |
| 12But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, | 12These men are like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be captured and destroyed. They blaspheme in matters they do not understand, and like such creatures, they too will be destroyed. |
| 13and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, | 13The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you. |
| 14having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. | 14Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed. |
| 15They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; | 15They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness. |
| 16but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet. | 16But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness. |
| 17These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. | 17These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. |
| 18For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. | 18With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error. |
| 19While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. | 19They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him. |
| 20For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. | 20If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first. |
| 21For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. | 21It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them. |
| 22But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: “A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.” | 22Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.” |
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