1Men ligesom der var falske profeter blandt Guds folk dengang, sådan vil der også komme falske lærere blandt jer. De vil gøre oprør mod Herren, som købte dem fri, og de vil infiltrere jeres fællesskab med deres falske og nedbrydende lære. Men de vil gå en brat undergang i møde. 2Mange vil følge dem i deres udsvævelser, og på grund af dem vil sandhedens vej få et dårligt ry. 3De vil i deres griskhed forkynde hvad som helst for at få fat i folks penge.
Men Gud har allerede for længe siden afsagt sin dom over dem, og straffen hænger over hovedet på dem. 4Han skånede jo heller ikke de engle, der gjorde oprør. De blev kastet i underverdenens mørke fangekældre, hvor de bliver bevogtet indtil dommens dag. 5Han undlod heller ikke at straffe de mennesker, der levede før syndfloden. Selvom Noa fortalte dem om Guds vilje og den kommende dom, ville de ikke høre på ham. Derfor udryddede Gud den oprørske verden gennem syndfloden, mens Noa sammen med sine syv familiemedlemmer blev reddet. 6Senere straffede Gud byerne Sodoma og Gomorra og forvandlede dem til askedynger. Dermed blev de et eksempel til skræk og advarsel for alle, der senere begår tilsvarende synder. 7-8Men han reddede den uskyldige Lot ud af Sodoma, for Lot var en mand, der ønskede at gøre Guds vilje. Han led under den skamløse måde, folk opførte sig på, ja, det pinte ham dybt dag efter dag at skulle være vidne til alle de forfærdelige ting, der skete omkring ham.
9På tilsvarende måde vil Herren redde dem, der tror på ham, ud af deres prøvelser, mens han vil straffe de ulydige og holde dem i forvaring indtil dommens dag. 10Først og fremmest vil han straffe dem, der i deres urene begær lever i seksuel synd, og dem, der gør oprør mod hans autoritet.
De falske lærere vil være utrolig selvsikre og arrogante. De vil ikke engang vige tilbage for at håne stærke åndsmagter, 11som selv englene, der i magt og styrke står over menneskene, aldrig har vovet at afsige en forhånende dom over på Guds vegne. 12De falske lærere forstår ikke, hvem det er, de håner, og de vil gå til grunde som fornuftløse dyr, der af natur er bestemt til at blive fanget og dræbt. 13De vil få løn som forskyldt. De elsker at deltage i overdådige fester dagen lang. De er en skamplet og en skændsel for jer, når de fremturer i deres vildfarelser ved jeres selskabelige sammenkomster. 14De er hele tiden på udkig efter anledninger til synd og utroskab. De forfører ubefæstede sjæle og kender kunsten at skrabe til sig. Guds dom venter på dem! 15De har forladt den lige vej og er gået vild som Bileam, Beors søn, der gerne tog sig betalt for sine onde handlinger, 16men blev standset i sin galskab og irettesat, da hans æsel talte til ham med menneskestemme.
17De falske lærere udretter intet af værdi, for de er som udtørrede kilder eller som skyer, der drives af sted af vinden uden at give regn. Der venter dem en plads i det yderste mørke. 18Med tomme løfter og drevet af deres eget begær lokker de mennesker, der ellers lige var sluppet fri af dårligt selskab, og leder dem tilbage i synden. 19De lover dem frihed, men er selv slaver af deres umoralske liv. For det, som man er besejret af, er man også slave af. 20Når nogen er undsluppet det verdslige livs umoralitet og har lært vores Herre og Frelser, Jesus Kristus, at kende, men igen bliver indfanget og kontrolleret af de gamle synder, er deres situation blevet værre end før. 21Det ville have været bedre, om de mennesker ikke havde lært sandhedens vej at kende frem for først at se den og så vende ryggen til det hellige bud, som blev dem betroet. 22Et gammelt ordsprog siger: „Som en hund, der slikker sit eget bræk i sig.”2,22 Ordsp. 26,11, men ikke citeret fra LXX, så det var nok et af datidens alment kendte jødiske ordsprog ligesom det følgende. Og et andet lyder: „En renvasket so vælter sig straks i sølet igen.” Det samme kan siges om dem, der vender tilbage til deres gamle synder.
False Teachers Will Be Destroyed
1But there were also false prophets among the people. In the same way there will be false teachers among you. In secret they will bring in teachings that will destroy you. They will even turn against the Lord and Master who died to pay for their sins. So they will quickly destroy themselves. 2Many people will follow their lead. These people will do the same evil things the false teachers do. They will cause people to think badly about the way of truth. 3These teachers are never satisfied. They want to get something out of you. So they make up stories to take advantage of you. They have been under a sentence of death for a long time. The God who will destroy them has not been sleeping.
4God did not spare angels when they sinned. Instead, he sent them to hell. He chained them up in dark prisons. He will keep them there until he judges them. 5God did not spare the world’s ungodly people long ago. He brought the flood on them. But Noah preached about the right way to live. God kept him safe. He also saved seven others. 6God judged the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah. He burned them to ashes. He made them an example of what is going to happen to ungodly people. 7God saved Lot, a man who did what was right. Lot was shocked by the evil conduct of people who didn’t obey God’s laws. 8That good man lived among them day after day. He saw and heard the evil things they were doing. They were breaking God’s laws. And the godly spirit of Lot was deeply troubled. 9Since all this is true, then the Lord knows how to save godly people. He knows how to keep them safe in times of testing. The Lord also knows how to keep ungodly people under guard. He will do so until the day they will be judged and punished. 10Most of all, this is true of people who follow desires that come from sin’s power. These people hate to be under authority.
They are bold and proud. So they aren’t even afraid to speak evil things against heavenly beings. 11Now angels are stronger and more powerful than these people. But even angels don’t speak evil things against heavenly beings. They don’t do this when they bring judgment on them from the Lord. 12These people speak evil about things they don’t understand. They are like wild animals who can’t think. Instead, they do what comes naturally to them. They are born only to be caught and destroyed. Just like animals, these people too will die.
13They will be paid back with harm for the harm they have done. Their idea of pleasure is to have wild parties in the middle of the day. They are like dirty spots and stains. They enjoy their sinful pleasures while they eat with you. 14They stare at women who are not their wives. They want to sleep with them. They never stop sinning. They trap those who are not firm in their faith. They have mastered the art of getting what they want. God has placed them under his judgment. 15They have left God’s way. They have wandered off. They follow the way of Balaam, son of Beor. He loved to get paid for doing his evil work. 16But a donkey corrected him for the wrong he did. Animals don’t speak. But the donkey spoke with a human voice. It tried to stop the prophet from doing a very dumb thing.
17These people are like springs without water. They are like mists driven by a storm. The blackest darkness is reserved for them. 18They speak empty, bragging words. They make their appeal to the evil desires that come from sin’s power. They tempt new believers who are just escaping from the company of sinful people. 19They promise to give freedom to these new believers. But they themselves are slaves to sinful living. That’s because “people are slaves to anything that controls them.” 20They may have escaped the sin of the world. They may have come to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But what if they are once again caught up in sin? And what if it has become their master? Then they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning. 21Suppose they had not known the way of godliness. This would have been better than to know godliness and then turn away from it. The way of godliness is the sacred command passed on to them. 22What the proverbs say about them is true. “A dog returns to where it has thrown up.” (Proverbs 26:11) And, “A pig that is washed goes back to rolling in the mud.”
