1Verse 1Jude, slave of Jesus Christ, and brother of James,+to the called, those who have been sanctified+by God the Father and preserved+through+Jesus Christ:Verse 2May mercy and peace and love be multiplied to you.+
Why he is writing
Verse 3Dear ones, while I was really intent on writing to you about the salvation we share, I had a compulsion+to write exhorting you to contend earnestly for the Faith+once for all committed to the saints.Verse 4Because certain men, who were marked out for this condemnation long ago,+have sneaked in; they are godless, perverting the grace of our God into licentiousness and denying the only Sovereign God,+even our Lord Jesus Christ.
Examples from ancient history
Verse 5So I want to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord delivered a people out of the land of Egypt yet later destroyed those who did not believe.+Verse 6And the angels who did not keep their proper domain but deserted+their own dwelling He has kept bound in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day.+Verse 7So also Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns—who gave themselves up to fornication and went after a different kind of flesh+in a manner similar to those angels—stand as an example, undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.+
Evil men are in the church
Verse 8Likewise these dreamers in their turn both defile flesh+and reject authority and slander celestial beings.+Verse 9Yet even Michael the archangel,+when taking issue with the devil—he was arguing about Moses' corpse+—did not dare to pronounce a reviling judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”+Verse 10But these speak abusively against whatever they do not understand, while whatever they know by instinct, like unreasoning animals—by these things they are ruined.+Verse 11Woe to them, because they have taken the way of Cain,+have rushed into Balaam's error for profit,+and have destroyed themselves in Korah's rebellion!+Verse 12These men are hidden reefs at your love feasts, joining the feast without fear, caring only for themselves; they are clouds without rain, carried along by winds; they are late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead (having been uprooted);Verse 13they are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shameful acts; they are wandering stars, for whom the black of the darkness has been reserved forever.+Verse 14Now even Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men saying: “Look, the Lord is coming with ten thousands of His holy onesVerse 15to execute judgment on everyone and to convict all the godless among them of all their godless deeds that they have godlessly perpetrated, also of all the harsh things they have spoken against Him—the godless sinners!”+Verse 16These men are grumblers and complainers, living according to their own evil desires; they talk big, flattering people to gain advantage.
Exhortation
Verse 17But you, dear ones, remember the words that were spoken before by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ:Verse 18how they told you that in the last time there will be scoffers who live according to their own godless desires.Verse 19These are the ones who cause division; they are ‘soulish’, not having a spirit.+Verse 20But you, dear ones, building yourselves up in your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,Verse 21keep yourselves in God's love,+looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ into eternal life.+Verse 22Now be merciful to some, making a distinction;+Verse 23but others save with fear, snatching them out of the fire, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.+
Doxology
Verse 24Now to Him who is able to keep them+from stumbling and to present them before His glorious presence without fault and with exultation+—Verse 25to God our Savior, who alone is wise,+be glory and majesty, power and authority, both now and throughout all the ages! Amen.