Bible verse

2 Peter 2:21

It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.

2 Peter 2:21 · BSB

2 Peter 2:21 in context

The verses around it, from 2 Peter 2.

17 These men are springs without water and mists driven by a storm. Blackest darkness is reserved for them.

18 With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

20 If indeed they have escaped the corruption of the world through the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, only to be entangled and overcome by it again, their final condition is worse than it was at first.

21 It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to have known it and then to turn away from the holy commandment passed on to them.

22 Of them the proverbs are true: “A dog returns to its vomit,” and, “A sow that is washed goes back to her wallowing in the mud.”

Read all of 2 Peter 2

2 Peter 2:21 in other translations

KJV

For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known [it], to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

ASV

For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

ERV

For it were better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered unto them.

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Scripture quotations are from the Berean Standard Bible, which is free of copyright restrictions for use on websites. Read the full Bible on Great Faith.