2 And many will follow their ^osensuality, and because of them the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3 And in their ^pgreed they will exploit you with false words. Their condemnation ^qfrom long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep.

4 ^rFor if ^sGod did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell¹ and committed them to chains² of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment; 5 if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, ^twhen he brought a ^uflood upon the world of the ungodly; 6 if by ^vturning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, making them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly;³ 7 and if he ^wrescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the ^xsensual conduct of the wicked 8 (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); 9 then the Lord knows how to ^yrescue the godly from trials,⁴ and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who indulge⁵ in the lust of defiling passion and ^zdespise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, 11 ^awhereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. 12 ^bBut these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, ^cblaspheming about ^dmatters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction, 13 suffering wrong as the wage for their wrongdoing. They count it pleasure to revel in the daytime. ^eThey are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deceptions,⁶ while they feast with you. 14 They have eyes full of adultery,⁷ insatiable for sin. They entice ^funsteady souls. They have hearts trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Forsaking the right way, they have gone astray. They have followed ^gthe way of ^hBalaam, the son of Beor, who loved ⁱgain from wrongdoing, 16 but was ^jrebuked for his own transgression; a speechless donkey spoke with human voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

17 These are ^kwaterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved. 18 For, ^lspeaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely ^mescaping from those who live in error. 19 They promise them freedom, but they themselves are ⁿslaves⁸ of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, ^othe last state has become worse for them than the first. 21 ^pFor it would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 What the true proverb says has happened to them: ^q“The dog returns to its own vomit, and the sow, after ^rwashing herself, returns to wallow in the mire.”