¹³ For such men are ^(A)false apostles, ^(B)deceitful workmen, ^(C)disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

^2 (A)“‘I know your works, your toil and your patient endurance, and how you cannot bear with those who are evil, but ^(B)have tested those ^(C)who call themselves apostles and are not, and found them to be false.

² Look out for ^(A)the dogs, look out for ^(B)the evildoers, look out for those who mutilate the flesh.

^7 (A)not that there is another one, but ^(B)there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, ^(A)do not believe every spirit, but ^(B)test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ^(C)many ^(D)false prophets ^(E)have gone out into the world.

^4 (A)Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who ^(B)slipped in to spy out ^(C)our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, ^(D)so that they might bring us into slavery—

³⁰ and ^(A)from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.

²⁰ And the beast was captured, and with it ^(A)the false prophet ^(B)who in its presence^[a] had done the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and those who ^(C)worshiped its image. These two were ^(D)thrown alive into the lake of ^(E)fire that burns with sulfur.

⁸ See to it that no one takes you captive by ^(A)philosophy and ^(B)empty deceit, according to ^(C)human tradition, according to the ^(D)elemental spirits^[a] of the world, and not according to Christ.