The Heavenly Ministry of the New Covenant

¹¹ But Christ has arrived as a high priest of the good things to come. Through the greater and more perfect tent not made by hands, that is, not of this creation, ¹² and not by the blood of goats and calves, but by his own blood, he entered once for all into the most holy place, obtaining eternal redemption. ¹³ For if the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a young cow sprinkled on those who are defiled sanctify them for the ritual purity of the flesh, ¹⁴ how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, cleanse our consciences from dead works to serve the living God?

¹⁵ And because of this, he is the mediator of a new covenant, in order that, because^[a] a death has taken place for the redemption of transgressions committed during the first covenant, those who are the called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance. ¹⁶ For where there is a will, it is a necessity for the death of the one who made the will to be established. ¹⁷ For a will is in force concerning those who are dead, since it is never in force when the one who made the will is alive. ¹⁸ Therefore not even the first covenant was ratified without blood. ¹⁹ For when^[b] every commandment had been spoken by Moses to all the people according to the law, he took the blood of calves^[c] with water and scarlet wool and hyssop and sprinkled both the scroll itself and all the people, ²⁰ saying,

²¹ And likewise he sprinkled both the tabernacle and all the utensils of service with the blood. ²² Indeed, nearly everything is purified with blood according to the law, and apart from the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

²³ Therefore it was necessary for the sketches of the things in heaven to be purified with these sacrifices, but the heavenly things themselves to be purified with better sacrifices than these. ²⁴ For Christ did not enter into a sanctuary made by hands, a mere copy of the true one, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf, ²⁵ and not in order that he can offer himself many times, as the high priest enters into the sanctuary year by year^[e] with blood not his own, ²⁶ since it would have been necessary for him to suffer many times from the foundation of the world, but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself. ²⁷ And just as^[f] it is destined for people to die once, and after this, judgment, ²⁸ thus also Christ, having been offered once in order to bear the sins of many, will appear for the second time without reference to sin to those who eagerly await him for salvation.

¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and you do not understand these things? ¹¹ Truly, truly I say to you, we speak what we know, and we testify about what we have seen, and you do not accept our testimony! ¹² If I tell you earthly things and you do not believe, how will you believe if I tell you heavenly things? ¹³ And no one has ascended into heaven except the one who descended from heaven—the Son of Man. ¹⁴ And just as Moses lifted up the snake in the wilderness,^[a] thus it is necessary that the Son of Man be lifted up, ¹⁵ so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.”^[b]

God’s Love for the World

¹⁶ For in this way God loved the world, so that he gave his one and only Son, in order that everyone who believes in him will not perish, but will have eternal life. ¹⁷ For God did not send his Son into the world in order that he should judge^[c] the world, but in order that the world should be saved through him. ¹⁸ The one who believes in him is not judged,^[d] but the one who does not believe has already been judged,^[e] because he has not believed in the name of the one and only Son of God. ¹⁹ And this is the judgment: that the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light, because their deeds were evil. ²⁰ For everyone who practices evil hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his deeds be exposed. ²¹ But the one who practices the truth comes to the light, in order that his deeds may be revealed, that they are done in God.

All Israel to be Saved

²⁵ For I do not want you to be ignorant, brothers, of this mystery, so that you will not be wise in your own sight,^[a] that a partial hardening has happened to Israel, until the full number of the Gentiles has come in, ²⁶ and so all Israel will be saved, just as it is written,

²⁸ With respect to the gospel, they are enemies for your sake, but with respect to election, they are dearly loved for the sake of the fathers. ²⁹ For the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable. ³⁰ For just as you formerly were disobedient to God, but now have been shown mercy because of the disobedience of these, ³¹ so also these have now been disobedient for your mercy, in order that they also may now be shown mercy. ³² For God confined them all in disobedience, in order that he could have mercy on them all.

Greeting

¹ Jude,^[a] a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, loved in God the Father and kept for^[b] Jesus Christ. ² May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.

Contend for the Faith

³ Dear friends, although I^[c] was making every effort to write to you concerning our common salvation, I considered it a necessity to write to you to encourage you to contend for the faith delivered once and for all to the saints. ⁴ For certain men^[d] have slipped in stealthily, who were designated long ago for this condemnation, ungodly ones, who change the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ.

Condemnation of the Ungodly False Teachers

⁵ Now I want to remind you, although you know everything once and for all,^[e] that Jesus,^[f] having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, the second time destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling place, he has kept in eternal bonds under deep gloom for the judgment of the great day, ⁷ as Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire^[g] in the same way as these, are exhibited as an example by^[h] undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ Despite that, in the same way also these men, because of their^[i] dreams, defile the flesh and reject authority and blaspheme majestic beings. ⁹ But Michael the archangel, when he argued with the devil, disputing concerning the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But these persons blaspheme all that they do not understand, and all that they understand by instinct like the irrational animals, by these things they are being destroyed. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have traveled in the way of Cain, and have given themselves up to the error of Balaam for gain, and have perished^[j] in the rebellion of Korah. ¹² These are the ones feasting together without reverence, hidden reefs at your love feasts, caring for themselves, waterless clouds carried away by winds, late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted, ¹³ wild waves of the sea foaming up their own shameful deeds, wandering stars, for whom the deep gloom of darkness has been reserved for eternity.

¹⁴ And Enoch, the seventh from Adam, also prophesied about^[k] these people, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with tens of thousands of his holy ones ¹⁵ to execute judgment against all, and to convict all the ungodly^[l] concerning all their ungodly deeds that they have committed in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. ¹⁶ These people are grumblers, discontented, proceeding according to their^[m] desires, and their mouths speaking pompous words, showing partiality to gain an advantage^[n].

Persevere in the Love of God

¹⁷ But you, dear friends, remember the words proclaimed beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ for they said to you,^[o] “In the end time there will be scoffers following according to their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, worldly, not having the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, dear friends, by^[p] building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by^[q] praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on those who doubt, ²³ and save others by^[r] snatching them from the fire, and have mercy on others with fear, hating even the tunic stained by the flesh.

Benediction

²⁴ Now to the one who is able to protect you from stumbling and make you to stand before his glory blameless^[s] with exultation, ²⁵ to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time and now and for all eternity. Amen.