Then the man who had received the one talent came to him and said, ‘Master, I knew that yoʋ were a hard man, reaping where yoʋ did not sow and gathering where yoʋ scattered no seed.
Since we have heard that certain men, whom we did not authorize, have gone out from us and troubled you with their words, unsettling your minds by saying that you must be circumcised and keep the law,
For we are not like others who peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak with sincerity in the presence of God, as men sent from God.
Rather, we have renounced shameful hidden deeds; we do not act deceitfully or distort the word of God, but by openly proclaiming the truth we commend ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God.
Now this matter arose because of the false brothers who were secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might enslave us.
It is those who want to make a good appearance in the flesh who compel you to be circumcised, but only so that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.
So we must no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men and their craftiness in deceitful scheming.
Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men and the elements of the world, and not according to Christ.
Children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
For certain men whose condemnation was written about long ago have crept in unnoticed. They are ungodly men who pervert the grace of our God, turning it into a license for sensuality. By doing so, they deny God, who is our only Master, and also the Lord Jesus Christ.
But the beast was captured, and so was the false prophet who was with him, who in his sight performed the signs by which he deceived those who had received the mark of the beast and who worshiped his image. The two of them were thrown alive into the lake of fire that burns with sulfur.
I know yoʋr works, yoʋr labor, and yoʋr endurance. I know that yoʋ cannot tolerate those who are evil, and that yoʋ have tested those who declare themselves to be apostles but are not, and have found them to be false.
But I have this against yoʋ: Yoʋ tolerate yoʋr wife Jezebel, who calls herself a prophetess while teaching and seducing my servants to commit fornication and eat food sacrificed to idols.
I know yoʋr works, yoʋr tribulation, and yoʋr poverty—yet yoʋ are rich! I know the slander of those who declare themselves to be Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan.