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Greeting

Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James.

To those who are called, loved by God the Father and kept safe by Jesus Christ.

May you have more and more mercy, peace, and love.

Certain judgment of the false teachers

Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you concerning the salvation we share. Instead, I must write to urge you to fight for the faith delivered once and for all to God’s holy people. Godless people have slipped in among you. They turn the grace of our God into unrestrained immorality and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ. Judgment was passed against them a long time ago.

I want to remind you of something you already know very well. The Lord, who once saved a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn’t maintain their faith. I remind you too of the angels who didn’t keep their position of authority but deserted their own home. The Lord has kept them in eternal chains in the underworld until the judgment of the great day. In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and neighboring towns practiced immoral sexual relations and pursued other sexual urges. By undergoing the punishment of eternal fire, they serve as a warning.

Yet, even knowing this, these dreamers in the same way pollute themselves, reject authority, and slander the angels. The archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil about Moses’ body, did not dare charge him with slander. Instead, he said, “The Lord rebuke you!” 10 But these people slander whatever they don’t understand. They are destroyed by what they know instinctively, as though they were irrational animals.

Prophecies about the false teachers

11 They are damned, for they follow in the footsteps of Cain. For profit they give themselves over to Balaam’s error. They are destroyed in the uprising of Korah. 12 These people are like jagged rocks just below the surface of the water waiting to snag you when they join your love feasts. They feast with you without reverence. They care only for themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; fruitless autumn trees, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom the darkness of the underworld is reserved forever.

14 Enoch, who lived seven generations after Adam, prophesied about these people when he said, “See, the Lord comes with his countless holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on everyone and to convict everyone about every ungodly deed they have committed in their ungodliness as well as all the harsh things that sinful ungodly people have said against him.” 16 These are faultfinding grumblers, living according to their own desires. They speak arrogant words and they show partiality to people when they want a favor in return.

17 But you, dear friends, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They said to you, “In the end time scoffers will come living according to their own ungodly desires.” 19 These people create divisions. Since they don’t have the Spirit, they are worldly.

A strategy for the faithful

20 But you, dear friends: build each other up on the foundation of your most holy faith, pray in the Holy Spirit, 21 keep each other in the love of God, wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will give you eternal life. 22 Have mercy on those who doubt. 23 Save some by snatching them from the fire. Fearing God, have mercy on some, hating even the clothing contaminated by their sinful urges.

Blessing

24 To the one who is able to protect you from falling,
        and to present you blameless and rejoicing before his glorious presence,
25 to the only God our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,
        belong glory, majesty, power, and authority,
            before all time, now and forever. Amen.

Jude,(A) a servant of Jesus Christ(B) and a brother of James,

To those who have been called,(C) who are loved in God the Father and kept for[a] Jesus Christ:(D)

Mercy, peace(E) and love be yours in abundance.(F)

The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People

Dear friends,(G) although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we share,(H) I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend(I) for the faith(J) that was once for all entrusted to God’s holy people.(K) For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about[b] long ago have secretly slipped in among you.(L) They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.(M)

Though you already know all this,(N) I want to remind you(O) that the Lord[c] at one time delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not believe.(P) And the angels who did not keep their positions of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness, bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day.(Q) In a similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah(R) and the surrounding towns(S) gave themselves up to sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.(T)

In the very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings.(U) But even the archangel(V) Michael,(W) when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses,(X) did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”[d](Y) 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational animals do—will destroy them.(Z)

11 Woe to them! They have taken the way of Cain;(AA) they have rushed for profit into Balaam’s error;(AB) they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.(AC)

12 These people are blemishes at your love feasts,(AD) eating with you without the slightest qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves.(AE) They are clouds without rain,(AF) blown along by the wind;(AG) autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted(AH)—twice dead. 13 They are wild waves of the sea,(AI) foaming up their shame;(AJ) wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.(AK)

14 Enoch,(AL) the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming(AM) with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones(AN) 15 to judge(AO) everyone, and to convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”[e](AP) 16 These people are grumblers(AQ) and faultfinders; they follow their own evil desires;(AR) they boast(AS) about themselves and flatter others for their own advantage.

A Call to Persevere

17 But, dear friends, remember what the apostles(AT) of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold.(AU) 18 They said to you, “In the last times(AV) there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.”(AW) 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.(AX)

20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up(AY) in your most holy faith(AZ) and praying in the Holy Spirit,(BA) 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait(BB) for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.(BC)

22 Be merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire;(BD) to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh.[f](BE)

Doxology

24 To him who is able(BF) to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence(BG) without fault(BH) and with great joy— 25 to the only God(BI) our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore!(BJ) Amen.(BK)

Footnotes

  1. Jude 1:1 Or by; or in
  2. Jude 1:4 Or individuals who were marked out for condemnation
  3. Jude 1:5 Some early manuscripts Jesus
  4. Jude 1:9 Jude is alluding to the Jewish Testament of Moses (approximately the first century a.d.).
  5. Jude 1:15 From the Jewish First Book of Enoch (approximately the first century b.c.)
  6. Jude 1:23 The Greek manuscripts of these verses vary at several points.