Ye, therefore, beloved, taking note beforehand, be on your guard, lest, with the error of the impious being led away, ye fall from your own steadfastness;
Be taking heed, lest there shall be anyone leading, you, off as a spoil, through means of their philosophy, and an empty deceit,—according to the instruction of men, according to the first principles of the world,—and not according to Christ:
That we may, no longer, be infants—billow-tossed and shifted round with every wind of teaching,—in the craft of men, in knavery suited to the artifice of error;
So, then, my beloved brethren,—become ye, steadfast, immovable, superabounding in the work of the Lord, at all times; knowing that, your toil, is not in vain in the Lord.
For, they who are such, unto our Lord Christ are not doing service, but unto their own belly,—and, through their smooth and flattering speech, deceive the hearts of the innocent.
But I fear lest, by any means, as, the serpent, completely deceived Eve, in his craftiness, your minds should be corrupted from the singleness and the chasteness which are due unto the Christ.
And they went on to give constant attention—unto the teaching of the apostles, and unto the fellowship, unto the breaking of bread, and unto the prayers.
Remember, therefore, whence thou hast fallen, and repent, and do, thy first works; otherwise, I come unto thee, and will remove thy lamp out of its place, except thou repent.
For, though, indeed, in the flesh, I am absent, yet, in the spirit, with you, I am—rejoicing, and beholding your order and the solid firmness of your Christ-ward faith.
But, these things, have I told you,—That, whensoever their hour shall come, ye may remember, that, thereof, I told you. These things, however, I told you not, from the beginning, because I was, with you;
This, already, beloved, is the second letter I am writing unto you; and, in these letters, I am stirring up—by way of calling to remembrance—your uncorrupted mind,