2 Peter 2:5

New Living Translation

And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood.

Parallel Translations

Easy-to-Read Version
And God punished the evil people who lived long ago. He brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against God. But he saved Noah and seven other people with him. Noah was a man who told people about living right.

Revised Standard Version
if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Nether spared the olde worlde but saved Noe the ryghte preacher of rightewesnes and brought in the flud vpon the worlde of the vngodly

Hebrew Names Version
and didn't spare the ancient world, but preserved Noach with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

New American Standard Bible
and did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

New Century Version
And God punished the world long ago when he brought a flood to the world that was full of people who were against him. But God saved Noah, who preached about being right with God, and seven other people with him.

Update Bible Version
and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

Webster's Bible Translation
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth [person], a preacher of righteousness, bringing the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

World English Bible
and didn't spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly;

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
to be reserved to judgment, And spared not the old world, (but he saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness) bringing a flood on the world of the ungodly;

Weymouth's New Testament
And He did not spare the ancient world, although He preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a deluge on the world of the ungodly.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and sparide not the firste world, but kept Noe, the eiythe man, the biforgoere of riytwisnesse, and brouyte in the greet flood to the world of vnfeithful men;

English Revised Version
and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Berean Standard Bible
if He did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood on its ungodly people, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, among the eight;

Contemporary English Version
And during Noah's time, God did not have pity on the ungodly people of the world. He destroyed them with a flood, though he did save eight people, including Noah, who preached the truth.

Amplified Bible
and if He did not spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought [the judgment of] a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

American Standard Version
and spared not the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Bible in Basic English
And did not have mercy on the world which then was, but only kept safe Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he let loose the waters over the world of the evil-doers;

Complete Jewish Bible
And he did not spare the ancient world; on the contrary, he preserved Noach, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, and brought the Flood upon a world of ungodly people.

Darby Translation
and spared not [the] old world, but preserved Noe, [the] eighth, a preacher of righteousness, having brought in [the] flood upon [the] world of [the] ungodly;

International Standard Version
and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people;Genesis 7:1,7, 23; Hebrews 11:7; 1 Peter 3:19-20; 2 Peter 3:6;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
and on the former world was not lenient, but Nuch, who was the eighth preacher of righteousness, he preserved, when the deluge came upon the world of the wicked;

Murdock Translation
and spared not the former world, but preserved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the wicked;

King James Version (1611)
And spared not the old world, but saued Noah the eight person a preacher of righteousnesse, bringing in the flood vpon the world of the vngodly:

New Life Bible
God did not hold back from punishing the people of the world who sinned long ago. He brought the flood on the world of sinners. But Noah was a preacher of right living. He and his family of seven were the only ones God saved.

New Revised Standard
and if he did not spare the ancient world, even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood on a world of the ungodly;

English Standard Version
if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Geneva Bible (1587)
Neither hath spared the olde worlde, but saued Noe the eight person a preacher of righteousnesse, and brought in the flood vpon the world of the vngodly,

George Lamsa Translation
And did not spare the old world, but saved Noah the preacher of righteousness, with his family, eight in all, when he brought the flood upon the wicked people;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, an ancient world, spared not, but, with seven others, preserved, Noah, a proclaimer, of righteousness, a flood, upon a world of ungodly persons, letting loose, -

Douay-Rheims Bible
And spared not the original world, but preserved Noe, the eighth person, the preacher of justice, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
Neither spared the olde worlde, but saued Noe the eyght [person] a preacher of ryghteousnesse, and brought in the flood vpon the worlde of the vngodly,

Good News Translation
God did not spare the ancient world, but brought the flood on the world of godless people; the only ones he saved were Noah, who preached righteousness, and seven other people.

Christian Standard Bible®
and if he didn’t spare the ancient world, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness, and seven others, when he brought the flood on the world of the ungodly;

King James Version
And spared not the old world, but saved Noah the eighth person, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Lexham English Bible
and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a proclaimer of righteousness, and seven others when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly,

Literal Translation
and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah the eighth, a herald of righteousness, bringing a flood on a world of ungodly ones;

Young's Literal Translation
and the old world did not spare, but the eighth person, Noah, of righteousness a preacher, did keep, a flood on the world of the impious having brought,

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Nether spared the olde worlde, but saued Noe the preacher of righteousnes himselfe beynge ye eight, and brought the floude vpo the worlde of the vngodly:

Mace New Testament (1729)
since he did not spare the old world, having preserved only eight persons, including Noah, that preacher of virtue, when he brought the deluge upon the impious world:

