2 Peter 2 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

But there were also fake prophets among the people, just as there will be fake teachers among you. They'll sneak in destructive false ideas, even denying the Master who bought their freedom — bringing swift destruction on themselves.

And many will follow their reckless behavior, and because of them the way of truth will be slandered.

Driven by greed, they'll exploit you with made-up stories. But their judgment was pronounced long ago, and their destruction is not sleeping.

After all, God didn't spare angels when they failed him, but threw them into the darkest pit and locked them in chains of darkness, holding them for judgment.

And he didn't spare the ancient world either, but protected Noah — a voice for what's right — along with seven others, when he unleashed a flood on a world full of people who rejected God.

And he reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, condemning them to total destruction — making them an example of what's coming for those who reject God.

But he rescued Lot, a good man who was worn down by the reckless lifestyle of lawless people —

— because that good man, living among them day after day, was tortured in his soul by the lawless things he saw and heard.

So you can be sure: the Lord knows how to rescue people who are devoted to him from their trials, and how to hold those who do wrong under punishment until the day of judgment —

especially those who chase after corrupted desires of the body and despise authority. Bold and arrogant, they aren't afraid to disrespect powerful beings,

whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, don't bring slanderous accusations against them before the Lord.

But these people — like irrational animals, creatures of pure instinct born to be caught and killed — slander what they don't understand. They will be destroyed just like those animals,

suffering harm as the payback for the harm they've caused. They consider it pleasure to party in broad daylight. They are stains and defects, reveling in their deceptions while they feast with you.

Their eyes are full of adultery and they can never stop failing. They lure unstable people into their trap. Their hearts are trained in greed. They're people living under a curse.

They've abandoned the straight path and wandered off, following the path of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the paycheck for doing wrong.

But he was confronted for his own rebellion: a donkey that can't talk spoke with a human voice and stopped the prophet's insanity.

These people are dried-up springs and mist blown around by a storm. The deepest darkness is reserved for them.

Because by speaking arrogant nonsense, they use corrupted physical desires to lure back people who have barely escaped from those who live in error.

They promise them freedom, but they themselves are slaves to corruption — because you become a slave to whatever has mastered you.

Because if, after escaping the world's corruption through knowing our Lord and Rescuer Jesus the One, they get tangled up in it again and are overpowered, their situation at the end is worse than it was at the beginning.

It would have been better for them to have never known the way that's right with God than to know it and then turn their backs on the set-apart command passed down to them.

What happened to them proves the truth of the proverb: "A dog returns to its own vomit," and, "A pig that was washed goes right back to rolling in the mud."