1 BUT there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction.
2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of.
3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not.
4 For if God spared not the angels that sinned, but cast them down to hell, and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved unto judgment;
5 And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;
6 And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;
7 And delivered just Lot, vexed with the filthy conversation of the wicked:
8 (For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, vexed his righteous soul from day to day with their unlawful deeds;)
9 The Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptations, and to reserve the unjust unto the day of judgment to be punished:
10 But chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of uncleanness, and despise government. Presumptuous are they, selfwilled, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignities.
11 Whereas angels, which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.
12 But these, as natural brute beasts, made to be taken and destroyed, speak evil of the things that they understand not; and shall utterly perish in their own corruption;
13 And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.
17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever.
18 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.
19 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.
20 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.
21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

22 But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.

1But there were false prophets also among the people, euen as there shall bee false teachers among you, who priuily shall bring in damnable heresies, euen denying the Lord that bought them, and bring vpon themselues swift destruction.

2And many shall follow their pernicious wayes, by reason of whom the way of trueth shall be euill spoken of:

3And through couetousnesse shall they with fained words, make marchandise of you, whose iudgement now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbreth not.

4For if God spared not the Angels that sinned, but cast them downe to hell, and deliuered them into chaines of darkenesse, to be reserued vnto iudgment:

5And spared not the old world, but saued Noah the eight person a preacher of righteousnesse, bringing in the flood vpon the world of the vngodly:

6And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes, condemned them with an ouerthrowe, making them an ensample vnto those that after should liue vngodly:

7And deliuered iust Lot, vexed with the filthy conuersation of the wicked:

8(For that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing & hearing, vexed his righteous soule from day to day, with their vnlawfull deeds.)

9The Lord knoweth how to deliuer the godly out of temptations, and to reserue the vniust vnto the day of iudgement to be punished:

10But chiefly them that walke after the flesh in the lust of vncleannesse, and despise gouernment. Presumptuous are they; selfe willed: they are not afraid to speake euill of dignities:

11Whereas Angels which are greater in power and might, bring not railing accusation against them before the Lord.

12But these, as natural bruit beasts made to bee taken and destroyed speake euill of the things that they vnderstand not, and shall vtterly perish in their owne corruption,

13And shall receiue the reward of vnrighteousnesse, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time: Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselues with their owne deceiuings, while they feast with you:

14Hauing eyes ful of adulterie and that cannot cease from sinne, beguiling vnstable soules: an heart they haue exercised with couetous practises: cursed children:

15Which haue forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the sonne of Bosor, who loued the wages of vnrighteousnesse,

16But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumbe asse speaking with mais voice, forbade the madnesse of the Prophet.

17These are welles without water, cloudes that are caried with a tempest, to whom the mist of darkenesse is reserued for euer.

18For when they speake great svelling words of vanitie, they alure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonnesse, those that were cleane escaped from them who liue in errour.

19While they promise them libertie, they themselues are the seruants of corruption: for of whom a man is ouercome, of the same is he brought in bondage.

20For if after they haue escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Sauiour Iesus Christ, they are againe intangled therein, and ouercome, the latter end is worse with them then the beginning.

21For it had bin better for them not to haue knowen the way of righteousnesse, then after they haue knowen it, to turne from the holy commandement deliuered vnto them.

22But it is happened vnto them according to the true prouerbe: The dog is turned to his own vomit againe, and the sowe that was washed, to her wallowing in the mire.

 

