The Glorious Company

¹⁸ For you have not come ^[a]to ^(A)the mountain that may be touched and that burned with fire, and to blackness and ^[b]darkness and tempest, ¹⁹ and the sound of a trumpet and the voice of words, so that those who heard it ^(B)begged that the word should not be spoken to them anymore. ²⁰ (For they could not endure what was commanded: ^(C)“And if so much as a beast touches the mountain, it shall be stoned ^[c]or shot with an arrow.” ²¹ And so terrifying was the sight that Moses said, ^(D)“I am exceedingly afraid and trembling.”)

²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels, ²³ to the ^[d]general assembly and church of ^(E)the firstborn ^(F)who are registered in heaven, to God ^(G)the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men ^(H)made perfect, ²⁴ to Jesus ^(I)the Mediator of the new covenant, and to ^(J)the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things ^(K)than that of Abel.

Hear the Heavenly Voice

²⁵ See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. For ^(L)if they did not escape who refused Him who spoke on earth, much more shall we not escape if we turn away from Him who speaks from heaven, ²⁶ whose voice then shook the earth; but now He has promised, saying, ^(M)“Yet once more I ^[e]shake not only the earth, but also heaven.” ²⁷ Now this, “Yet once more,” indicates the ^(N)removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.

²⁸ Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace, by which we ^[f]may ^(O)serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear. ²⁹ For ^(P)our God is a consuming fire.

Greeting to the Called

¹ Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and ^(A)brother of James,

To those who are ^(B)called, ^[a]sanctified by God the Father, and ^(C)preserved in Jesus Christ:

² Mercy, ^(D)peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Contend for the Faith

³ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you ^(E)concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting ^(F)you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord ^[b]God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Old and New Apostates

⁵ But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that ^(G)the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their ^[c]proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; ⁷ as ^(H)Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the ^[d]vengeance of eternal fire.

^8 (I)Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and ^(J)speak evil of ^[e]dignitaries. ⁹ Yet Michael the archangel, in ^[f]contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ^(K)“The Lord rebuke you!” ^10 (L)But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way ^(M)of Cain, ^(N)have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished ^(O)in the rebellion of Korah.

Apostates Depraved and Doomed

¹² These are ^[g]spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried ^[h]about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; ^13 (P)raging waves of the sea, ^(Q)foaming up their own shame; wandering stars ^(R)for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

¹⁴ Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the ^(S)harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Apostates Predicted

¹⁶ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they ^(T)mouth great swelling words, ^(U)flattering people to gain advantage. ^17 (V)But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that ^(W)there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are ^[i]sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Maintain Your Life with God

²⁰ But you, beloved, ^(X)building yourselves up on your most holy faith, ^(Y)praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, ^(Z)looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

²² And on some have compassion, ^[j]making a distinction; ²³ but ^(AA)others save ^[k]with fear, ^(AB)pulling them out of the ^[l]fire, hating even ^(AC)the garment defiled by the flesh.

Glory to God

⁷ For ^(A)God has not given us a spirit of fear, ^(B)but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Not Ashamed of the Gospel

^8 (C)Therefore do not be ashamed of ^(D)the testimony of our Lord, nor of me ^(E)His prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings for the gospel according to the power of God, ⁹ who has saved us and called us with a holy calling, ^(F)not according to our works, but ^(G)according to His own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus ^(H)before time began, ¹⁰ but ^(I)has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel, ^11 (J)to which I was appointed a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher ^[a]of the Gentiles. ¹² For this reason I also suffer these things; nevertheless I am not ashamed, ^(K)for I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.

Be Loyal to the Faith

^13 (L)Hold fast ^(M)the pattern of ^(N)sound words which you have heard from me, in faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. ¹⁴ That good thing which was committed to you, keep by the Holy Spirit who dwells in us.

Be Strong in Grace

2 You therefore, ^(A)my son, ^(B)be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. ² And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. ³ You therefore must ^(C)endure^[a] hardship ^(D)as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. ^4 (E)No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please him who enlisted him as a soldier. ⁵ And also ^(F)if anyone competes in athletics, he is not crowned unless he competes according to the rules.

⁸ But ^(A)God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.