Petri Ii 2
1 Fuerunt vero et pseudoprophetæ in populo, sicut et in vobis erunt magistri mendaces, qui introducent sectas perditionis: et eum qui emit eos, Dominum negant, superducentes sibi celerem perditionem.
But there were false prophets also in the nation, just as there will be false teachers among you, people who will secretly introduce ruinous divisions, disowning even the Lord who bought them, and bringing speedy ruin on themselves.
2 Et multi sequentur eorum luxurias, per quos via veritatis blasphemabitur:
There will be many, too, who will follow their licentious courses, and cause the way of the truth to be maligned.
3 et in avaritia fictis verbis de vobis negotiabuntur: quibus judicium jam olim non cessat: et perditio eorum non dormitat.
In their covetousness they will try to make you a source of profit by their fabrications; but for a long time past their sentence has not been standing idle, nor their ruin slumbering.
4 Si enim Deus angelis peccantibus non pepercit, sed rudentibus inferni detractos in tartarum tradidit cruciandos, in judicium reservari. (Tartaroō g5020)
Remember, God did not spare angels when they sinned, but sent them down to Tartarus, and consigned them to caverns of darkness, to be kept under guard for judgment. (Tartaroō g5020)
5 Et originali mundo non pepercit, sed octavum Noë justitiæ præconem custodivit, diluvium mundo impiorum inducens.
Nor did he spare the world of old; though he preserved Noah, the preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought a flood on the godless world.
6 Et civitates Sodomorum et Gomorrhæorum in cinerem redigens, eversione damnavit: exemplum eorum, qui impie acturi sunt, ponens:
He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and reduced them to ashes, holding them up as a warning to the godless of what was in store for them;
7 et justum Lot oppressum a nefandorum injuria, ac luxuriosa conversatione eripuit:
but he rescued righteous Lot, whose heart was vexed by the wanton licentiousness of his neighbors;
8 aspectu enim, et auditu justus erat: habitans apud eos, qui de die in diem animam justam iniquis operibus cruciabant.
for, seeing and hearing what he did, as he lived his righteous life among them, day after day, Lot’s righteous soul was tortured by their wicked doings.
9 Novit Dominus pios de tentatione eripere: iniquos vero in diem judicii reservare cruciandos.
The Lord, therefore, knows how to deliver the pious from temptation, and to keep the wicked, who are even now suffering punishment, in readiness for ‘the day of judgment’ –
10 Magis autem eos, qui post carnem in concupiscentia immunditiæ ambulant, dominationemque contemnunt, audaces, sibi placentes, sectas non metuunt introducere blasphemantes:
especially those who, following the promptings of their lower nature, indulge their polluting passions and despise all control. Audacious and self-willed, they feel no awe of the celestial beings, maligning them,
11 ubi angeli fortitudine, et virtute cum sint majores, non portant adversum se execrabile judicium.
even where angels, though excelling them in strength and power, do not bring against them a malignant charge before the Lord.
12 Hi vero velut irrationabilia pecora, naturaliter in captionem, et in perniciem in his quæ ignorant blasphemantes in corruptione sua peribunt,
These people, however, like animals without reason, intended by nature to be caught and killed – these people, I say, malign those of whom they know nothing, and will assuredly perish through their own corruption,
13 percipientes mercedem injustitiæ, voluptatem existimantes diei delicias: coinquinationes, et maculæ deliciis affluentes, in conviviis suis luxuriantes vobiscum,
suffering themselves, as the penalty for the suffering that they have inflicted. They think that pleasure consists in the self-indulgence of the moment. They are a stain and a disgrace, indulging, as they do, in their wanton revelry, even while joining you at your feasts.
14 oculos habentes plenos adulterii, et incessabilis delicti. Pellicientes animas instabiles, cor exercitatum avaritia habentes, maledictionis filii:
They have eyes only for adulteresses, eyes never tired of sin; they entice weak souls; their minds are trained to covet; they live under a curse.
15 derelinquentes rectam viam erraverunt, secuti viam Balaam ex Bosor, qui mercedem iniquitatis amavit:
Leaving the straight road, they have gone astray and followed in the steps of Balaam, the son of Beor, who set his heart on the reward for wrongdoing,
16 correptionem vero habuit suæ vesaniæ: subjugale mutum animal, hominis voce loquens, prohibuit prophetæ insipientiam.
but was rebuked for his offense. A dumb animal spoke with a human voice, and checked the prophet’s madness.
17 Hi sunt fontes sine aqua, et nebulæ turbinibus exagitatæ, quibus caligo tenebrarum reservatur.
These people are like springs without water, or mists driven before a gale; and for them the blackest darkness has been reserved.
18 Superba enim vanitatis loquentes, pelliciunt in desideriis carnis luxuriæ eos, qui paululum effugiunt, qui in errore conversantur:
With boastful and foolish talk, they appeal to the passions of people’s lower nature, and, by their profligacy, entice those who are just escaping from the people who live such misguided lives.
19 libertatem illis promittentes, cum ipsi servi sint corruptionem: a quo enim quis superatus est, hujus et servus est.
They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to corrupt habits; for a person is the slave of anything to which they give way.
20 Si enim refugientes coinquinationes mundi in cognitione Domini nostri, et Salvatoris Jesu Christi, his rursus implicati superantur: facta sunt eis posteriora deteriora prioribus.
If, after having escaped the polluting influences of the world, through knowing our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, people are again entangled in them, and give way to them, their last state has become worse than their first.
21 Melius enim erat illis non cognoscere viam justitiæ, quam post agnitionem, retrorsum converti ab eo, quod illis traditum est, sancto mandato.
It would, indeed, have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn away from the holy command delivered to them.
22 Contigit enim eis illud veri proverbii: Canis reversus ad suum vomitum: et, Sus lota in volutabro luti.
In their case is seen the truth of the proverb – ‘A dog returns to what it has vomited’ and ‘A sow after washing to her wallowing-place in the mud.’
