19 These false teachers promise that those people will have freedom. But the false teachers themselves are not free. They are slaves of things that will be destroyed. A person is a slave to the thing that controls him.
19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage.
19 They promise them liberty, when they themselves are the slaves of depravity and defilement–for by whatever anyone is made inferior or worse or is overcome, to that [person or thing] he is enslaved.
19 promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he also brought into bondage.
Look at Samaria!\par The drunk people of Ephraim\par are proud of that city.\par That city sits on a hill\par with a rich valley around it.\par The people of Samaria think their city\par is a beautiful crown of flowers.\par But they are drunk with wine.\par And this “Beautiful Crown”\par is just a dying plant.\par
A message to the prophets:\par I am very sad—my heart is broken.\par All my bones are shaking.\par I (Jeremiah) am like a man that is drunk.\par Why? Because of the Lord\par and his holy words.\par
The priest must look. If the scab has spread on the skin, then the priest must announce that the person is unclean. [156] That is a leprosy [157] disease.
Then the man, who had the evil spirit \{from the devil\} inside him, jumped on these Jews. He was much stronger than all of them. He beat them up and tore their clothes off. These Jews ran away from that house.
My brothers and sisters, God called you to be free. But don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do the things that please your sinful selves. But serve each other with love.
The devil has trapped those people and makes them do what he wants. But maybe they can wake up \{and see that the devil is using them\} and free themselves from the devil’s trap.
Through his glory and goodness, Jesus gave us the very great and rich gifts that he promised us. With those gifts you can share in being like God. And so the world will not ruin you with the evil things it wants.
Those people were made free from the evil things in the world. They were made free by knowing our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. But if those people go back into those evil things and those things control them, then it is worse for them than it was before.