Increasing Corruption on Earth

6 When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, ² the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. ³ Then the Lord said, ^(A)“My Spirit shall not abide in^[a] man forever, ^(B)for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years.” ⁴ The Nephilim^[b] were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown.

¹⁸ For Christ also ^(A)suffered^{[a] (B)}once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, ^(C)that he might bring us to God, being put to death ^(D)in the flesh but made alive ^(E)in the spirit, ¹⁹ in which^[b] he went and ^(F)proclaimed^[c] to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ because^[d] they formerly did not obey, ^(G)when God's patience waited in the days of Noah, ^(H)while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, ^(I)eight persons, were brought safely through water.

⁴ For if God did not spare ^(A)angels when they sinned, but ^(B)cast them into hell^[a] and committed them to chains^[b] of gloomy darkness ^(C)to be kept until the judgment; ⁵ if he did not spare the ancient world, but ^(D)preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven others, when he brought ^(E)a flood upon the world of the ungodly; ⁶ if by ^(F)turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes he condemned them to extinction, ^(G)making them an example of ^(H)what is going to happen to the ungodly;^{[c] 7} and ^(I)if he rescued righteous Lot, greatly distressed by the sensual conduct of the wicked ⁸ (for as that righteous man lived among them day after day, ^(J)he was tormenting his righteous soul over their lawless deeds that he saw and heard); ⁹ then ^(K)the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials,^[d] and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, ¹⁰ and especially ^(L)those who indulge^[e] in the lust of defiling passion and ^(M)despise authority.

Bold and willful, they do not tremble ^(N)as they blaspheme the glorious ones,

Greeting

¹ Jude, a servant^[a] of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

^(A)To those who are called, ^(B)beloved in God the Father and ^(C)kept for^[b] Jesus Christ:

² May ^(D)mercy, ^(E)peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Judgment on False Teachers

³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our ^(F)common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you ^(G)to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For ^(H)certain people ^(I)have crept in unnoticed ^(J)who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert ^(K)the grace of our God into sensuality and ^(L)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵ Now I want ^(M)to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that ^(N)Jesus, who saved^[c] a people out of the land of Egypt, ^(O)afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And ^(P)the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— ⁷ just as ^(Q)Sodom and Gomorrah and ^(R)the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and ^(S)pursued unnatural desire,^[d] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and ^(T)blaspheme the glorious ones. ⁹ But when ^(U)the archangel ^(V)Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing ^(W)about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, ^(X)“The Lord rebuke you.” ^10 (Y)But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in ^(Z)the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain ^(AA)to Balaam's error and ^(AB)perished in Korah's rebellion. ¹² These are hidden reefs^{[e] (AC)}at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, ^(AD)shepherds feeding themselves; ^(AE)waterless clouds, ^(AF)swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, ^(AG)uprooted; ^13 (AH)wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of ^(AI)their own shame; ^(AJ)wandering stars, ^(AK)for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, ^(AL)the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, ^(AM)“Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, ^15 (AN)to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have ^(AO)committed in such an ungodly way, and of all ^(AP)the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ¹⁶ These are grumblers, malcontents, ^(AQ)following their own sinful desires; ^(AR)they are loud-mouthed boasters, ^(AS)showing favoritism to gain advantage.

A Call to Persevere

¹⁷ But you must ^(AT)remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ They^[f] said to you, ^(AU)“In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” ¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, ^(AV)devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, ^(AW)building yourselves up in your most holy faith and ^(AX)praying in the Holy Spirit, ^21 (AY)keep yourselves in the love of God, ^(AZ)waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³ save others by ^(BA)snatching them out of ^(BB)the fire; to others show mercy ^(BC)with fear, hating even ^(BD)the garment^[g] stained by the flesh.

Doxology

^24 (BE)Now to him who is able ^(BF)to keep you from stumbling and ^(BG)to present you ^(BH)blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, ²⁵ to ^(BI)the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, ^(BJ)be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time^[h] and now and forever. Amen.