2 Peter 2:15

¹³ The harm they will suffer is the wages of their wickedness. They consider it a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. They are blots and blemishes, reveling in their deception as they feast with you.

¹⁴ Their eyes are full of adultery; their desire for sin is never satisfied; they seduce the unstable. They are accursed children with hearts trained in greed.

They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.

¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his transgression by a donkey, otherwise without speech, that spoke with a man’s voice and restrained the prophet’s madness.

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

Here the Bible tells a story about someone else. Ask yourself what it can say to us today. Do read the surrounding verses too, because the context often says more than a single verse.

Compare

BSB: They have left the straight way and wandered off to follow the way of Balaam son of Beor, who loved the wages of wickedness.
KJV: Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;
WEB: Forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing;
ASV: forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the [son] of Beor, who loved the hire of wrong-doing;
DARBY: having left [the] straight way they have gone astray, having followed in the path of Balaam [the son] of Bosor, who loved [the] reward of unrighteousness;
BLB: Having forsaken the straight way, they went astray, having followed after the way of Balaam [son] of Beor, who loved the wage of unrighteousness.

ÅB: De har forlatt den rette veien og gått på avveie, for de har fulgt Bileams, Beors sønns vei — han som elsket urettferdighetens lønn
OTB: som forlater den rette vei, har de vandret bort, etter å ha fulgt veien til Bileam, Beors sønn, som elsket lønnen for urettferdighet;
B1930: De har forlatt den bene vei og faret vill, idet de har fulgt Bileams, Beors sønns vei, han som elsket urettferdighets lønn

Study notes (Tyndale)

Original text and word study

Cross references

Revelation 2:14
But I have a few things against you, because some of you hold to the teaching of Balaam, who taught Balak to place a stumbling block before the Israelites so they would eat food sacrificed to idols and commit sexual immorality.
Read in context
Jude 1:11
Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed headlong into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.
Read in context
Deuteronomy 23:4–5
For they did not meet you with food and water on your way out of Egypt, and they hired Balaam son of Beor from Pethor in Aram-naharaim to curse you.
Read in context
Numbers 31:16
“Look, these women caused the sons of Israel, through the counsel of Balaam, to turn unfaithfully against the LORD at Peor, so that the plague struck the congregation of the LORD.
Read in context
Numbers 22:5–7
he sent messengers to Balaam son of Beor at Pethor, which is by the Euphrates in the land of his people. “Behold, a people has come out of Egypt,” said Balak. “They cover the face of the land and have settled next to me.
Read in context
Nehemiah 13:2
because they had not met the Israelites with food and water, but had hired Balaam to call down a curse against them (although our God had turned the curse into a blessing).
Read in context
Micah 6:5
My people, remember what Balak king of Moab counseled and what Balaam son of Beor answered. Remember your journey from Shittim to Gilgal, so that you may acknowledge the righteousness of the LORD.’”
Read in context
Acts 13:10
and said, “O child of the devil and enemy of all righteousness, you are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery! Will you never stop perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
Read in context