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2 Peter 2
1599 Geneva Bible

2 1 He foretelleth them of false teachers, 13 whose wicked sleights and destruction he declareth. 12 He compareth them to bruit beasts, 17 and to wells without water, 20 because they seek to withdraw men from God to their old filthiness.

1 But [a]there were false prophets also among the [b]people, even as there shall be false teachers among you: which privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that hath bought them, and bring upon themselves swift damnation.

2 [c]And many shall follow their destructions, by whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.

3 [d]And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make [e]merchandise of you, [f]whose condemnation long since resteth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.

4 For if God spared not the (A)Angels that had sinned, but cast them down into [g]hell, and delivered them into [h]chains of darkness, to be kept unto damnation:

5 Neither hath spared the [i]old world, but saved (B)Noah the eighth person a [j]preacher of righteousness, and brought in the Flood upon the world of the ungodly,

6 And (C)turned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them and overthrew them, and made them an ensample unto them that after should live ungodly,

7 And delivered just Lot vexed with the uncleanly conversation of the wicked:

8 (For he being righteous, and dwelling among them, in [k]seeing and hearing, [l]vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds.)

9 The Lord [m]knoweth to deliver the godly out of tentation, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment under punishment:

10 [n]And chiefly them that walk after the flesh, in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government, which are bold, and stand in their own conceit, and fear not to speak evil of them that are in [o]dignity.

11 Whereas the Angels which are greater both in power and might, give not railing judgment against them before the Lord.

12 [p]But these as natural brute beasts, led with sensuality and [q]made to be taken, and destroyed, speak evil of those things which they know not, and shall perish through their own [r]corruption.

13 And shall receive the wages of unrighteousness, as they which count it pleasure daily to live deliciously. [s]Spots they are and blots, delighting themselves in their deceivings, [t]in feasting with you.

14 [u]Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease to sin, beguiling unstable souls, they have hearts exercised with covetousness, they are the children of curse:

15 Which forsaking the right way, have gone astray following the way of (D)Balaam, the son of Beor, which loved the wages of unrighteousness.

16 But he was rebuked for his iniquity: for the dumb beast speaking with man’s voice forbade the foolishness of the Prophet.

17 (E)[v]These are [w]wells without water, and clouds carried about with a tempest, to whom the [x]black darkness is reserved forever.

18 For in speaking [y]swelling words of vanity, they [z]beguile with wantonness through the lusts of the flesh them that were [aa]clean escaped from them which are wrapped in error,

19 Promising unto them liberty, and are themselves the (F)servants of corruption: for of whomsoever a man is overcome, even unto the same is he in bondage.

20 (G)[ab] For if they, after they have escaped from the filthiness of the world, through the acknowledging of the Lord, and of the Savior Jesus Christ, are yet tangled again therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

21 For it had been better for them not to have acknowledged the way of righteousness, than after they have acknowledged it, to turn from the holy commandment given unto them.

22 But it is come unto them according to the true proverb, (H)The dog is returned to his own vomit: and the sow that was washed, to the wallowing in the mire.

Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:1 As in times past there were two kinds of Prophets, the one true, the other false, so Peter fortelleth them that there shall be some true and some false teachers in the Church, insomuch that Christ himself shall be denied by some, who notwithstanding shall call him redeemer.
  2. 2 Peter 2:1 Under the Law, while the state and policy of the Jews was yet standing.
  3. 2 Peter 2:2 There shall not only be heresies, but also many followers of them.
  4. 2 Peter 2:3 Covetousness for the most part is a companion of heresy, and maketh merchandise even of souls.
  5. 2 Peter 2:3 They will abuse you, and sell you as they sell cattle in a Fair.
  6. 2 Peter 2:3 A comfort for the godly: God who cast the Angels that fell away from him headlong into the darkness of hell, at length to be judged, and who destroyed the old world with the flood, and preserved Noah the eight person, and who burned Sodom, and saved Lot, will deliver his elect from these errors, and will utterly destroy those unrighteous.
  7. 2 Peter 2:4 So the Greeks called the deep dungeon under the earth, which should be appointed to torment the souls of the wicked in.
  8. 2 Peter 2:4 Bound them with darkness as it were with chains: and by darkness, he meaneth that most miserable state of life, that is full of horror.
  9. 2 Peter 2:5 Which was before the Flood: not that God made a new world, but because the world seemed new.
  10. 2 Peter 2:5 For he ceased not for the space of an hundred and twenty years to warn the wicked both by word and deed, what wrath of God hanged over their heads.
  11. 2 Peter 2:8 Which way soever he looked and turned his ears.
  12. 2 Peter 2:8 He had a troubled soul, and being vehemently grieved, lived a painful life.
  13. 2 Peter 2:9 Hath been long practiced in saving and delivering the righteous.
  14. 2 Peter 2:10 He goeth to another sort of corrupt men, which notwithstanding are within the bosom of the Church, which are wickedly given, and do seditiously speak evil of the authority of Magistrates, (which the Angels themselves that minister before God, do not dispraise) A true and lively description of the Romish Clergy (as they call it.)
  15. 2 Peter 2:10 Princes and great men, be they never so high in authority.
  16. 2 Peter 2:12 A lively painting out of the same persons, wherein they are compared to beasts, which are made to snare themselves to destruction, while they give themselves to fill their bellies: For there is no greater ignorance than is in these men, although they most impudently find fault with those things which they know not: and it shall come to pass that they shall destroy themselves as beasts, with those pleasures wherewith they are delighted, and dishonor and defile the company of the godly.
  17. 2 Peter 2:12 Made to this end, to be a prey to others: so do these men willingly cast themselves into Satan’s snares.
  18. 2 Peter 2:12 Their own wicked manners shall bring them to destruction.
  19. 2 Peter 2:13 Or, little rocks.
  20. 2 Peter 2:13 When as by being amongst the Christians in the holy banquets which the Church keepeth, they would seem by that means to be true members of the Church, yet they are indeed but blots on the Church.
  21. 2 Peter 2:14 He condemneth those men, as showing even in their behavior and countenance an inmeasurable lust, as making merchandise of the souls of light persons, as men exercised in all the crafts of covetousness, to be short, as men that sell themselves for money to curse the Sons of God after Balaam’s example, whom the dumb beast reproved.
  22. 2 Peter 2:17 Another note whereby they may be well known what manner of men they are, because they have inwardly nothing but either utterly vain or very hurtful, although they make a show of some great goodness: but they shall not escape unpunished for it, because under pretence of false liberty, they draw men into most miserable slavery of sin.
  23. 2 Peter 2:17 Which boast of knowledge, and have nothing in them.
  24. 2 Peter 2:17 Most gross darkness.
  25. 2 Peter 2:18 They deceive men with vain and swelling words.
  26. 2 Peter 2:18 They take them as fishes are taken with the hook.
  27. 2 Peter 2:18 Unfeignedly and indeed clean departed from Idolatry.
  28. 2 Peter 2:20 It were better never to have known the way of righteousness, than to turn back from it to the old filthiness: and men that do so are compared to dogs and swine.
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2 Peter 2
New International Version

False Teachers and Their Destruction

2 But there were also false prophets(A) among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.(B) They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord(C) who bought them(D)—bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their depraved conduct(E) and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. 3 In their greed(F) these teachers will exploit you(G) with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

4 For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,(H) but sent them to hell,[a] putting them in chains of darkness[b] to be held for judgment;(I) 5 if he did not spare the ancient world(J) when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,(K) but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;(L) 6 if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,(M) and made them an example(N) of what is going to happen to the ungodly;(O) 7 and if he rescued Lot,(P) a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless(Q) 8 (for that righteous man,(R) living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— 9 if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials(S) and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.(T) 10 This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire(U) of the flesh[c] and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;(V) 11 yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from[d] the Lord.(W) 12 But these people blaspheme in matters they do not understand. They are like unreasoning animals, creatures of instinct, born only to be caught and destroyed, and like animals they too will perish.(X)

13 They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight.(Y) They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you.[e](Z) 14 With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce(AA) the unstable;(AB) they are experts in greed(AC)—an accursed brood!(AD) 15 They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam(AE) son of Bezer,[f] who loved the wages of wickedness. 16 But he was rebuked for his wrongdoing by a donkey—an animal without speech—who spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.(AF)

17 These people are springs without water(AG) and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.(AH) 18 For they mouth empty, boastful words(AI) and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping(AJ) from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.”(AK) 20 If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing(AL) our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ(AM) and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.(AN) 21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than to have known it and then to turn their backs on the sacred command that was passed on to them.(AO) 22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,”[g](AP) and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”

Footnotes

  1. 2 Peter 2:4 Greek Tartarus
  2. 2 Peter 2:4 Some manuscripts in gloomy dungeons
  3. 2 Peter 2:10 In contexts like this, the Greek word for flesh (sarx) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verse 18.
  4. 2 Peter 2:11 Many manuscripts beings in the presence of
  5. 2 Peter 2:13 Some manuscripts in their love feasts
  6. 2 Peter 2:15 Greek Bosor
  7. 2 Peter 2:22 Prov. 26:11
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Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.

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