New English Translation
and if he did not spare the ancient world, but did protect Noah, a herald of righteousness, along with seven others, when God brought a flood on an ungodly world,

New King James Version
and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly;

Simplified Cowboy Version
God got so fed up with our ancient ancestors that he destroyed the whole world with a flood. Only Noah and seven others were saved. Noah was a cowboy who urged righteous living and practiced what he preached.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when He brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly;

Contextual Overview

³ In their greed they will make up clever lies to get hold of your money. But God condemned them long ago, and their destruction will not be delayed. ⁴ For God did not spare even the angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, in gloomy pits of darkness, where they are being held until the day of judgment. ⁵ And God did not spare the ancient world—except for Noah and the seven others in his family. Noah warned the world of God's righteous judgment. So God protected Noah when he destroyed the world of ungodly people with a vast flood. ⁶ Later, God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and turned them into heaps of ashes. He made them an example of what will happen to ungodly people.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

spared: Genesis 6:1 - Genesis 8:22, Job 22:15, Job 22:16, Matthew 24:37-39, Luke 17:26, Luke 17:27, Hebrews 11:7

the eighth: Genesis 7:1-24, 1 Peter 3:20

a preacher: 1 Peter 3:19, Jude 1:14, Jude 1:15

bringing: 2 Peter 3:6

Reciprocal: Genesis 5:29 - he called Genesis 6:8 - General Genesis 6:9 - just Genesis 6:12 - for all Genesis 6:17 - behold Genesis 6:18 - come Genesis 7:7 - General Genesis 7:13 - day Genesis 7:21 - General Genesis 7:23 - every living substance Deuteronomy 29:20 - will not spare 1 Chronicles 1:4 - Noah Job 6:10 - let him not Job 16:13 - doth Job 27:22 - not spare Psalms 78:50 - he spared Ecclesiastes 1:1 - the Preacher Isaiah 30:14 - he shall not Ezekiel 5:11 - neither shall Ezekiel 7:6 - behold Matthew 24:40 - the one Luke 3:36 - Noe Romans 5:6 - ungodly Romans 8:32 - that 1 Timothy 2:7 - a preacher 1 Peter 4:18 - where 2 Peter 2:4 - spared

Cross-References

Genesis 2:9
The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

Genesis 2:11
The first branch, called the Pishon, flowed around the entire land of Havilah, where gold is found.

Genesis 2:12
The gold of that land is exceptionally pure; aromatic resin and onyx stone are also found there.

Genesis 3:23
So the Lord God banished them from the Garden of Eden, and he sent Adam out to cultivate the ground from which he had been made.

Genesis 4:2
Later she gave birth to his brother and named him Abel. When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain cultivated the ground.

Genesis 4:12
No longer will the ground yield good crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless wanderer on the earth."

Job 5:10
He gives rain for the earth and water for the fields.

Psalms 104:14
You cause grass to grow for the livestock and plants for people to use. You allow them to produce food from the earth—

Psalms 135:7
He causes the clouds to rise over the whole earth. He sends the lightning with the rain and releases the wind from his storehouses.

Jeremiah 14:22
Can any of the worthless foreign gods send us rain? Does it fall from the sky by itself? No, you are the one, O Lord our God! Only you can do such things. So we will wait for you to help us.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And spared not the old world,.... In distinction from the present world, that now is; which was, as it were, formed anew out of that which was destroyed by the deluge. The Vulgate Latin version renders it, "the original world"; and the Ethiopic version, "the first world"; it designs the ancient inhabitants of the world, as it was from the beginning, before the flood; who, being wicked, were not spared by God, but had just punishment inflicted on them:

but saved Noah the eighth person; not the eighth from Adam, as Enoch is said to be the seventh from him, Judges 1:14 for he was the tenth; nor is it to be read with the following clause, "the eighth preacher of righteousness"; but he was the eighth person, or one of the eight persons, saved from the flood; see 1 Peter 3:20 hence the Ethiopic version, rather as a paraphrase than a version, renders it, "but caused to remain seven souls with Noah; whom he saved"; Hottinger p and Dr. Hammond q observe, from the Arabic writers, that the mountain on which the ark rested, and a town near it, were called Themenim; that is, "the eight", from the number of persons then and there saved:

a preacher of righteousness; of the righteousness of God, in all his ways and works, and in case he should destroy the world by a flood, as he had threatened; and of civil and moral righteousness among men, both by words, during the building of the ark, and by works, by his own example, in his righteous life and conversation; and of the righteousness of faith, or of Christ, by which he was justified and of which he was an heir, Hebrews 11:7, the Jews r say that Noah was a prophet; and they represent him also, as a preacher, and even tell us the very words he used in his exhortations to the old world s, saying,

