2 Peter 2
New Catholic Bible
Warning against False Teachers[a]
Chapter 2
False Teachers Will Arise. 1 Just as there were false prophets who arose among the people, so there will be false teachers among you. They will introduce their disruptive views and even deny the very Master who redeemed them, thus bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will be seduced by their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be brought into disrepute. 3 In their greed they will exploit you with concocted stories.
The Condemnation of False Teachers. However, their condemnation has been hanging over them for a long time, and the destruction awaiting them does not slumber. 4 For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but he cast them into the dark abyss to be chained, where they are being held until the judgment.[b] 5 Nor did he spare the ancient world,[c] even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, one of eight, when he brought a flood upon the world with its godless people.
6 God also reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, thereby condemning them to total ruin and making them an example of what awaited the ungodly. 7 However, he rescued Lot, an upright man who was sickened by the licentiousness of the lawless society in which he lived 8 for that man was greatly tormented in his righteous soul by the crimes that he saw and about which he was told day after day.
9 Therefore, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials and to hold the wicked for punishment until the Day of Judgment. 10 Above all, he will punish those who succumb to the desires of their corrupt human nature and show no respect for authority.
The Ways of False Teachers. Bold and headstrong, they are not afraid to insult celestial beings, 11 whereas angels, despite their superior strength and power, do not bring slanderous accusations against such men in the Lord’s presence.[d] 12 These men are like wild beasts, mere creatures of instinct born to be caught and killed.
They pour abuse on things they do not understand, and in their corruption they also will be destroyed, 13 receiving the penalty[e] for doing wrong. They regard it as a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. While they share your table, they are ugly blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures.
14 They have eyes that are always on the trail of adultery, insatiable in their desire for sinful pursuits. They seduce unstable people, and their hearts are fixed on greed. Truly, they are an accursed brood.[f] 15 They have abandoned the straight path and have gone astray, following in the steps of Balaam, the son of Beor,[g] who loved to receive payment for wrongdoing. 16 However, he received a rebuke for his crime when a mute donkey spoke with a human voice and put a stop to the prophet’s madness.
17 Such people are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 They speak boastful words devoid of meaning, and by arousing licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who are just escaping from living in error.
19 They promise them freedom, although they themselves are slaves of depravity.[h] For people are slaves of whatever has mastered them. 20 If they have escaped the world’s defilements through coming to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then again become entangled and are overpowered, they are worse off in this latter state than they were before.
21 It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back and abandon the holy commandment that was handed on to them. 22 What happened to them manifests the truth of the proverbs:
“The dog returns to its own vomit,”[i]
and
“The washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
Footnotes
- 2 Peter 2:1 The portrait of the false teachers is drawn in living colors. They deny Christ and his salvation, disfigure the Gospel’s grand ideas about life, and seek their own profit and personal success. They “are not afraid to insult celestial beings” (v. 10)—either the angels or the evil powers whom they claim the right to judge although this right belongs to the Lord. The teachings of the Gnostics multiply theories about the heavenly beings. But these lofty speculations do not prevent them from being propagators of immorality; the author likens them to Balaam, who at this time had become the prototype of the false, venal, and corrupting teacher (see Num 22:2—24:25; Deut 23:5; Rev 2:14-15); all of their preaching focuses only on false freedom, enslavement, and degeneracy. Despite all this, these teachers of falsehood call themselves Christians.
The notice of their fate is severe. The author recalls the great chastisements of the past, the fall of the heavenly beings, the Flood, the unforgettable cursed cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the story of Balaam. These illustrations are taken from ancient Biblical accounts (see Gen 6:1-2; 6:5—8:22; 19:1-29; Num 22:2—24:25).
Above all, the author wishes to exhort the believers to stand firm in their faith so that they will be spared on the day of judgment, as were Noah and Lot. Once in a while people have need of such efficacious admonition in order to take stock of their spiritual life. - 2 Peter 2:4 The Bible gives no details on the sin of the angels. The dark abyss or Tartus: the term used by the Greeks for the place where the most wicked spirits were imprisoned.
- 2 Peter 2:5 The ancient world: the world before the Flood.
- 2 Peter 2:11 In the Lord’s presence: some manuscripts have: “from the Lord.”
- 2 Peter 2:13 Receiving the penalty: some manuscripts have: “receiving a reward.” In their pleasures: some manuscripts have: “in their love feasts.”
- 2 Peter 2:14 Accursed brood: literally, “children of a curse.”
- 2 Peter 2:15 Balaam, the son of Beor: see Num 22–24. Even though God had forbidden Balaam to curse Israel, Balaam was intent on doing it because he wanted the money he had been promised by Balak. In the same way, the false teachers wanted to extract money from those who listened to them.
- 2 Peter 2:19 Freedom . . . depravity: the “scoffers” use “freedom” to divest themselves of the moral law. But it is faith in Christ that leads to good behavior and true freedom (see Rom 6:15; Jas 1:25; 1 Pet 2:16).
- 2 Peter 2:22 The dog . . . vomit: see Prov 26:11. The washed . . . mud: its source is unknown. The dog that returns to its own vomit and the sow that is washed portray people who have made a religious profession or outward change without an inner change that affects their nature. They soon return to their true nature.
