they are worse off at the end
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Read on BibleGateway2 Peter 2:13-22
Key verse 2:20
“If they have escaped the corruption of the world by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and are again entangled in it and are overcome, they are worse off at the end than they were at the beginning.”
Read verses 13-16. How and why would false teachers be paid back? (13a, 9) How did Peter describe the lifestyle of these false teachers? (13b-14) In what way were they like Balaam son of Bezer? (15) How did God rebuke Balaam? (16)
Read verses 17-19. What else did Peter compare these false teachers to? (17a) What is reserved for them? (17b) How did they entice young believers? (18) What do they promise them? (19a) In what respect was what they offered a lie? (19b)
Read verses 20-22. How had these false teachers started out? (20) How had they ended up? What would have been better for them? (21) Why? What do the proverbs Peter quoted tell about their problem? (22)