Address and Greeting. 1* Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept safe for Jesus Christ:a 2may mercy, peace, and love be yours in abundance.b

Occasion for Writing. 3Beloved, although I was making every effort to write to you about our common salvation,* I now feel a need to write to encourage you to contend for the faith that was once for all handed down to the holy ones.c 4For there have been some intruders, who long ago were designated for this condemnation, godless persons, who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and who deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.d

The False Teachers. 5e I wish to remind you, although you know all things, that [the] Lord who once saved a people from the land of Egypt later destroyed those who did not believe.* 6f The angels too, who did not keep to their own domain but deserted their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains, in gloom, for the judgment of the great day.* 7Likewise, Sodom, Gomorrah, and the surrounding towns, which, in the same manner as they, indulged in sexual promiscuity and practiced unnatural vice,* serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.g

8Similarly, these dreamers* nevertheless also defile the flesh, scorn lordship, and revile glorious beings. 9Yet the archangel Michael, when he argued with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, did not venture to pronounce a reviling judgment* upon him but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”h 10But these people revile what they do not understand and are destroyed by what they know by nature like irrational animals.i 11Woe to them!j They followed the way of Cain, abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error for the sake of gain, and perished in the rebellion of Korah.* 12These are blemishes on your love feasts,* as they carouse fearlessly and look after themselves. They are waterless clouds blown about by winds, fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead and uprooted.k 13They are like wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shameless deeds, wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.

14* Enoch, of the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied also about them when he said,l “Behold, the Lord has come with his countless holy ones 15to execute judgment on all and to convict everyone for all the godless deeds that they committed and for all the harsh words godless sinners have uttered against him.” 16These people are complainers, disgruntled ones who live by their desires; their mouths utter bombast as they fawn over people to gain advantage.m

Exhortations. 17But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ,n 18for they told you,o “In [the] last time there will be scoffers who will live according to their own godless desires.”* 19These are the ones who cause divisions; they live on the natural plane, devoid of the Spirit.p 20But you, beloved, build yourselves up in your most holy faith; pray in the holy Spirit.q 21Keep yourselves in the love of God and wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.r 22On those who waver, have mercy;* 23save others by snatching them out of the fire; on others have mercy with fear,* abhorring even the outer garment stained by the flesh.

Doxology.* 24To the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished and exultant, in the presence of his glory,s 25to the only God, our savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord be glory, majesty, power, and authority from ages past, now, and for ages to come. Amen.t