I was exceeding glad, that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as writing a new commandment to thee, but that which we have had from the beginning, that we love one another.6 And this is charity, that we walk according to his commandments. For this is the commandment, that, as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in the same:7 For many seducers are gone out into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh: this is a seducer and an antichrist.8 Look to yourselves, that you lose not the things which you have wrought: but that you may receive a full reward.9 Whosoever revolteth, and continueth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that continueth in the doctrine, the same hath both the Father and the Son.
"For whosoever does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh, is antichrist;" and whosoever does not confess the testimony of the cross, is of the devil; and whosoever perverts the oracles of the Lord to his own lusts, and says that there is neither a resurrection nor a judgment, he is the first-born of Satan. Wherefore, forsaking the vanity of many, and their false doctrines, let us return to the word which has been handed down to us from the beginning; "watching unto prayer," and persevering in fasting; beseeching in our supplications the all-seeing God "not to lead us into temptation," as the Lord has said: "The spirit truly is willing, but the flesh is weak."
ALEPH. Blessed are the undefiled in the way, who walk in the law of the Lord.2 Blessed are they who search his testimonies: that seek him with their whole heart.10 With my whole heart have I sought after thee: let me not stray from thy commandments.11 Thy words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against thee.17 GIMEL. Give bountifully to thy servant, enliven me: and I shall keep thy words.18 Open thou my eyes: and I will consider the wondrous things of thy law.
To sum up, David in the Psalms speaks about obedience: "How shall a young person keep his path straight?" The answer comes immediately: "By keeping your Word with his whole heart." Jeremiah says, "These are the Lord's words: do not follow the paths of the Gentiles."
And as it came to pass in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days of the Son of man.27 They did eat and drink, they married wives, and were given in marriage, until the day that Noe entered into the ark: and the flood came and destroyed them all.28 Likewise as it came to pass, in the days of Lot: they did eat and drink, they bought and sold, they planted and built.29 And in the day that Lot went out of Sodom, it rained fire and brimstone from heaven, and destroyed them all.30 Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man shall be revealed.31 In that hour, he that shall be on the housetop, and his goods in the house, let him not go down to take them away: and he that shall be in the field, in like manner, let him not return back.32 Remember Lot’s wife.33 Whosoever shall seek to save his life, shall lose it: and whosoever shall lose it, shall preserve it.†34 I say to you: in that night there shall be two men in one bed; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left.35 Two women shall be grinding together: the one shall be taken, and the other shall be left: two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other shall be keft.36 They answering, say to him: Where, Lord?37 Who said to them: Wheresoever the body shall be, thither will the eagles also be gathered together.†
Having used the example of the deluge, that no one might expect a future deluge by water, our Lord cites, secondly, the example of Lot, to shew the manner of the destruction of the wicked, namely, that the wrath of God would descend upon them by fire from heaven.
He does not say that fire came down from heaven upon the wicked Sodomites before that Lot went out from them, just as the deluge did not swallow up the inhabitants of the earth before that Noah entered the ark; for as long as Noah and Lot dwelt with the wicked, God suspended His anger that they might not perish together with the sinners, but when He would destroy those, He withdrew the righteous. So also at the end of the world, the consummation shall not come before all the just are separated from the wicked.
He hereby implies that a persecution will come from the son of perdition upon Christ’s faithful. By that day then He means the time previous to the end of the world, in which let not him who is flying return, nor care to lose his goods, lest he imitate Lot’s wife, who when she fled out of the city of Sodom, turning back, died, and became a pillar of salt.
Or by the eagles feeding on the dead animals, he has here described the rulers of the world, and those who shall at that time persecute the saints of God, in whose power are left all those who are unworthy of being taken up, who are called the body or carcase. Or by the eagles are meant the avenging powers which shall fly about to torment the wicked.
About CSB. A personal translation of the New Testament, rendered directly from the public-domain Greek in a literary style — not a scholarly critical edition, and not for liturgical or doctrinal authority. It is one reader's work, offered for enjoyment; where it matters, weigh it against an established translation. (Placeholder text — final wording to come.)