^2:18For by speaking high-sounding but empty words⁶⁵ they are able to entice,⁶⁶ with fleshly desires and with debauchery,⁶⁷ people⁶⁸ who have just escaped⁶⁹ from those who reside in error.⁷⁰^2:19Although these false teachers promise⁷¹ such people⁷² freedom, they themselves are enslaved to⁷³ immorality.⁷⁴ For whatever a person succumbs to, to that he is enslaved.⁷⁵^2:20For if after they have escaped the filthy things⁷⁶ of the world through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,⁷⁷ they⁷⁸ again get entangled in them and succumb to them,⁷⁹ their last state has become worse for them than their first.

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Footnotes

65 Grk “high-sounding words of futility.”
66 Grk “they entice.”
67 Grk “with the lusts of the flesh, with debauchery.”
68 Grk “those.”
69 Or “those who are barely escaping.”
70 Or “deceit.”
71 Verse 19 is a subordinate clause in Greek. The masculine nominative participle “promising” (ἐπαγγελλόμενοι, epangellomenoi) refers back to the subject of vv. 17–18. At the same time, it functions subordinately to the following participle, ὑπάρχοντες (huparchontes, “while being”).
72 Grk “them.”
73 Grk “slaves of.” See the note on the word “slave” in .
74 Or “corruption,” “depravity.” Verse 19 constitutes a subordinate clause to v. 18 in Greek. The main verbal components of these two verses are: “uttering … they entice … promising … being (enslaved).” The main verb is (they) entice. The three participles are adverbial and seem to indicate an instrumental relation (by uttering), a concessive relation (although promising), and a temporal relation (while being [enslaved]). For the sake of English usage, in the translation of the text this is broken down into two sentences.
75 Grk “for by what someone is overcome, to this he is enslaved.”
76 Grk “defilements”; “contaminations”; “pollutions.”
77 Through the rich knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. The implication is not that these people necessarily knew the Lord (in the sense of being saved), but that they were in the circle of those who had embraced Christ as Lord and Savior.
78 Grk “(and/but) they.”
79 Grk “they again, after becoming entangled in them, are overcome by them.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

For, speaking loud boasts of folly, they entice by sensual passions of the flesh those who are barely escaping from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption. For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved. 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, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

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. They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity—for “people are slaves to whatever has mastered them.” 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.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

For by uttering boastful, empty words, they seduce, with fleshly desires and debauchery, people who have barely escaped from those who live in error. They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves of corruption, since people are enslaved to whatever defeats them. For if, having escaped the world’s impurity through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in these things and defeated, the last state is worse for them than the first.

NLTNew Living Translation

They brag about themselves with empty, foolish boasting. With an appeal to twisted sexual desires, they lure back into sin those who have barely escaped from a lifestyle of deception. They promise freedom, but they themselves are slaves of sin and corruption. For you are a slave to whatever controls you. And when people escape from the wickedness of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then get tangled up and enslaved by sin again, they are worse off than before.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

For by speaking high-sounding but empty words, they entice with desires of the flesh and with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error, promising them freedom although they themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also enslaved. For if, after they have escaped from the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in these things and succumb to them, the last state has become worse for them than the first.

KJV 1900King James Version

For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.

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