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Greeting

¹ Jude,^(C1) a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James:

To those who are the called,^(C2) loved^(F1)(C3) by God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ.^(C4)

² May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.^(C1)

Jude’s Purpose in Writing

³ Dear friends, although I was eager to write you about the salvation we share,^(C1) I found it necessary to write, appealing to you to contend for the faith^(C2) that was delivered^(C3) to the saints once for all. ⁴ For some people, who were designated for this judgment long ago,^(F1)(C1) have come in by stealth;^(C2) they are ungodly,^(C3) turning the grace of our God into sensuality and denying^(C4) Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord.

Apostates: Past and Present

⁵ Now I want to remind you, although you came to know all these things once and for all, that Jesus^(F1) saved a people out of Egypt and later destroyed those who did not believe;^{(C1) 6} and the angels^(C1) who did not keep their own position but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains in deep darkness for the judgment on the great day. ⁷ Likewise, Sodom and Gomorrah^(C1) and the surrounding towns committed sexual immorality and perversions,^(F1) and serve as an example by undergoing the punishment of eternal fire.^(C2)

⁸ In the same way these people—relying on their dreams—defile their flesh, reject authority, and slander glorious ones.^{(C1) 9} Yet when Michael^(C1) the archangel^(C2) was disputing with the devil^(C3) in an argument about Moses’s^(C4) body, he did not dare utter a slanderous condemnation against him but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But these people blaspheme anything they do not understand. And what they do understand by instinct—like irrational animals—by these things they are destroyed. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone the way of Cain,^(C1) have plunged into Balaam’s error^(C2) for profit, and have perished in Korah’s rebellion.^(C3)

The Apostates’ Doom

¹² These people are dangerous reefs^(F1) at your love feasts^(C1) as they eat with you without reverence. They are shepherds who only look after themselves. They are waterless clouds carried along by winds;^(C2) trees in late autumn—fruitless, twice dead and uprooted. ¹³ They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameful deeds; wandering stars^(C1) for whom the blackness of darkness^(C2) is reserved forever.^(C3)

¹⁴ It was about these that Enoch,^(C1) in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied: “Look! The Lord comes with tens of thousands of his holy ones^{(C2) 15} to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly^(C1) concerning all the ungodly acts that they have done in an ungodly way, and concerning all the harsh things ungodly sinners have said against him.” ¹⁶ These people are discontented grumblers, living according to their desires;^(C1) their mouths utter arrogant words, flattering^(C2) people for their own advantage.

¹⁷ But you, dear friends, remember what was predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. ¹⁸ They told you, “In the end time^(C1) there will be scoffers^(C2) living according to their own ungodly desires.” ¹⁹ These people create divisions and are worldly,^(C1) not having the Spirit.

Exhortation and Benediction

²⁰ But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,^{(C1) 21} keep yourselves in the love of God,^(C1) waiting expectantly for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ for eternal life. ²² Have mercy on those who waver; ²³ save others by snatching them from the fire;^(C1) have mercy on others but with fear,^(C2) hating^(C3) even the garment^(C4) defiled by the flesh.

²⁴ Now to him^(C1) who is able to protect you from stumbling^(C2) and to make you stand in the presence of his glory, without blemish^(C3) and with great joy, ²⁵ to the only^(C1) God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord,^(F1) be glory, majesty, power, and authority before all time,^(F2) now and forever. Amen.