Blessings in Store for God’s People

A Third Time Jesus Foretells His Death and Resurrection

³² They were on the road, going up to Jerusalem, and Jesus was walking ahead of them; they were amazed, and those who followed were afraid. He took the twelve aside again and began to tell them what was to happen to him, ³³ saying, “Look, we are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the scribes, and they will condemn him to death; then they will hand him over to the gentiles;^{(A) 34} they will mock him and spit upon him and flog him and kill him, and after three days he will rise again.”^(B)

The Request of James and John

³⁵ James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came forward to him and said to him, “Teacher, we want you to do for us whatever we ask of you.” ³⁶ And he said to them, “What is it you want me to do for you?” ³⁷ And they said to him, “Appoint us to sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your glory.”^{(C) 38} But Jesus said to them, “You do not know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup that I drink or be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?”^{(D) 39} They replied, “We are able.” Then Jesus said to them, “The cup that I drink you will drink, and with the baptism with which I am baptized you will be baptized,^{(E) 40} but to sit at my right hand or at my left is not mine to appoint, but it is for those for whom it has been prepared.”

⁴¹ When the ten heard this, they began to be angry with James and John. ⁴² So Jesus called them and said to them, “You know that among the gentiles those whom they recognize as their rulers lord it over them, and their great ones are tyrants over them. ⁴³ But it is not so among you; instead, whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant,^{(F) 44} and whoever wishes to be first among you must be slave of all. ⁴⁵ For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve and to give his life a ransom for many.”^(G)

The Healing of Blind Bartimaeus

⁴⁶ They came to Jericho. As he and his disciples and a large crowd were leaving Jericho, Bartimaeus son of Timaeus, a blind beggar, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ When he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to shout out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”^{(H) 48} Many sternly ordered him to be quiet, but he cried out even more loudly, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ Jesus stood still and said, “Call him here.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart; get up, he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ So throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus. ⁵¹ Then Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?” The blind man said to him, “My teacher,^[a] let me see again.”^{(I) 52} Jesus said to him, “Go; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he regained his sight and followed him on the way.^(J)

Let Zion Rejoice

³ For thus says the Lord: You were sold for nothing, and you shall be redeemed without money.^{(J) 4} For thus says the Lord God: Long ago, my people went down into Egypt to reside there as aliens; the Assyrian, too, has oppressed them without cause.^{(K) 5} Now therefore what am I doing here, says the Lord, seeing that my people are taken away without cause? Their rulers howl, says the Lord, and continually, all day long, my name is despised.^{(L) 6} Therefore my people shall know my name; on^[d] that day they shall know that it is I who speak—it is I!^(M)

Salutation

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

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

² May mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.

Occasion of the Letter

³ Beloved, while eagerly preparing to write to you about the salvation we share, I find it necessary to write and appeal to you to contend for the faith that was once and for all handed on to the saints.^{(B) 4} For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our God into debauchery and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.^[e](C)

Judgment on False Teachers

⁵ Now I desire to remind you, though you are fully informed, once and for all, that Jesus, who saved^[f] a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe.^{(D) 6} And the angels who did not keep their own position but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deepest darkness for the judgment of the great day.^{(E) 7} Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural lust,^[g] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.^(F)

⁸ Yet in the same way these dreamers also defile the flesh, reject authority, and slander the glorious ones.^{[h](G) 9} But when the archangel Michael disputed with the devil and argued about the body of Moses, he did not dare to bring a condemnation of slander^[i] against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”^{(H) 10} But these people slander whatever they do not understand, and they are destroyed by those things that, like irrational animals, they know by instinct. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they go the way of Cain and abandon themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain and perish in Korah’s rebellion.^{(I) 12} These are blots^[j] on your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, feeding themselves.^[k] They are waterless clouds carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, uprooted;^{(J) 13} wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the deepest darkness has been reserved forever.^(K)

¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “See, the Lord is coming^[l] with ten thousands of his holy ones,^{(L) 15} to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly^[m] of all the deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.” ¹⁶ These are grumblers and malcontents; they indulge their lusts;^[n] their mouths utter bombastic nonsense, flattering people to their own advantage.^(M)

Warnings and Exhortations

¹⁷ But you, beloved, must remember the words previously spoken by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ for they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, indulging their own ungodly lusts.”^{(N) 19} It is these worldly people, devoid of the Spirit, who are causing divisions. ²⁰ But you, beloved, build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit;^{(O) 21} keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to^[o] eternal life.^{(P) 22} And have mercy on some who are wavering; ²³ save others by snatching them out of the fire; and have mercy on still others with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.^[p](Q)

Benediction

²⁴ Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand without blemish in the presence of his glory with rejoicing,^{(R) 25} to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.^(S)