2: 1 But there arose false prophets also among the people, as among you also there shall be false teachers, who shall ²¹secretly bring in ²²destructive heresies, denying even the Master that bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.
²¹Lit. bring in under false pretenses
²²Or, sects of perdition, or, destructive opinions,

2: 2 And many shall follow their lascivious doings; by reason of whom the way of the truth shall be evil spoken of.
2: 3 And in covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose condemnation now from of old lingereth not, and their destruction slumbereth not.
2: 4 For if God spared not angels when they sinned, but ²³cast them down to ²⁴Tartarus, and committed them to ²⁵chains of dark gloom, to be reserved unto judgment;
²³Or, cast them into dungeons,
²⁴Tartarus: a dark abyss, ... the prison of the Titans. So Liddell & Scott, Abridged edition; Oxford, 1871. See Ge 6:2-3, from which the Gk. mythical account may derive, and Jude 6.
²⁵So p⁷²ψ 1739 1852 1881 1241 1243 2344 33 322 and the majority of lesser Gk. mss., cop^bo vg arm. But BAℵC almost alone, cop^sa read pits of dark gloom,

2: 5 and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah ²⁶with seven others, a ²⁷preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;
²⁶Gk. the eighth person,
²⁷Or, herald of righteousness,

2: 6 and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes ²⁸condemned them with ²⁹an overthrow, having made them an example ³⁰unto those about to be ungodly;
²⁸So Aℵψ 2344 33 and a majority of lesser Gk. mss., cop^sa vg arm. But p^72txtBC* 1739 1881 1241 1243 322 cop^bo omit with an overthrow 1852 reads overthrew them,
²⁹Gk. a catastrophe,
³⁰So p⁷²B 1852 1243 (cop^sa,bo) arm. AℵCψ 1739 1881 1241 2344 33 322 and the majority of lesser Gk. mss., vg read unto ungodly men;

2: 7 and delivered righteous Lot, sore distressed by the lascivious life of the wicked
2: 8 (for that righteous man dwelling among them, in seeing and hearing, ³¹put to the test his righteous soul from day to day with their lawless deeds):
³¹Gk. rubbed on a touchstone See Rv 20:10 footnote.

2: 9 the Lord knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment unto the day of judgment;
2: 10 but chiefly them that walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement, and despise dominion. Daring, self-willed, they tremble not to rail at ³²dignities:
³²Gk. glories:

2: 11 whereas angels, though greater in might and power, bring not a railing judgment against them ³³before the Lord.
³³So BℵC 1739 1852 1243 322 and a majority of lesser Gk. mss. p⁷² 1241 read from the Lord. Aψ 1881 2344 33 cop^sa,bo vg omit before the Lord.

2: 12 But these as creatures without reason, born ³⁴mere animals ³⁵to be taken and destroyed, railing in matters whereof they are ignorant, shall in their ³⁶destroying surely be destroyed,
³⁴Gk. (φυσικος, physikos) natural
³⁵Or, to take and to destroy,
³⁶Or, corruption (Similarly three words later.) Compare 1Tm 6:9.

2: 13 ³⁷suffering wrong as the hire of wrong-doing; men that count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and blemishes, revelling in their ³⁸deceivings while they feast with you;
³⁷So p⁷²Bℵ*ψ 1852 1243 (arm). AC 1739 1881 1241 2344 322 and the majority of lesser Gk. mss., cop^sa,bo vg read receiving to themselves the hire
³⁸Bψ 1243 vg read love-feasts 1739 1881 (1241) 322 read ignorances

2: 14 having eyes full of ³⁹adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; enticing unstedfast souls; having a heart exercised in covetousness; children of cursing;
³⁹Gk. an adulteress,

2: 15 forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of ⁴⁰Bosor, who loved the hire of wrong-doing;
⁴⁰B arm almost alone read Beor (See Nu 22:5.)

2: 16 but he was rebuked for his own transgression: a dumb ass spake with man’s voice and stayed the madness of the prophet.
2: 17 These are springs without water, and ⁴¹mists driven by a storm; for whom the gloom of darkness hath been reserved.
⁴¹So (p⁷²)Bℵψ 1243 ((AC 1739 1852 1881 1241 2344 33 322 add forever)). 048 and a majority of lesser Gk. mss. read clouds driven by a storm ... hath been reserved forever.

2: 18 For, uttering great swelling words of vanity, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by lasciviousness, those who are ⁴²almost escaping from them that live in error;
⁴²So p⁷²BAψ (2344) 33 cop^sa,bo vg. But ℵ*C 1739 1852 1243 322 048^vid and a majority of lesser Gk. mss., arm read indeed escaping from them

2: 19 promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of ⁴³whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage.
⁴³Or, what

2: 20 For if, after they have escaped the defilements of the world through the knowledge of ⁴⁴our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome, the last state is become worse with them than the first.
⁴⁴So p⁷²AℵCψ 1739 1852 1243 2344 33 322 048^vid vg arm. B and 373 lesser Gk. mss. read the Lord and etc. 1881 cop^bo read our Lord Jesus Christ, cop^sa reads our Lord Jesus Christ and our Saviour,

2: 21 For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.
2: 22 It has happened unto them according to the true proverb, ⁴⁵The dog turning to his own vomit again, and the sow that had washed to wallowing in the mire.
⁴⁵Pr 26:11.