2 Peter 2:3Easy To Read VersionThose false teachers only want your money. So they will use you by telling you things that are not true. But the judgment against those false teachers has been ready for a long time. And they will not escape the One (God) who will destroy them. See the chapter |
So I will give their wives to other men.\par I will give their fields to new owners.\par All the people of Israel want\par more and more money.\par All the people,\par from the least important\par to most important people,\par are like that.\par All the people,\par from prophets to priests,\par tell lies.\par
The judges in Jerusalem accept bribes\par to help them decide who wins in court.\par The priests in Jerusalem must be paid\par before they will teach the people.\par People must pay the prophets\par before they will look into the future.\par And then those leaders expect the Lord\par to help them. They say,\par “The Lord lives here with us.\par So nothing bad will happen to us.”\par
So the Jewish leaders waited for the right time to get Jesus. They sent some men to Jesus. They told these men to act like they were good men. They wanted to find something wrong with the things Jesus said. (If they found something wrong, then they could give Jesus to the governor, who had power and authority \{over him\}.)
An elder {\cf2\super [5]} has the job of taking care of God’s work. So people should not be able to say that he lives in a wrong way. He must not be a person who is proud and selfish or who becomes angry quickly. He must not drink too much wine. He must not be a person who likes to fight. And he must not be a person who always tries to get rich by cheating people.
In the past there were false prophets {\cf2\super [6]} among \{God’s\} people. It is the same now. You will have some false teachers in your group. They will teach things that are wrong—teachings that will make people be lost. And those false teachers will teach in a way that will be hard for you to see that they are wrong. They will even refuse to accept the Master (Jesus) who bought their freedom. And so they will quickly destroy themselves.