"be ye turned from your evil ways and works, lest the waters of the flood come upon you, and cut off all the seed of the children of men:''

but though Noah, a preacher of righteousness, was saved, false teachers cannot expect to escape divine vengeance; who only are transformed as ministers of righteousness, but in truth are ministers of unrighteousness; opposers of the righteousness of Christ, and live unrighteous lives and conversations, and so their end will be according to their works:

bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly; or "the ungodly of the world", as רשעי ארעא "the ungodly of the earth" t; see

Psalms 75:8 though here it indeed means a whole world of wicked men, all but a very few, which were destroyed by the flood. This expresses both the wickedness of the men of that generation, the imagination of the thoughts of whose heart were evil continually; and whose lives were filled up with uncleanness, violence, rapine, oppression, injustice, and corruption, of all sorts; and likewise the large numbers of them, there was a whole world of them; and yet this did not secure them from the wrath of God, but served to stir it up the more; wherefore false teachers and their followers must not build upon their numbers, or hope to be screened from just punishment on that account; since a world of ungodly men were, for their wickedness, at once swept away, with a flood of God's bringing upon them; causing that very useful and serviceable element of water to be the means of their destruction; for this was not a casual thing, which came of itself, or by chance, but was of God himself, who broke up the fountains of the great deep, and opened the windows of heaven, and destroyed at once all mankind, men, women, and children, and every living creature, excepting what were with Noah in the ark: and since they were persons of such a character as here described, it is not to be thought their punishment is ended here; it is the general notion of the Jews u, that

"the generation of the flood shall have no part in the world to come, nor shall they stand in judgment.''

p Smegma Orientale, p. 251, 252. q In loc. r Aben Ezra in Gen. viii. 21. s Pirke Eliezer, c. 22. t Targum in Psal. xlvi. 8. u Misna Sanhedrin, c. 11. sect. 3. Vajikra Rabba, sect. 4. fol. 149. 1. Yalkut Simeoni, par. 2. fol. 89. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

And spared not the old world - The world before the flood. The argument here is, that he cut off that wicked race, and thus showed that he would punish the guilty. By that awful act of sweeping away the inhabitants of a world, he showed that people could not sin with impunity, and that the incorrigibly wicked must perish.

But saved Noah the eighth person - This reference to Noah, like the reference to Lot in 2 Peter 2:7, seems to have been thrown in in the progress of the argument as an incidental remark, to show that the righteous, however few in number, would be saved when the wicked were cut off. The phrase “Noah the eighth,” means Noah, one of eight; that is, Noah and seven others. This idiom is found, says Dr. Bloomfield, in the best writers - from Herodotus and Thucydides downward. See examples in Wetstein. The meaning in this place then is, that eight persons, and eight only of that race, were saved; thus showing, that while the wicked would be punished, however numerous they might be, the righteous, however few, would be saved.

A preacher of righteousness - In Genesis 6:9, it is said of Noah that he was “a just man and perfect in his generations, and Noah walked with God;” and it may be presumed that during his long life he was faithful in reproving the wickedness of his age, and warned the world of the judgment that was preparing for it. Compare the notes at Hebrews 11:7.

Bringing in the flood upon the world of the ungodly - Upon all the world besides that pious family. The argument here is, that if God would cut off a wicked race in this manner, the principle is settled that the wicked will not escape.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse 5. Spared not the old world — The apostle's argument is this: If God spared not the rebellious angels, nor the sinful antediluvians, nor the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha, he will not spare those wicked teachers who corrupt the pure doctrines of Christianity.

Saved Noah the eighth — Some think that the words should be translated, Noah the eighth preacher of righteousness; but it seems most evident, from 1 Peter 3:20, that eight persons are here meant, which were the whole that were saved in the ark, viz. Shem, Ham, Japhet, and their three wives, six; Noah's wife seven; and Noah himself the eighth. The form of expression, ογδοον Νωε, Noah the eighth, i.e. Noah and seven more, is most common in the Greek language. So in APPIAN, Bell. Pun., p. 12, Τριτος δε ποτε εν σπηλαιῳ κρυπτομενος ελαθε, sometimes he the third (i.e. he with two others) lay hid in a cave. ANDOCIDES, Orat. iv. p. 295: Αἱρεθεις επι τουτῳ δεκατος αυτος, he himself the tenth (i.e. he and nine others) were chosen to this. See a number of other examples in Kypke.

World of the ungodly — A whole race without God-without any pure worship or rational religion.