Beginning

¹ Greetings from the Elder.^[a]

To the lady^[b] chosen by God and to her children.

I truly love all of you. And I am not the only one. All those who know the truth^[c] love you in the same way. ² We love you because of the truth—the truth that lives in us. That truth will be with us forever.

³ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from his Son, Jesus Christ, as we live in truth and love.

⁴ I was very happy to learn about some of your children. I am happy that they are following the way of truth, just as the Father commanded us. ⁵ And now, dear lady, I tell you: We should all love each other. This is not a new command. It is the same command we had from the beginning. ⁶ And loving means living the way he commanded us to live. And God’s command is this: that you live a life of love. You heard this command from the beginning.

⁷ Many false teachers are in the world now. They refuse to say that Jesus Christ came to earth and became a man. Anyone who refuses to accept this fact is a false teacher and the enemy of Christ. ⁸ Be careful! Don’t lose the reward we^[d] have worked for. Be careful so that you will receive all of that reward.

⁹ Everyone must continue to follow only the teaching about Christ. Whoever changes that teaching does not have God. But whoever continues to follow the teaching about Christ has both the Father and his Son. ¹⁰ Don’t accept those who come to you but do not bring this teaching. Don’t invite them into your house. Don’t welcome them in any way. ¹¹ If you do, you are helping them with their evil work.

¹² I have much to say to you. But I don’t want to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come visit you. Then we can be together and talk. That will make us very happy. ¹³ The children of your sister^[e] who was chosen by God send you their love.

¹ Greetings from the Elder.^[a]

To my dear friend Gaius, a person I truly love.

² My dear friend, I know that you are doing well spiritually. So I pray that everything else is going well with you and that you are enjoying good health. ³ Some believers came and told me about the truth^[b] in your life. They told me that you continue to follow the way of truth. This made me very happy. ⁴ It always gives me the greatest joy when I hear that my children are following the way of truth.

⁵ My dear friend, it is good that you continue to help the believers. They are people you don’t even know. ⁶ They told the church about the love you have. Please help them to continue their trip. Help them in a way that will please God. ⁷ They went on their trip to serve Christ. They did not accept any help from people who are not believers. ⁸ So we should help them. When we help them, we share with their work for the truth.

⁹ I wrote a letter to the church, but Diotrephes will not listen to what we say. He always wants to be the leader. ¹⁰ When I come, I will talk with him about what he is doing. He lies and says evil things about us, but that is not all. He refuses to welcome and help the believers who travel there. And he will not let others help them. If they do, he stops them from meeting with the church anymore.

¹¹ My dear friend, don’t follow what is bad; follow what is good. Whoever does what is good is from God. But whoever does evil has never known God.

¹² Everyone says good things about Demetrius, and the truth agrees with what they say. Also, we say good about him. And you know that what we say is true.

¹³ I have many things I want to tell you. But I don’t want to use pen and ink. ¹⁴ I hope to visit you soon. Then we can be together and talk. ¹⁵ Peace to you. The friends here with me send their love. Please give our love to each one of the friends there.

¹ Greetings from Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James.

To those who have been chosen and are loved by God the Father and have been kept safe in Jesus Christ.

² Mercy, peace, and love be yours more and more.

God Will Punish Those Who Do Wrong

³ Dear friends, I wanted very much to write to you about the salvation we all share together. But I felt the need to write to you about something else: I want to encourage you to fight hard for the faith that God gave his holy people. God gave this faith once, and it is good for all time. ⁴ Some people have secretly entered your group. These people have already been judged guilty for what they are doing. Long ago the prophets wrote about them. They are against God. They have used the grace of our God in the wrong way—to do sinful things. They refuse to follow Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

⁵ I want to help you remember some things you already know: Remember that the Lord^[a] saved his people by bringing them out of the land of Egypt. But later he destroyed all those who did not believe. ⁶ And remember the angels who lost their authority to rule. They left their proper home. So the Lord has kept them in darkness, bound with everlasting chains, to be judged on the great day. ⁷ Also, remember the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the other towns around them. Like those angels they were full of sexual sin and involved themselves in sexual relations that are wrong. And they suffer the punishment of eternal fire, an example for us to see.

⁸ It is the same way with these people who have entered your group. They are guided by dreams. They make themselves dirty with sin. They reject God’s authority and say bad things against the glorious ones.^{[b] 9} Not even the archangel Michael did this. Michael argued with the devil about who would have the body of Moses. But Michael did not dare to condemn even the devil for his false accusations. Instead, Michael said, “The Lord punish you!”

¹⁰ But these people criticize things they don’t understand. They do understand some things. But they understand these things not by thinking, but by feeling, the way dumb animals understand things. And these are the things that destroy them. ¹¹ It will be bad for them. They have followed the way that Cain went. To make money, they have given themselves to following the wrong way that Balaam went. They have fought against God like Korah^[c] did. And like Korah, they will be destroyed.

¹² These people are like dirty spots among you—they bring shame to you in the special meals you share together. They eat with you and have no fear. They take care of only themselves. They are like clouds without rain. The wind blows them around. They are like trees that have no fruit at harvest time and are pulled out of the ground. So they are twice dead. ¹³ Like the dirty foam on the wild waves in the sea, everyone can see the shameful things they do. They are like stars that wander in the sky. A place in the blackest darkness has been kept for them forever.

¹⁴ Enoch, the seventh descendant from Adam, said this about these people: “Look, the Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of his holy angels ¹⁵ to judge everyone. He will punish all those who are against him for all the evil they have done in their lack of respect for him. Yes, the Lord will punish all these sinners who don’t honor him. He will punish them for all the evil things they have said against him.”

¹⁶ These people always complain and find wrong in others. They always do the evil things they want to do. They boast about themselves. The only reason they say good things about others is to get what they want.

A Warning and Things to Do

¹⁷ Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said would happen. ¹⁸ They told you, “In the last times there will be people who laugh at God and do only what they want to do—things that are against God.” ¹⁹ These are the people who divide you. They are not spiritual, because they don’t have the Spirit.

²⁰ But you, dear friends, use your most holy faith to build yourselves up even stronger. Pray with the help of the Holy Spirit. ²¹ Keep yourselves safe in God’s love, as you wait for the Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy to give you eternal life.

²² Help those who have doubts. ²³ Rescue those who are living in danger of hell’s fire. There are others you should treat with mercy, but be very careful that their filthy lives don’t rub off on you.^[d]

Praise God

²⁴ God is strong and can keep you from falling. He can bring you before his glory without any wrong in you and give you great joy. ²⁵ He is the only God, the one who saves us. To him be glory, greatness, power, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord for all time past, now, and forever. Amen.