Beginning

Walk in Truth and Love

^1 (A)The elder to the ^(B)elect ^(C)lady and her children, whom I ^(D)love in truth, and not only I, but also all who ^(E)know the truth, ² for ^(F)the sake of the truth which abides ^(G)in us and will be ^(H)with us forever: ^3 (I)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

^4 (J)I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we received commandment from the Father. ⁵ Now I ask you, lady, ^(K)not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had ^(L)from the beginning, that we ^(M)love one another. ⁶ And ^(N)this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, ^(O)just as you have heard ^(P)from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

⁷ For ^(Q)many deceivers have ^(R)gone out into the world, those who ^(S)do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is ^(T)the deceiver and the ^(U)antichrist. ^8 (V)See to yourselves, ^(W)that you do not lose what we accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. ^9 [a]Anyone who ^[b]goes too far and ^(X)does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. The one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, ^(Y)do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting, ¹¹ for the one who gives him a greeting ^[c](Z)participates in his evil deeds.

^12 (AA)Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that ^[d]your ^(AB)joy may be made complete.

¹³ The children of your ^(AC)elect sister greet you.

Walking in the Truth

^1 (A)The elder to the beloved ^(B)Gaius, whom I ^(C)love in truth.

² Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. ³ For I ^(D)rejoiced greatly when ^(E)brothers came and bore witness to your truth, that is, how you ^(F)are walking in truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than ^[a]this, to hear that ^(G)my children are ^(H)walking in the truth.

⁵ Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever ^[b]work you do for the ^(I)brothers, and are doing this though they are ^(J)strangers; ⁶ and they bore witness to your love before the church. You will do well to ^(K)send them on their way in a manner ^(L)worthy of God. ⁷ For they went out for the sake of ^(M)the Name, ^(N)receiving nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ Therefore we ought to ^[c]support such men, so that we may ^[d]be fellow workers ^[e]with the truth.

⁹ I wrote something to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to ^(O)be first among them, does not welcome ^[f]what we say. ¹⁰ For this reason, ^(P)if I come, I will bring to remembrance his deeds which he does, unjustly disparaging us with wicked words. And not satisfied with this, he himself does not ^(Q)welcome the ^(R)brothers either, and he forbids those who want to do so and ^(S)puts them out of the church.

¹¹ Beloved, ^(T)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. ^(U)The one who does good is of God; ^(V)the one who does evil has not seen God. ¹² Demetrius ^(W)has received a good witness from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our witness, and ^(X)you know that our witness is true.

^13 (Y)I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink; ¹⁴ but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.

^15 (Z)Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends ^(AA)by name.

Contend Earnestly for the Faith

^1 [a](A)Jude, a ^(B)slave of Jesus Christ, and brother of ^[b]James,

To ^(C)those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and ^(D)kept for Jesus Christ: ^2 (E)May mercy and peace and love ^(F)be multiplied to you.

^3 (G)Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our ^(H)common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you exhorting that you ^(I)contend earnestly for ^(J)the faith which was once for all ^(K)handed down to ^(L)the ^[c]saints. ⁴ For certain persons have ^(M)crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand ^[d](N)marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn ^(O)the grace of our God into ^(P)sensuality and ^(Q)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵ Now I want to ^(R)remind you, though ^(S)you know all things, that ^[e]Jesus, ^(T)having once saved a people out of the land of Egypt, ^[f]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And ^(U)angels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has ^(V)kept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, ⁷ just as ^(W)Sodom and Gomorrah and the ^(X)cities around them, having indulged in the same way as these in gross sexual immorality and having ^(Y)gone after ^[g]strange flesh, are exhibited as an ^[h](Z)example in undergoing the ^(AA)punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, ^(AB)defile the flesh, and reject authority, and blaspheme ^[i]glorious ones. ⁹ But ^(AC)Michael ^(AD)the archangel, when he, disputing with the devil, was arguing about ^(AE)the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a blasphemous judgment, but said, “^(AF)The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But ^(AG)these men blaspheme the things which they do not understand; and ^(AH)the things which they know by instinct, ^(AI)like unreasoning animals, by these things they are ^[j]destroyed. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone ^(AJ)the way of Cain, and for pay they have poured themselves into ^(AK)the error of Balaam, and ^(AL)perished in the rebellion of Korah. ¹² These are the men who are ^[k]hidden reefs ^(AM)in your love feasts when they feast with you ^(AN)without fear, caring for themselves; ^(AO)clouds without water, ^(AP)carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, ^[l]doubly dead, ^(AQ)uprooted; ^13 (AR)wild waves of the sea, casting up ^(AS)their own ^[m]shame like foam; wandering stars, ^(AT)for whom the ^[n]black darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴ But ^(AU)Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men, saying, “^(AV)Behold, the Lord came with ^[o]many thousands of His holy ones, ^15 (AW)to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ^(AX)ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” ¹⁶ These are ^(AY)grumblers, finding fault, ^(AZ)following after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks ^(BA)arrogantly, ^[p]flattering people ^(BB)for the sake of their own benefit.

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God

¹⁷ But you, ^(BC)beloved, ^(BD)must remember the words that were spoken beforehand by ^(BE)the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ that they were saying to you, “^(BF)In the last time there will be mockers, ^(BG)following after their own ungodly lusts.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, ^[q](BH)worldly-minded, not having the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, ^(BI)beloved, ^(BJ)building yourselves up on your most holy ^(BK)faith, ^(BL)praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, ^(BM)waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. ²² And on some, who are doubting, have mercy; ²³ and for others, save, ^(BN)snatching them out of the fire; and on others have mercy with fear, ^(BO)hating even the tunic polluted by the flesh.

^24 (BP)Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling, and to ^(BQ)make you stand in the presence of His glory blameless with ^(BR)great joy, ²⁵ to the ^(BS)only ^(BT)God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, ^(BU)be glory, majesty, might, and authority, ^(BV)before all time and now and ^[r]forever. Amen.