because it is said, "His letters [are] severe and powerful, but his bodily presence [is] weak and his speech is of no account."

And Yahweh said to me, "The prophets [are] prophesying lies in my name. I have not sent them, and I have not commanded them, and I have not spoken to them. They are prophesying to you a lying vision, and a divination, worthless, and the deceitfulness of their {minds}."

{How long} [will] this be in the hearts of the prophets who prophesy lies, even the prophets of the deceitfulness of their hearts,

so that we may no longer be infants, tossed about by waves and carried about by every wind of teaching, by the trickery of people, by craftiness with reference to the scheming of deceit.

For such people do not serve our Lord Christ, but their own stomach, and by smooth speech and flattery they deceive the hearts of the unsuspecting.

For such people [are] false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.

being harmed [as the] wages of unrighteousness. Considering reveling in the daytime a pleasure, [they are] stains and blemishes, carousing in their deceitful pleasures [when they] feast together with you,

And [when they] had brought them to the chief magistrates, they said, "These men are throwing our city into confusion, being Jews, and are proclaiming customs that are not permitted for us to accept or to practice, [because we] are Romans!"

For we have found this man [to be] a public menace and one who causes riots among all the Jews throughout the Roman Empire and a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes,

But the Jews were filled with jealousy and, taking along some worthless men from the rabble in the marketplace and forming a mob, threw the city into an uproar. And attacking Jason's house, they were looking for them to bring [them] out to the popular assembly. And [when they] did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brothers before the city officials, shouting, "These [people] who have stirred up trouble [throughout] the world have come here also, whom Jason has entertained as guests! And these [people] [are] all acting contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying there is another king, Jesus!"

And [when] he arrived, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem stood around him, bringing many and serious charges that they were not able to prove, [while] Paul said in his defense, "Neither against the law of the Jews nor against the temple nor against Caesar have I sinned with reference to anything!"

Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for false testimony against Jesus in order that they could put him to death. And they did not find [it], [although] many false witnesses came forward. And finally two came forward [and] said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God and rebuild [it] within three days.'"

And Peter followed him from a distance, right inside, into the courtyard of the high priest. And he was sitting with the officers and warming himself by the fire. Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for testimony against Jesus in order to put him to death, and they did not find [it]. For many gave false testimony against him, and their testimony was not consistent. read more.
And some stood up [and] began to give false testimony against him, saying, "We heard him saying, 'I will destroy this temple made by hands, and within three days I will build another not made by hands." And their testimony was not even consistent about this.

Then they secretly instigated men who said, "We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God!"

And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop speaking words against the holy place and the law!

Then the two men, {scoundrels}, came, sat opposite him, and the {scoundrels} witnessed against Naboth before the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king," so they brought him outside of the city and stoned him with stones, and he died.

This persuasion [is] not from the one who calls you! A little leaven leavens the whole batch of dough.

Now [this was] because of the false brothers secretly brought in, who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, in order that they might enslave us,

promising them freedom [although they] themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also enslaved.

For certain men have slipped in stealthily, who were designated long ago for this condemnation, ungodly ones, who change the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.

If anyone teaches other doctrine and does not devote himself to the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching [that is] in accordance with godliness, he is conceited, understanding nothing, but having a morbid interest concerning controversies and disputes about words, from which come envy, strife, slanders, evil suspicions,

But there were also false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you also, who will bring in {destructive heresies}, even denying the Master who bought them, [thus] bringing on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their licentious ways, because of whom the way of truth will be reviled. And in greediness they will exploit you with false words, whose condemnation [from] long ago is not idle, and their destruction is not asleep. read more.
For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but held [them] captive in Tartarus with chains of darkness [and] handed [them] over to be kept for judgment, and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, {and seven others} [when he] brought a flood on the world of the ungodly, and condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction, reducing them to ashes, having appointed [them] [as] an example for those who are going to be ungodly, and rescued righteous Lot, worn down by the way of life of lawless persons in licentiousness (for that righteous man, [as he] lived among them day after day, was tormenting [his] righteous soul by the lawless deeds [he was] seeing and hearing), [then] the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials and to reserve the unrighteous to be punished at the day of judgment, and especially those who go after the flesh in defiling lust and who despise authority. Bold [and] arrogant, they do not tremble in awe [as they] blaspheme majestic beings, whereas angels, who are greater in strength and power, do not bring against them a demeaning judgment. But these persons, like irrational animals born [only with] natural [instincts] for capture and killing, blaspheming {about things} they do not understand, in their destruction will also be destroyed, being harmed [as the] wages of unrighteousness. Considering reveling in the daytime a pleasure, [they are] stains and blemishes, carousing in their deceitful pleasures [when they] feast together with you, having eyes full of [desire for] an adulteress and unceasing from sin, enticing unstable persons, [and] having hearts trained for greediness. Accursed children! [By] leaving the straight path, they have gone astray, [because they] followed the way of Balaam the [son of] Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness, but received a rebuke for his own lawlessness: a speechless donkey, speaking with a human voice, restrained {the prophet's madness}. These [people] are waterless springs and mists driven by a hurricane, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved. {For by speaking high-sounding but empty words}, they entice with desires of the flesh [and] with licentiousness those who are scarcely escaping from those who live in error, promising them freedom [although they] themselves are slaves of depravity. For to whatever someone succumbs, by this he is also enslaved. For if, [after they] have escaped from the defilements of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and they are again entangled in these [things] [and] succumb to [them], the last [state] has become worse for them than the first. For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than having known [it], to turn back from the holy commandment that had been delivered to them. The [statement] of the true proverb has happened to them, "A dog returns to its own vomit," and "A sow, [after] washing herself, [returns] to wallowing in the mud."