2 Peter 2:6
“And turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrha into ashes condemned them with an overthrow, making them an ensample unto those that after should live ungodly;”
King James Version (KJV)
Read this verse in context with translation switching:
Read Full Chapter →God reduced Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes as an example to all who would later live ungodly lives.
What Does 2 Peter 2:6 Mean?
Peter's third example is Sodom and Gomorrah, cities "turned into ashes" and condemned by "an overthrow." Their destruction was not random but purposeful: God made them "an ensample" — a warning sample — to everyone who would afterward "live ungodly." Their ruin still stands as a sign of what awaits persistent wickedness.
Past judgments are written as warnings for the present. The smoking ruin of these cities is meant to be looked at and learned from. God does not delight in destruction, but He sets it forth so that others might turn before it is too late. For Peter's readers, surrounded by false teachers indulging in ungodliness, the lesson is pointed. Yet a warning is also a mercy: it is given so that some will heed it and escape. The believer reads these ancient judgments not with grim satisfaction but with sober reverence, grateful for the rescue found in Christ and stirred to walk in the fear of God.