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Exhortation to the Faithful

17 But you, dear friends—recall the predictions[a] foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.[b] 18 For they said to you, “At the end of time[c] there will come[d] scoffers, propelled by their own ungodly desires.”[e] 19 These people are divisive,[f] worldly,[g] devoid of the Spirit.[h] 20 But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith, by praying in the Holy Spirit,[i] 21 maintain[j] yourselves in the love of God, while anticipating[k] the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings eternal life.[l]

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Footnotes

  1. Jude 1:17 tn Grk “words.” In conjunction with προεῖπον (proeipon), however, the meaning of the construction is that the apostles uttered prophecies.
  2. Jude 1:17 sn This verse parallels 2 Pet 3:2 both conceptually and in much of the verbiage. There is one important difference, however: In 2 Pet 3:2 the prophets and apostles speak; here, just the apostles speak. This makes good sense if Jude is using 2 Peter as his main source and is urging his readers to go back to the authoritative writings, both OT and now especially NT.
  3. Jude 1:18 tc The ὅτι (hoti) before ἐπ᾿ ἐσχάτου χρόνου (ep eschatou chronou, “at the end of time”), found in the NA27 text, can either be translated as “that” or left untranslated as a marker of direct discourse. The NA28 has dropped the ὅτι, though with a diamond preceding it in the apparatus indicating a toss-up on the initial wording. Without the conjunction, direct discourse is surely meant, and with it it is just as likely as indirect discourse. The translation above makes no decision on the presence or absence of the conjunction, but renders either variant as direct discourse.
  4. Jude 1:18 tn Grk “be.”
  5. Jude 1:18 tn Grk “going according to their own desires of ungodliness.”sn Jude cites 2 Pet 3:3, changing a few of the words among other things, cleaning up the syntax, conforming it to Hellenistic style.
  6. Jude 1:19 tn Grk “these are the ones who cause divisions.”
  7. Jude 1:19 tn Or “natural,” that is, living on the level of instincts, not on a spiritual level (the same word occurs in 1 Cor 2:14 as a description of nonbelievers).
  8. Jude 1:19 tn Grk “not having [the] Spirit.”sn The phrase devoid of the Spirit may well indicate Jude’s and Peter’s assessment of the spiritual status of the false teachers. Those who do not have the Spirit are clearly not saved.
  9. Jude 1:20 tn The participles in v. 20 have been variously interpreted. Some treat them imperativally or as attendant circumstance to the imperative in v. 21 (“maintain”): “build yourselves up…pray.” But they do not follow the normal contours of either the imperatival or attendant circumstance participles, rendering this unlikely. A better option is to treat them as the means by which the readers are to maintain themselves in the love of God. This both makes eminently good sense and fits the structural patterns of instrumental participles elsewhere.
  10. Jude 1:21 tn Or “keep.”
  11. Jude 1:21 tn Or “waiting for.”
  12. Jude 1:21 tn Grk “unto eternal life.”