2 Peter 2:1–10

False Teachers and Their Destruction

2But there were also false prophets^s among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you.^t They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord^u who bought them^v—bringing swift destruction on themselves. ²Many will follow their depraved conduct^w and will bring the way of truth into disrepute. ³In their greed^x these teachers will exploit you^y with fabricated stories. Their condemnation has long been hanging over them, and their destruction has not been sleeping.

⁴For if God did not spare angels when they sinned,^z but sent them to hell,^a putting them in chains of darkness^b to be held for judgment;^{a 5}if he did not spare the ancient world^b when he brought the flood on its ungodly people,^c but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others;^{d 6}if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes,^e and made them an example^f of what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{g 7}and if he rescued Lot,^h a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless^{i 8}(for that righteous man,^j living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard)—⁹if this is so, then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials^k and to hold the unrighteous for punishment on the day of judgment.^{l 10}This is especially true of those who follow the corrupt desire^m of the flesh^c and despise authority.

Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to heap abuse on celestial beings;ⁿ