The King of Kings. ^11 [a]Then I saw the heavens opened, and there was a white horse; its rider was [called] “Faithful and True.” He judges and wages war in righteousness.^{(A) 12} His eyes were [like] a fiery flame, and on his head were many diadems. He had a name^[b] inscribed that no one knows except himself.^{(B) 13} He wore a cloak that had been dipped in^[c] blood, and his name was called the Word of God.^{(C) 14} The armies of heaven followed him, mounted on white horses and wearing clean white linen.^{(D) 15} Out of his mouth came a sharp sword to strike the nations. He will rule them with an iron rod, and he himself will tread out in the wine press^[d] the wine of the fury and wrath of God the almighty.^{(E) 16} He has a name written on his cloak and on his thigh, “King of kings and Lord of lords.”^(F)

^17 [e]Then I saw an angel standing on the sun. He cried out [in] a loud voice to all the birds flying high overhead, “Come here. Gather for God’s great feast, ¹⁸ to eat the flesh of kings, the flesh of military officers, and the flesh of warriors, the flesh of horses and of their riders, and the flesh of all, free and slave, small and great.”^{(G) 19} Then I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their armies gathered to fight against the one riding the horse and against his army. ²⁰ The beast was caught and with it the false prophet^[f] who had performed in its sight the signs by which he led astray those who had accepted the mark of the beast and those who had worshiped its image. The two were thrown alive into the fiery pool burning with sulfur.^{(H) 21} The rest were killed by the sword that came out of the mouth of the one riding the horse, and all the birds gorged themselves on their flesh.

⁴ But the King of kings^(A) aroused the anger of Antiochus against the scoundrel. When the king was shown by Lysias that Menelaus was to blame for all the trouble, he ordered him to be taken to Beroea^[a] and executed there in the customary local method.

¹⁵ that the blessed and only ruler will make manifest at the proper time, the King of kings and Lord of lords,^(A)

⁶ among whom are you also, who are called to belong to Jesus Christ;^(A)

^9 [a]But you are “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may announce the praises” of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.^(A)

Address and Greeting. ^1 [a]Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ:^{(A) 2} may mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.^(B)

Occasion for Writing. ³ Beloved, although I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation,^[b] I now feel a need to write to encourage you to contend for the faith that was once for all handed down to the holy ones.^{(C) 4} For there have been some intruders, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, godless persons, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.^(D)

The False Teachers. ^5 (E)I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that [the] Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe.^{[c] 6 (F)}The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day.^{[d] 7} Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice,^[e] serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.^(G)

⁸ Similarly, these dreamers^[f] nevertheless also defile the flesh, scorn lordship, and revile glorious beings. ⁹ Yet the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgment^[g] upon him but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”^{(H) 10} But these people revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals.^{(I) 11} Woe to them!^(J) They followed the way of Cain, abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.^{[h] 12} These are blemishes on your love feasts,^[i] as they carouse fearlessly and look after themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead and uprooted.^{(K) 13} They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.

^14 [j]Enoch, of the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied also about them when he said,^(L) “Behold, the Lord has come with his countless holy ones ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all and to convict everyone for all the godless deeds that they committed and for all the harsh words godless sinners have uttered against him.” ¹⁶ These people are complainers, disgruntled ones who live by their desires; their mouths utter bombast as they fawn over people to gain advantage.^(M)

Exhortations. ¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,^{(N) 18} for they told you,^(O) “In [the] last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires.”^{[k] 19} These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit.^{(P) 20} But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit.^{(Q) 21} Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.^{(R) 22} On those who waver, have mercy;^{[l] 23} save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear,^[m] abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.

Doxology.^{[n] 24} To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory,^{(S) 25} to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.^(T)