1 There were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who ransomed them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. 2 Many will follow their licentious ways, and because of them the way of truth will be reviled. 3 In their greed they will exploit you with fabrications, but from of old their condemnation has not been idle and their destructiondoes not sleep. 4 For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but condemned them to the chains of Tartarus and handed them over to be kept for judgment; 5 and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, together with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the godless world; 6 and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah (to destruction), reducing them to ashes, making them an example for the godless (people) of what is coming; 7 and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man oppressed by the licentious conduct of unprincipled people 8 (for day after day that righteous man living among them was tormented in his righteous soul at the lawless deeds that he saw and heard), 9 then the Lord knows how to rescue the devout from trial and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who follow the flesh with its depraved desire and show contempt for lordship. Bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to revile glorious beings, 11 whereas angels, despite their superior strength and power, do not bring a reviling judgment against them from the Lord. 12 But these people, like irrational animals born by nature for capture and destruction, revile things that they do not understand, and in their destruction they will also be destroyed, 13 suffering wrong as payment for wrongdoing. Thinking daytime revelry a delight, they are stains and defilements as they revel in their deceits while carousing with you. 14 Their eyes are full of adultery and insatiable for sin. They seduce unstable people, and their hearts are trained in greed. Accursed children! 15 Abandoning the straight road, they have gone astray, following the road of Balaam, the son of Bosor, who loved payment for wrongdoing, 16 but he received a rebuke for his own crime: a mute beast spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet's madness. 17 These people are waterless springs and mists driven by a gale; for them the gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 For, talking empty bombast, they seduce with licentious desires of the flesh those who have barely escaped from people who live inerror. 19 They promise them freedom, though they themselves are slaves of corruption, for a person is a slave of whatever overcomes him. 20 For if they, having escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of (our) Lord and savior Jesus Christ, again become entangled and overcome by them, their last condition is worse than their first. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than after knowing it to turn back from the holy commandment handed down to them. 22 What is expressed in the true proverb has happened to them, "The dog returns to its own vomit," and "A bathed sow returns to wallowing in the mire."

v 1. Throughout history their have been false teachers, and some were slipping in among this group. Many of these come alongside the truth, gradually changing it and eventually denying the deity of Christ, or some other aspect about Him.
v 2. False teachers always have a following because error pleases the flesh. Those who follow them then bring a reproach on the rest of the Church.
v 3. False teachers frequently have hope of financial gain and are not interested in souls, but exploiting a following. Destruction awaits them.
v 4. We suppose these are the angels of Jude 6 and Rev. 12:3,4. My feeling is that some of these are described in Gen. 6:1-4, and are angels that intermarried with women, but others dispute that. Those who feel the godly line of Seth married the ungodly line of Cain overlook the fact that both lines were ungodly except for a remnant up to Noah, who with his family finally survived the flood. 
v 5,6. Judgment of the flood and upon Sodom were equally destructive.
v 7,8. Perhaps Lot thought he could do some good, but he actually lost his testimony in that corrupt place. God still delivered him through Abraham’s intercession.
v 9. The God who delivered Noah and Lot delivers believers today, and though the wicked are not punished now, they are being kept for future judgment.
v 10,11. Many have lost respect for the offices of government and are flippant concerning higher authorities or even God. Angels don’t even usurp that attitude. “Joy, Joy, Joy” chorus, some people add “If the devil doesn’t like it he can sit on a tack.”
v 12. Animals have an instinctive fear of man, but many men have lost fear of God
v 13. They will be judged along with those who have become so depraved that they live wantonly even in daylight, or openly. Some of them even live double lives to the point of joining believers at the Lord’s table and love feasts.
v 14. Both spiritual and physical adultery are in mind. They have lured away unstable believers and are under the curse of the Lord.
v 15,16. For complete account see Num. 22-24. The way of Balaam was to seek profit for his spiritual gifts and powers. The error of Balaam was failure to take God’s grace into account, thinking he would curse Israel for their sins. The doctrine of Balaam was his advice to the Moabites to corrupt the morals of Israel.
v 17,18. Having lived through the Dust Bowl drouth of depression days I know what it is to go to the well for water and find it dry, or of black storm clouds carried along with strong wind, but not leaving a drop of rain. False teachers are just as useless, nearly dragging immature professing Christians to destruction with them.
v 19. False teachers may teach deliverance from sin, yet they too are in it’s grasp.
v 20,21. Some come to the point of salvation, even laying aside some of the things of the world, but turning away from it, they are more accountable than if they had not known. This does not mean we should limit taking the gospel to the unsaved.
v 22. If a dog or hogs nature was changed, their habits would change. So the new nature of a believer changes them. If they return to their former corrupt life, it is a strong indication that they lack salvation, 1 Jn. 2:19.