And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;

suffering wrong as the hire of wrong-doing; men that count it pleasure to revel in the day-time, spots and blemishes, revelling in their deceivings while they feast with you;

Receiving the reward of their injustice, counting for a pleasure the delights of a day: stains and spots, sporting themselves to excess, rioting in their feasts with you:

receiving the reward of unrighteousness; accounting ephemeral indulgence pleasure; spots and blemishes, rioting in their own deceits, feasting with you;

suffering wrong as the hire of wrong-doing; men that count it pleasure to revel in the day-time, spots and blemishes, revelling in their love-feasts while they feast with you;

about to receive a reward of unrighteousness, pleasures counting the luxury in the day, spots and blemishes, luxuriating in their deceits, feasting with you,

being doomed to receive a requital for their guilt. They reckon it pleasure to feast daintily in broad daylight. They are spots and blemishes, while feeding luxuriously at their love-feasts, and banqueting with you.

For the evil which overtakes them is the reward of their evil-doing: such men take their pleasure in the delights of the flesh even in the daytime; they are like the marks of a disease, like poisoned wounds among you, feasting together with you in joy;

suffering the penalty as the wages of evil; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and blemishes, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you;

receiving the reward of injustice, the fruition of valuing the delights of the day: defilements and stains, overflowing with self-indulgences, taking pleasure in their feasts with you,

suffering themselves, as the penalty for the suffering that they have inflicted. They think that pleasure consists in the self-indulgence of the moment. They are a stain and a disgrace, indulging, as they do, in their wanton revelry, even while joining you at your feasts.

Count it pleasure [1] As though he had said, "They place their happiness in their present enjoyments." We know that men excel brute animals in this, that they extend their thoughts much farther. It is, then, a base thing in man to be occupied only with present things. Here he reminds us that our minds ought to be freed from the gratifications of the flesh, except we wish to be reduced to the state of beasts. The meaning of what follows is this, "These are filthy spots to you and your assembly; for while they feast with you, they at the same time luxuriate in their errors, and shew by their eyes and gestures their lascivious lusts and detestable incontinency." Erasmus has rendered the words thus, "Feasting in their errors, they deride you." But this is too forced. It may not unaptly be thus explained, "Feasting with you, they insolently deride you by their errors." I, however, have given the version which seems the most probable, "luxuriating in their errors, feasting with you." He calls the libidinous such as had eyes full of adultery, and who were incessantly led to sin without restraint, as it appears from what is afterwards said.

Footnotes

1 - It is better to connect the first words of this verse, "receiving the reward of unrigrhteousness," with the foregoing, and to begin another period with this clause, and to render this verse and the following thus, -- "Counting (or, deeming) riot in the day-time a pleasure, they are spots and stains, rioting in their own delusions, feasting together with (14) you; having eyes full of adultery and which cease not from sin, ensnaring unstable souls, having a heart inured to covetous desires, being children of the curse." The various things said of them are intended to shew that they were "spots and stains," disgraceful and defiling: they rioted in carnal pleasure, and rioted in delusion, and associated with the faithful, feasting with them; they were libidinous, and led unstable souls to follow their ways; they were covetous, and shewed that they were heirs to the curse of God. -- Ed.

And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness - The appropriate recompense of their wickedness in the future world. Such people do not always receive the due recompense of their deeds in the present life; and as it is a great and immutable principle that all will be treated, under the government of God, as they deserve, or that justice will be rendered to every rational being, it follows that there must be punishment in the future state.
As they that count it pleasure to riot in the day-time - As especially wicked, shameless, and abandoned men; for only such revel in open day. Compare the Acts 2:15 note; 1-Thessalonians 5:7 note.
Spots they are and blemishes - That is, they are like a dark spot on a pure garment, or like a deformity on an otherwise beautiful person. They are a scandal and disgrace to the Christian profession.
Sporting themselves - The Greek word here means to live delicately or luxuriously; to revel. The idea is not exactly that of sporting, or playing, or amusing themselves; but it is that they take advantage of their views to live in riot and luxury. Under the garb of the Christian profession, they give indulgence to the most corrupt passions.
With their own deceivings - Jude, in the parallel place, Jde 1:12, has, "These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you." Several versions, and a few manuscripts also, here read "feasts" instead of "deceivings," (ἀγάπαῖς agapais for ἀπάταις apatais.) The common reading, however, is undoubtedly the correct one, (see Wetstein, in loc.); and the meaning is, that they took advantage of their false views to turn even the sacred feasts of charity, or perhaps the Lord's Supper itself, into an occasion of sensual indulgence. Compare the notes at 1-Corinthians 11:20-22. The difference between these persons, and those in the church at Corinth, seems to have been that these did it at design, and for the purpose of leading others into sin; those who were in the church at Corinth erred through ignorance.
While they feast with you - συνευωχούμενοι suneuōchoumenoi. This word means to feast several together; to feast with anyone; and the reference seems to be to some festival which was celebrated by Christians, where men and women were assembled together, 2-Peter 2:14, and where they could convert the festival into a scene of riot and disorder. If the Lord's Supper was celebrated by them as it was at Corinth, that would furnish such an occasion; or if it was preceded by a "feast of charity" (notes, Jde 1:12), that would furnish such an occasion. It would seem to be probable that a festival of some kind was connected with the observance of the Lord's Supper (notes, 1-Corinthians 11:21), and that this was converted by these persons into a scene of riot and disorder.

