Jude
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
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)
Footnotes
- 1 Gk Judas
- 1 Other ancient authorities read sanctified
- 1 Or by
- 1 Or by
- 4 Or the only Master and our Lord Jesus Christ
- 5 Other ancient authorities read informed, that the Lord who once and for all saved
- 7 Gk went after other flesh
- 8 Or angels; Gk glories
- 9 Or condemnation for blasphemy
- 12 Or reefs
- 12 Or without fear. They are shepherds who care only for themselves
- 14 Gk came
- 15 Other ancient authorities read everyone
- 16 Other ancient authorities read their own lusts
- 21 Gk Christ to
- 23 Gk by the flesh
Jude
Contemporary English Version
1 (A) From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and the brother of James.
To all who are chosen and loved by God the Father and are kept safe by Jesus Christ.
2 I pray that God will greatly bless you with mercy, peace, and love!
False Teachers
3 My dear friends, I really wanted to write you about God's saving power at work in our lives. But instead, I must write and ask you to defend the faith that God has once for all given to his people. 4 Some godless people have sneaked in among us and are saying, “God treats us much better than we deserve, and so it is all right to be immoral.” They even deny we must obey Jesus Christ as our only Master and Lord. But long ago the Scriptures warned that these godless people were doomed.
5 (B) Don't forget what happened to those people the Lord rescued from Egypt. Some of them did not have faith, and he later destroyed them. 6 You also know about the angels[a] who didn't do their work and left their proper places. God chained them with everlasting chains and is now keeping them in dark pits until the great day of judgment. 7 (C) We should also be warned by what happened to the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah[b] and the nearby towns. Their people became immoral and committed all sorts of sexual sins. Then God made an example of them and punished them with eternal fire.
8 The people I am talking about are behaving just like those dreamers who destroyed their own bodies. They reject all authority and insult angels. 9 (D) Even Michael, the chief angel, didn't dare to insult the devil, when the two of them were arguing about the body of Moses.[c] All Michael said was, “The Lord will punish you!”
10 But these people insult powers they don't know anything about. They are like senseless animals that end up getting destroyed, because they live only by their feelings. 11 (E) Now they are in for real trouble. They have followed Cain's example[d] and have made the same mistake that Balaam[e] did by caring only for money. They have also rebelled against God, just as Korah did.[f] Because of all this, they will be destroyed.
12 These people are filthy minded, and by their shameful and selfish actions they spoil the meals you eat together. They are like clouds blown along by the wind, but never bringing any rain. They are like leafless trees, uprooted and dead, and unable to produce fruit. 13 Their shameful deeds show up like foam on wild ocean waves. They are like wandering stars forever doomed to the darkest pits of hell.
14 (F) Enoch was the seventh person after Adam, and he was talking about these people when he said:
Look! The Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of holy angels 15 to judge everyone. He will punish all those ungodly people for all the evil things they have done. The Lord will surely punish those ungodly sinners for every evil thing they have ever said about him.
16 These people grumble and complain and live by their own selfish desires. They brag about themselves and flatter others to get what they want.
More Warnings
17 My dear friends, remember the warning you were given by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 (G) They told you that near the end of time, selfish and godless people would start making fun of God. 19 And now these people are already making you turn against each other. They think only about this life, and they don't have God's Spirit.
20 Dear friends, keep building on the foundation of your most holy faith, as the Holy Spirit helps you to pray. 21 And keep in step with God's love, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to show how kind he is by giving you eternal life. 22 Be helpful to[g] all who may have doubts. 23 Rescue any who need to be saved, as you would rescue someone from a fire. Then with fear in your own hearts, have mercy on everyone who needs it. But hate even the clothes of those who have been made dirty by their filthy deeds.
Final Prayer
24-25 Offer praise to God our Savior because of our Lord Jesus Christ! Only God can keep you from falling and make you pure and joyful in his glorious presence. Before time began and now and forever, God is worthy of glory, honor, power, and authority. Amen.
Footnotes
- 6 angels: This may refer to the angels who liked the women on earth so much that they came down and married them (see Genesis 6.2).
- 7 Sodom and Gomorrah: During the time of Abraham the Lord destroyed these cities because the people there were so evil.
- 9 Michael … the body of Moses: This refers to what was said in an ancient Jewish book about Moses.
- 11 Cain's example: Cain murdered his brother Abel.
- 11 Balaam: According to the biblical account, Balaam refused to curse the people of Israel for profit (see Numbers 22.18; 24.13), though he led them to be unfaithful to the Lord (see Numbers 25.1-3; 31.16). But by New Testament times, some Jewish teachers taught that Balaam was greedy and did accept money to curse them.
- 11 just as Korah did: Together with Dathan and Abiram, Korah led a rebellion against Moses and Aaron (see Numbers 16.1-35; 26.9,10).
- 22 Be helpful to: Some manuscripts have “Correct.”
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
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