Since all these things are to melt away ¹  in this manner, ²  what sort of people must we ³  be, conducting our lives in holiness and godliness, ⁴ 

suffering harm as the wages for their harmful ways. ¹  By considering it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight, ²  they are stains and blemishes, indulging ³  in their deceitful pleasures when they feast together with you.

Above all, understand this: ¹  In the last days blatant scoffers ²  will come, being propelled by their own evil urges ³ 

speaking of these things in all his letters. ¹  Some things in these letters ²  are hard to understand, things ³  the ignorant and unstable twist ⁴  to their own destruction, as they also do to the rest of the scriptures. ⁵ 

But, according to his promise, we are waiting for ¹  new heavens and a new earth, in which ²  righteousness truly resides. ³ 

May grace and peace be lavished on you ¹  as you grow ²  in the rich knowledge ³  of God and of Jesus our Lord! ⁴ 

Indeed, as long as I am in this tabernacle, ¹  I consider it right to stir you up by way of a reminder,

For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, ¹  but threw them into hell ²  and locked them up ³  in chains ⁴  in utter darkness, ⁵  to be kept until the judgment,

But grow in the grace and knowledge ¹  of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the honor both now and on ²  that eternal day. ³ 

Therefore, I intend to remind you constantly ¹  of these things even though you know them and are well established in the truth that you now have.

They are illustrations of this true proverb: ¹  “A dog returns to its own vomit,” ²  and “A sow, after washing herself, ³  wallows in the mire.” ⁴ 

Dear friends, this is already the second letter I have written ¹  you, in which ²  I am trying to stir up ³  your pure mind by way of reminder:

And in their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. Their ¹  condemnation pronounced long ago ²  is not sitting idly by; ³  their ⁴  destruction is not asleep.

Moreover, ¹  we ²  possess the prophetic word as an altogether reliable thing. ³  You do well if you pay attention ⁴  to this ⁵  as you would ⁶  to a light shining in a murky place, until the day dawns and the morning star ⁷  rises in your hearts. ⁸ 

and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man in anguish over the debauched lifestyle of lawless ¹  men, ² 

For if ¹  these things are really yours ²  and are continually increasing, ³  they will keep you from becoming ⁴  ineffective and unproductive in your pursuit of ⁵  knowing our Lord Jesus Christ more intimately. ⁶ 

(for while he lived among them day after day, that righteous man was tormented in his righteous soul ¹  by the lawless deeds he saw and heard ² )

For by speaking high-sounding but empty words ¹  they are able to entice, ²  with fleshly desires and with debauchery, ³  people ⁴  who have just escaped ⁵  from those who reside in error. ⁶ 

But ¹  these men, ²  like irrational animals – creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed ³  – do not understand whom ⁴  they are insulting, and consequently ⁵  in their destruction they will be destroyed, ⁶ 

For he received honor and glory from God the Father, when that ¹  voice was conveyed to him by the Majestic Glory: “This is my dear Son, in whom I am delighted.” ²