They that count it pleasure to riot in the day time - Most sinners, in order to practice their abominable pleasures, seek the secrecy of the night; but these, bidding defiance to all decorum, decency, and shame, take the open day, and thus proclaim their impurities to the sun.
Spots - and blemishes - They are a disgrace to the Christian name.
Sporting themselves - Forming opinions which give license to sin, and then acting on those opinions; and thus rioting in their own deceits.
With their own deceivings - Εν ταις απαταις. But instead of this, AB, and almost all the versions and several of the fathers, have εν ταις αγαπαις, in your love feasts, which is probably the true reading.
While they feast with you - It appears they held a kind of communion with the Church, and attended sacred festivals, which they desecrated with their own unhallowed opinions and conduct.

And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, [as] they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots [they are] and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings (n) while they feast with you;
(n) When by being among the Christians in the holy banquets which the Church keeps, they would seem by that to be true members of the Church, yet they are indeed but blots on the Church.

And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness,.... Due punishment, both in body and soul, for all their injustice to God and men; which will be a just recompense of reward they shall receive at the righteous judgment of God, who will render to every man according to his works: the justice of which appears by what follows,
as they that count it pleasure to riot in the daytime; who place all their satisfaction and happiness in sensual delight, in rioting and drunkenness, in chambering and wantonness, day after day; putting away the evil day far from them, supposing that tomorrow will be as this day, and that there will be no future judgment nor state; and therefore do not take the night for their revels, as other sinners do, but being without all shame, declare their sin as Sodom, and hide it not:
spots they are, and blemishes; which defile themselves, their minds and consciences, their souls and bodies, with sin, and defile others by their evil communications, and bring dishonour and disgrace upon the ways, doctrines, and interest of Christ:
sporting themselves with their own deceivings; with their sins and lusts, by which they deceive themselves and others, it being a sport to them to commit sin; and in which they take great pleasure and pastime, and not only delight in their own sins, but in those of others, and in them that do them. Some versions, as the Vulgate Latin and Arabic, instead of "deceivings", read love feasts, as in Jde 1:12, and so the Alexandrian copy; in which they behaved in a very scandalous manner, indulging themselves in luxury and intemperance: to which agrees what follows,
while they feast with you; at the above feasts, or at the Lord's table, or at their own houses, which shows that they were of them, and among them, as in 2-Peter 2:1; and carries in it a tacit reproof for the continuance of them, when they were become so bad in their principles, and so scandalous in their lives.

receive--"shall carry off as their due."
reward of--that is, for their "unrighteousness" [ALFORD]. Perhaps it is implied, unrighteousness shall be its own reward or punishment. "Wages of unrighteousness" (2-Peter 2:15) has a different sense, namely, the earthly gain to be gotten by "unrighteousness."
in the daytime--Translate as Greek, "counting the luxury which is in the daytime (not restricted to night, as ordinary revelling. Or as Vulgate and CALVIN, "the luxury which is but for a day": so Hebrews 11:25, "the pleasures of sin for a season"; and Hebrews 12:16, Esau) to be pleasure," that is, to be their chief good and highest enjoyment.
Spots--in themselves.
blemishes--disgraces: bringing blame (so the Greek) on the Church and on Christianity itself.
sporting themselves--Greek, "luxuriating."
with--Greek, "in."
deceivings--or else passively, "deceits": luxuries gotten by deceit. Compare Matthew 13:22, "Deceitfulness of riches"; Ephesians 4:22, "Deceitful lusts." While deceiving others, they are deceived themselves. Compare with English Version, Philippians 3:19, "Whose glory is in their shame." "Their own" stands in opposition to "you": "While partaking of the love-feast (compare Jde 1:12) with you," they are at the same time "luxuriating in their own deceivings," or "deceits" (to which latter clause answers Jde 1:12, end: Peter presents the positive side, "they luxuriate in their own deceivings"; Jude, the negative, "feeding themselves without fear"). But several of the oldest manuscripts, Vulgate, Syriac, and Sahidic Versions read (as Jude), "In their own love-feasts": "their own" will then imply that they pervert the love-feasts so as to make them subserve their own self-indulgent purposes.

They count it pleasure to riot in the day time - They glory in doing it in the face of the sun. They are spots in themselves, blemishes to any church. Sporting themselves with their own deceivings - Making a jest of those whom they deceive and even jesting while they are deceiving their own souls.