2 Peter 2:10-22

New King James Version

¹⁰ and especially ^(A)those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. ^(B)They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of ^[a]dignitaries, ¹¹ whereas ^(C)angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord.

Depravity of False Teachers

¹² But these, ^(D)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, ^13 (E)and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure ^(F)to ^[b]carouse in the daytime. ^(G)They are spots and blemishes, ^[c]carousing in their own deceptions while ^(H)they feast with you, ¹⁴ having eyes full of ^[d]adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. ^(I)They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. ¹⁵ They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of ^(J)Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man’s voice restrained the madness of the prophet.

^17 (K)These are wells without water, ^[e]clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness ^[f]forever.

Deceptions of False Teachers

¹⁸ For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who ^[g]have actually escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of ^[h]corruption; ^(L)for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into ^[i]bondage. ²⁰ For if, after they ^(M)have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are ^(N)again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. ²¹ For ^(O)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. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: ^(P)“A dog returns to his own vomit,” and, “a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire.”