Chronological
Salutation
Chapter 1
Address.[a] 1 Simon Peter,[b] a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have received a faith as precious as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ: 2 may grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge[c] of God and of Jesus our Lord.
Exhortation to Growth in Christian Virtues
Strengthen Your Vocation.[d] 3 His divine power has bestowed on us everything that is necessary for life and for devotion through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue. 4 By these he has given us his precious promises, great beyond all price, so that through them you may escape from the corruption with which evil desires have infected the world and thereby may come to share in the divine nature.[e]
5 [f]In view of all this, you should make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, 6 and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with endurance, and endurance with piety, 7 and piety with mutual affection, and mutual affection with love.
8 If you possess these qualities and they increase in abundance, they will prevent your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ from being ineffective and unfruitful. 9 For anyone who lacks them is near-sighted or blind, since he has forgotten how his past sins were washed away.[g]
10 Therefore, brethren, be diligent in providing a firm foundation for your call and election. If you do this, you will never stumble, 11 and you will receive a glorious welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.[h]
12 The Witness of an Apostle.[i] Therefore, I will continue to emphasize these things repeatedly, even though you already know them and are well grounded in the truth you possess. 13 For I think it is right, to refresh your memory as long as I remain in this body,[j] 14 since I know that my death[k] will come soon, as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. 15 And I shall also make every effort to ensure that you will always recall these things after my departure.
16 We did not rely upon cleverly concocted myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Rather, we had beheld his majesty with our own eyes. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice came to him from the transcendent Majesty, saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” 18 We ourselves heard this voice that came down from heaven, when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 Pay Close Attention to the Message of the Prophets.[l] This confirms the message of the Prophets more fully for us. You would do well to pay close attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
20 First of all, however, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture is a matter of private interpretation. 21 No prophecy ever came from human initiative. Rather, when people spoke as messengers of God, they did so under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.[m]
Warning against False Teachers[n]
Chapter 2
False Teachers Will Arise. 1 Just as there were false prophets who arose among the people, so there will be false teachers among you. They will introduce their disruptive views and even deny the very Master who redeemed them, thus bringing swift destruction on themselves.
2 Many will be seduced by their licentious ways, and because of these teachers the way of truth will be brought into disrepute. 3 In their greed they will exploit you with concocted stories.
The Condemnation of False Teachers. However, their condemnation has been hanging over them for a long time, and the destruction awaiting them does not slumber. 4 For God did not spare the angels who sinned, but he cast them into the dark abyss to be chained, where they are being held until the judgment.[o] 5 Nor did he spare the ancient world,[p] even though he saved Noah, a herald of righteousness, one of eight, when he brought a flood upon the world with its godless people.
6 God also reduced the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to ashes, thereby condemning them to total ruin and making them an example of what awaited the ungodly. 7 However, he rescued Lot, an upright man who was sickened by the licentiousness of the lawless society in which he lived 8 for that man was greatly tormented in his righteous soul by the crimes that he saw and about which he was told day after day.
9 Therefore, the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials and to hold the wicked for punishment until the Day of Judgment. 10 Above all, he will punish those who succumb to the desires of their corrupt human nature and show no respect for authority.
The Ways of False Teachers. Bold and headstrong, they are not afraid to insult celestial beings, 11 whereas angels, despite their superior strength and power, do not bring slanderous accusations against such men in the Lord’s presence.[q] 12 These men are like wild beasts, mere creatures of instinct born to be caught and killed.
They pour abuse on things they do not understand, and in their corruption they also will be destroyed, 13 receiving the penalty[r] for doing wrong. They regard it as a pleasure to carouse in broad daylight. While they share your table, they are ugly blots and blemishes, reveling in their pleasures.
14 They have eyes that are always on the trail of adultery, insatiable in their desire for sinful pursuits. They seduce unstable people, and their hearts are fixed on greed. Truly, they are an accursed brood.[s] 15 They have abandoned the straight path and have gone astray, following in the steps of Balaam, the son of Beor,[t] who loved to receive payment for wrongdoing. 16 However, he received a rebuke for his crime when a mute donkey spoke with a human voice and put a stop to the prophet’s madness.
17 Such people are waterless springs and mists driven by a storm. For them the gloom of darkness has been reserved. 18 They speak boastful words devoid of meaning, and by arousing licentious desires of the flesh they entice people who are just escaping from living in error.
19 They promise them freedom, although they themselves are slaves of depravity.[u] For people are slaves of whatever has mastered them. 20 If they have escaped the world’s defilements through coming to know our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and then again become entangled and are overpowered, they are worse off in this latter state than they were before.
21 It would have been better for them never to have known the way of righteousness than, having known it, to turn back and abandon the holy commandment that was handed on to them. 22 What happened to them manifests the truth of the proverbs:
“The dog returns to its own vomit,”[v]
and
“The washed sow returns to wallowing in the mud.”
