13 “If a prophet or ^(A)a dreamer of dreams arises among you and gives you a sign or a wonder, ² and ^(B)the sign or wonder that he tells you comes to pass, and if he says, ‘Let us go after other gods,’ which you have not known, ‘and let us serve them,’ ³ you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams. For the Lord your God ^(C)is testing you, to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

⁵ But ^(A)that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has taught rebellion against the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you out of the house of slavery, to make you leave the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. ^(B)So you shall purge the evil^[a] from your midst.

¹² And what I am doing I will continue to do, ^(A)in order to undermine the claim of those who would like to claim that in their boasted mission they work on the same terms as we do. ¹³ For such men are ^(B)false apostles, ^(C)deceitful workmen, ^(D)disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as ^(E)an angel of light. ¹⁵ So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as ^(F)servants of righteousness. ^(G)Their end will correspond to their deeds.

Godlessness in the Last Days

3 But understand this, that ^(A)in the last days there will come times of difficulty. ² For people will be ^(B)lovers of self, ^(C)lovers of money, ^(D)proud, ^(E)arrogant, abusive, ^(F)disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, ^3 (G)heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, ^(H)not loving good, ⁴ treacherous, reckless, ^(I)swollen with conceit, ^(J)lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, ⁵ having the appearance of godliness, but ^(K)denying its power. ^(L)Avoid such people. ⁶ For among them are ^(M)those who creep into households and capture weak women, burdened with sins and led astray by various passions, ⁷ always learning and never able to ^(N)arrive at a knowledge of the truth. ⁸ Just as ^(O)Jannes and Jambres ^(P)opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, ^(Q)men corrupted in mind and ^(R)disqualified regarding the faith. ⁹ But they will not get very far, for their folly will be plain to all, ^(S)as was that of those two men.

^16 (A)All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness,

⁸ Then the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, ⁹ “When Pharaoh says to you, ^(A)‘Prove yourselves by working a miracle,’ then you shall say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and cast it down before Pharaoh, that it may become a serpent.’” ¹⁰ So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the Lord commanded. Aaron cast down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. ¹¹ Then Pharaoh summoned the wise men and the sorcerers, and they, the ^(B)magicians of Egypt, also ^(C)did the same by their secret arts.

¹⁸ Let no one ^(A)disqualify you, ^(B)insisting on asceticism and worship of angels, ^(C)going on in detail about visions,^{[a] (D)}puffed up without reason by ^(E)his sensuous mind,