"but while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat and went his way.

Since we have heard that some who went out from us have troubled you with words, unsettling your souls, saying, "[You must] be circumcised and keep the law" -- to whom we gave no [such] commandment --

And [this occurred] because of false brethren secretly brought in (who came in by stealth to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage),

that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting,

For of this sort are those who creep into households and make captives of gullible women loaded down with sins, led away by various lusts,

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, [and] bring on themselves swift destruction.

And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed.

Does not the potter have power over the clay, from the same lump to make one vessel for honor and another for dishonor?

[What] if God, wanting to show [His] wrath and to make His power known, endured with much longsuffering the vessels of wrath prepared for destruction,

and "A stone of stumbling And a rock of offense." They stumble, being disobedient to the word, to which they also were appointed.

By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.

"to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him."

'When the waves of death surrounded me, The floods of ungodliness made me afraid.

Blessed [is] the man Who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, Nor stands in the path of sinners, Nor sits in the seat of the scornful;

Now "If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?"

and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, [one of] eight [people,] a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;

and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned [them] to destruction, making [them] an example to those who afterward would live ungodly;

But the heavens and the earth [which] are now preserved by the same word, are reserved for fire until the day of judgment and perdition of ungodly men.

What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?

For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not [use] liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.

For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men,

teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age,

looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled;

lest there [be] any fornicator or profane person like Esau, who for one morsel of food sold his birthright.

as free, yet not using liberty as a cloak for vice, but as bondservants of God.

and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. [They are] presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries,

For when they speak great swelling [words] of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error.

For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."

To the pure all things are pure, but to those who are defiled and unbelieving nothing is pure; but even their mind and conscience are defiled.

They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.

But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, [and] bring on themselves swift destruction.

Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.

He only [is] my rock and my salvation; [He is] my defense; I shall not be greatly moved.

"And this is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.

which He will manifest in His own time, [He who is] the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings and Lord of lords,

who alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen or can see, to whom [be] honor and everlasting power. Amen.

Who shall not fear You, O Lord, and glorify Your name? For [You] alone [are] holy. For all nations shall come and worship before You, For Your judgments have been manifested."