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<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd"><html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /><meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1" /><title>2 Peter 2 NIV</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="/chapnew2.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="../spec.css" type="text/css" media="Screen" /><link rel="stylesheet" href="/print.css" type="text/css" media="Print" /></head><body><div id="fx"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx2"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="30" scrolling="no" src="../cmenus/2_peter/2.htm" align="left" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div><div id="blnk"></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable"><tr><td><div id="fx5"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" id="fx6"><tr><td><iframe width="100%" height="245" scrolling="no" src="../topmenuchap/2_peter/2-1.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" class="maintable3"><tr><td><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center" id="announce"><tr><td><div id="l1"><div id="breadcrumbs"><a href="http://biblehub.com">Bible</a> > <a href="../">NIV</a> > 2 Peter 2</div><div id="anc"><iframe src="/anc.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></div><div id="anc2"><table width="100%" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><iframe src="/anc2.htm" width="100%" height="27" scrolling="no" frameborder="0"></iframe></td></tr></table></div></div></td></tr></table><div id="movebox2"><table border="0" align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0"><tr><td><div id="topheading"><a href="../2_peter/1.htm" title="2 Peter 1">◄</a> 2 Peter 2 <a href="../2_peter/3.htm" title="2 Peter 3">►</a></div></td></tr></table></div><div align="center" class="maintable2"><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="center"><tr><td><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="vheading"><table width="100%"><tr><td width="99%" valign="top">New International Version</td><td width="1%" valign="top"><a href="/p/niv/esv/2_peter/2.shtml" style="color:#001320" title="Parallel Chapters"> Par ▾ </a></tr></table></div><div class="chap"><p class="sectionhead">False Teachers and Their Destruction</p><p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-1.htm"><b>1</b></a></span>But 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 sovereign Lord who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-2.htm"><b>2</b></a></span>Many will follow their depraved conduct and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-3.htm"><b>3</b></a></span>In their greed these teachers will exploit you with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-4.htm"><b>4</b></a></span>For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them to hell, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Greek Tartarus">a</a></sup></span> putting them in chains of darkness <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some manuscripts in gloomy dungeons">b</a></sup></span> to be held for judgment; <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-5.htm"><b>5</b></a></span>if he did not spare the ancient world when he brought the flood on its ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others; <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-6.htm"><b>6</b></a></span>if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes, and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly; <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-7.htm"><b>7</b></a></span>and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-8.htm"><b>8</b></a></span>(for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)— <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-9.htm"><b>9</b></a></span>if 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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-10.htm"><b>10</b></a></span>This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire of the flesh <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="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.">c</a></sup></span> and despise authority.</p><p class="reg">Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings; <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-11.htm"><b>11</b></a></span>yet even angels, although they are stronger and more powerful, do not heap abuse on such beings when bringing judgment on them from <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Many manuscripts beings in the presence of">d</a></sup></span> the Lord. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-12.htm"><b>12</b></a></span>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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-13.htm"><b>13</b></a></span>They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures while they feast with you. <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Some manuscripts in their love feasts">e</a></sup></span> <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-14.htm"><b>14</b></a></span>With eyes full of adultery, they never stop sinning; they seduce the unstable; they are experts in greed—an accursed brood! <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-15.htm"><b>15</b></a></span>They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Bezer, <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Greek Bosor">f</a></sup></span> who loved the wages of wickedness. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-16.htm"><b>16</b></a></span>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.</p> <p class="reg"><span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-17.htm"><b>17</b></a></span>These people are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-18.htm"><b>18</b></a></span>For they mouth empty, boastful words and, by appealing to the lustful desires of the flesh, they entice people who are just escaping from those who live in error. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-19.htm"><b>19</b></a></span>They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-20.htm"><b>20</b></a></span>If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-21.htm"><b>21</b></a></span>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. <span class="reftext"><a href="http://biblehub.com/2_peter/2-22.htm"><b>22</b></a></span>Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” <span class="nivfootnote"><sup><a href="#footnotes" title="Prov. 26:11">g</a></sup></span> and, “A sow that is washed returns to her wallowing in the mud.”</p><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"><span class="mainfootnotes"><A name="footnotes"></a><span class="mainfootnoteshdg">Footnotes:</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">a</span> <span class="fnverse">4</span> <span class="footnotebot">Greek <i>Tartarus</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">b</span> <span class="fnverse">4</span> <span class="footnotebot">Some manuscripts <i>in gloomy dungeons</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">c</span> <span class="fnverse">10</span> <span class="footnotebot">In contexts like this, the Greek word for <i>flesh</i> (<i>sarx</i>) refers to the sinful state of human beings, often presented as a power in opposition to the Spirit; also in verse 18.</span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">d</span> <span class="fnverse">11</span> <span class="footnotebot">Many manuscripts <i>beings in the presence of</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">e</span> <span class="fnverse">13</span> <span class="footnotebot">Some manuscripts <i>in their love feasts</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">f</span> <span class="fnverse">15</span> <span class="footnotebot">Greek <i>Bosor</i></span><br><span class="nivfootnotesbot">g</span> <span class="fnverse">22</span> <span class="footnotebot">Prov. 26:11</span><br><hr size="1" color="DDEEFF"></div></div><div id="botbox"><div class="padbot"><div align="center"><p class="ntext"><a href="http://niv.scripturetext.com/version.htm">New International Version</a> (NIV)</p><p class="ntext2">Holy Bible, New International Version&reg, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by <a href="http://biblica.com">Biblica, Inc.</a>® Used by permission. 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