16 These are the men who make trouble, ever desiring change, going after evil pleasures, using high-sounding words, respecting men's position in the hope of reward.
For with high-sounding false words, making use of the attraction of unclean desires of the flesh, they get into their power those newly made free from those who are living in error;
But specially those who go after the unclean desires of the flesh, and make sport of authority. Ready to take chances, uncontrolled, they have no fear of saying evil of those in high places:
And do not say evil things against the Lord, as some of them did, and destruction overtook them.
Do no wrong in your judging: do not give thought to the position of the poor, or honour to the position of the great; but be a judge to your neighbour in righteousness.
Bitter talk of men who, being evil in mind and dead to what is true, take the faith to be a way of making profit.
For the time will come when they will not take the true teaching; but, moved by their desires, they will get for themselves a great number of teachers for the pleasure of hearing them;
But every man is tested when he is turned out of the right way by the attraction of his desire. Then when its time comes, desire gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is of full growth, gives birth to death.
My brothers, if you have the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ of glory, do not take a man's position into account. For if a man comes into your Synagogue in fair clothing and with a gold ring, and a poor man comes in with dirty clothing, And you do honour to the man in fair clothing and say, Come here and take this good place; and you say to the poor man, Take up your position there, or be seated at my feet; Is there not a division in your minds? have you not become judges with evil thoughts? Give ear, my dear brothers; are not those who are poor in the things of this world marked out by God to have faith as their wealth, and for their heritage the kingdom which he has said he will give to those who have love for him? But you have put the poor man to shame. Are not the men of wealth rulers over you? do they not take you by force before their judges? Do they not say evil of the holy name which was given to you? But if you keep the greatest law of all, as it is given in the holy Writings, Have love for your neighbour as for yourself, you do well: But if you take a man's position into account, you do evil, and are judged as evil-doers by the law.
Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge:
My loved ones, I make this request with all my heart, that, as those for whom this world is a strange country, you will keep yourselves from the desires of the flesh which make war against the soul;
But there were false prophets among the people, as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly put forward wrong teachings for your destruction, even turning away from the Lord who gave himself for them; whose destruction will come quickly, and they themselves will be the cause of it. And a great number will go with them in their evil ways, through whom the true way will have a bad name. And in their desire for profit they will come to you with words of deceit, like traders doing business in souls: whose punishment has been ready for a long time and their destruction is watching for them.
Having first of all the knowledge that in the last days there will be men who, ruled by their evil desires, will make sport of holy things,
It is not good to have respect for a man's position: for a man will do wrong for a bit of bread.
And you made an angry outcry in your tents, and said, In his hate for us the Lord has taken us out of the land of Egypt, to give us up into the hands of the Amorites for our destruction.
Let me not give respect to any man, or give names of honour to any living.
Who has no respect for rulers, and who gives no more attention to those who have wealth than to the poor, for they are all the work of his hands.
They are shut up in their fat: with their mouths they say words of pride.
Their mouth goes up to heaven; their tongues go walking through the earth. For this reason they are full of bread; and water is ever flowing for them. And they say, How will the Lord see this? is there knowledge in the Most High?
And the men whom Moses sent to see the land, and who, by the bad account they gave of the land, were the cause of the outcry the people made against Moses,
Those whose hearts were turned away from him will get knowledge, and those who made an outcry against him will give attention to his teaching.
And the Pharisees and scribes were angry, saying, This man gives approval to sinners, and takes food with them.
And when they saw it, they were all angry, saying, He has gone into the house of a sinner.
When Jesus became conscious that his disciples were protesting about what he said, he said to them, Does this give you trouble?
But I say, Go on in the Spirit, and you will not come under the rule of the evil desires of the flesh.