apostasy

¹Now the Spirit has clearly said that, in the end times, some persons will depart from the faith, paying attention to spirits of error and the doctrines of devils,

³Let no one deceive you in any way. For this cannot be, unless the apostasy will have arrived first, and the man of sin will have been revealed, the son of perdition,

²⁰For if, after taking refuge from the defilements of the world in the understanding of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they again become entangled and overcome by these things, then the latter state becomes worse than the former. ²¹For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of justice than, after acknowledging it, to turn away from that holy commandment which was handed on to them. ²²For the truth of the proverb has happened to them: The dog has returned to his own vomit, and the washed sow has returned to her wallowing in the mud.

¹²Be cautious, brothers, lest perhaps there may be, in any of you, an evil heart of unbelief, turning aside from the living God.

⁴For it is impossible for those who were once illuminated, and have even tasted of the heavenly gift, and have become sharers in the Holy Spirit, ⁵who, despite having tasted the good Word of God and the virtues of the future age, have yet fallen away, ⁶to be renewed again to penance, since they are crucifying again in themselves the Son of God and are still maintaining pretenses. ⁷For the earth accepts a blessing from God, by drinking in the rain that often falls upon it, and by producing plants that are useful to those by whom it is cultivated. ⁸But whatever brings forth thorns and briers is rejected, and is closest to what is accursed; their consummation is in combustion.

¹⁷But since you, brothers, know these things beforehand, be cautious, lest by being drawn into the error of the foolish, you may fall away from your own steadfastness.

¹³Now those upon rock are those who, when they hear it, accept the word with joy, but these have no roots. So they believe for a time, but in a time of testing, they fall away.

⁶If your brother, the son of your mother, or your own son or daughter, or your wife who is in your bosom, or your friend, whom you love like your own soul, were willing to persuade you secretly, saying: ‘Let us go, and serve foreign gods,’ which neither you nor your fathers have known, ⁷gods from any of the surrounding nations, whether these are near or far away, from the beginning even to the end of the earth, ⁸you should neither agree with him, nor listen to him. And your eye should not spare him so that you take pity on him and conceal him. ⁹Instead, you shall put him to death promptly. Let your hand be upon him first, and after that, let the hands of all the people be sent forth. ¹⁰He shall be killed by being overwhelmed with stones. For he was willing to draw you away from the Lord your God, who led you away from the land of Egypt, from the house of servitude. ¹¹So may all of Israel, upon hearing this, be afraid, so that nothing like this will ever be done again.

⁸But if anyone, even we ourselves or an Angel from Heaven, were to preach to you a gospel other than the one that we have preached to you, let him be anathema. ⁹Just as we have said before, so now I say again: If anyone has preached a gospel to you, other than that which you have received, let him be anathema.

¹⁰And then many will be led into sin, and will betray one another, and will have hatred for one another.

¹And know this: that in the last days perilous times will press near. ²Men will be lovers of themselves, greedy, self-exalting, arrogant, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, ³without affection, without peace, false accusers, unchaste, cruel, without kindness, ⁴traitorous, reckless, self-important, loving pleasure more than God, ⁵even having the appearance of piety while rejecting its virtue. And so, avoid them. ⁶For among these are ones who penetrate houses and lead away, like captives, foolish women burdened with sins, who are led away by means of various desires,