Chapter 3
The Fact of Christ’s Return
The Day of the Lord Will Come.[w] 1 Beloved, this is now the second letter I have written to you. In both of them I have tried to stir up your memories for a clear understanding 2 so that you might remember the words spoken in the past by the holy Prophets and by the apostles at the command of our Lord and Savior.
3 First of all, you must understand that in the last days scoffers will appear who have led lives of indulgence. 4 They will say, “Where is this ‘coming’ that was promised? Ever since our ancestors[x] died, everything has remained just as it was from the beginning of creation.”
5 [y]These people deliberately ignore the fact that by the word of God the heavens existed long ago, and that the earth stands out of water and in water. 6 Furthermore, by these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed. 7 By the same word, the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire, being kept for the Day of Judgment and the destruction of sinners.
8 But do not ignore this one fact, beloved: with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like one day. 9 The Lord does not delay in keeping his promise, as some think in terms of delay, but he is patient with you. It is not his wish that any should perish but rather that all should be brought to repentance.
10 However, the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a mighty roar,[z] and the elements will be dissolved in flames, and the earth and all that it contains will be disclosed.
11 Wait for and Speed the Day of God.[aa] Since everything is to be destroyed in this way, consider what sort of people you ought to be, living holy and saintly lives. 12 Wait for and speed the coming of the Day of God,[ab] on which the heavens will be set ablaze and all the elements will melt because of the intense heat. 13 We eagerly await the promised new heavens and a new earth[ac] in which righteousness dwells.
14 Therefore, beloved, in expectation of all this, do everything possible to lead blameless lives that are above reproach so that he will find you at peace. 15 Think of our Lord’s patience as your opportunity to be saved;[ad] our beloved brother Paul told you this when he wrote to you with the wisdom that was given to him, 16 speaking of it[ae] in all his letters. In them, there are some things that are difficult to understand, which the ignorant and the unstable distort in the same way that they distort the other Scriptures, to their own destruction.
Conclusion
17 Guard against Error and Grow in Grace. Therefore, beloved, you have been forewarned about this. Take care that you are not led astray by the errors of unprincipled people and thus lose your secure position. 18 Rather, grow in the grace and the knowledge[af] of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
Doxology. To him be glory both now and for all eternity. Amen.
Salutation. 1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James,[a] to those who have been called, who are dear to God the Father and have been kept safe by Jesus Christ: 2 may mercy, peace, and love be granted you in abundance.
Benefits of Being a Christian. 3 Beloved, I was just at the point of writing to you about the salvation we share, when it became necessary for me to write and urge you to fight earnestly for the faith that was once and for all entrusted to the saints.[b] 4 For certain men have infiltrated your ranks, people who long ago were designated for condemnation.[c] These godless persons pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality and disown our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
Character and Doom of the False Teachers.[d] 5 Although you already know all this, allow me to remind you that the Lord, who once delivered the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who refused to believe.[e] 6 Remember also that the angels, who were dissatisfied with the dominion that had been assigned to them and abandoned their proper dwelling place, have been kept bound by him in darkness with eternal chains until the judgment of the great Day.[f] 7 And do not fail to remember Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities, which in a similar way indulged in sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who undergo the punishment of eternal fire.[g]
8 In the same way, these dreamers defile their bodies, make light of authority, and insult celestial beings.[h] 9 Even the archangel Michael, when he engaged in an argument with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but instead said: “May the Lord rebuke you!”[i] 10 However, these people pour abuse on anything they do not understand, and the very things that they know by instinct, like irrational animals, lead to their destruction.
11 Woe to them! They have followed in the footsteps of Cain; they have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam for the sake of gain; and they have perished in the rebellion of Korah.[j] 12 [k]They are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without fear. They are shepherds who feed only themselves. They are like clouds blown about by winds without giving rain, or like trees in autumn barren and uprooted and so twice dead. 13 They are like wild sea waves whose foam reflects their shameless deeds, or like wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness is stored up forever. 14 [l]Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied against them when he said, “Behold, the Lord is coming with tens of thousands of his saints, 15 to pronounce judgment on humanity and to convict all the ungodly for all the godless deeds that each has impiously committed and for all the defiant words spoken against him by godless sinners.” 16 These are grumblers and fault-finders. They indulge their own passions,[m] and their mouths are full of bombastic talk as they flatter others in order to achieve their own ends.
17 Appeal to the Faithful. But you, dear friends, must remember the predictions made by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.[n] 18 For they said to you, “In the final age there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly passions.”[o] 19 It is these people who create divisions, who follow their natural instincts and do not possess the Spirit.
20 A Program of the Christian Life.[p] However, you, dear friends, must build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. 21 Keep yourselves in the love of God as you await our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy, who will grant you eternal life.
22 Have compassion for those who are wavering. 23 Save others by snatching them out of the fire. And for still others have compassion mixed with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.
24 Doxology.[q] Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to bring you safely to his glorious presence, unblemished and rejoicing, 25 to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, now, and forevermore. Amen.
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