Jude
Contend Earnestly for the Faith
11,aJude, a bslave of Jesus Christ, and brother of 2James, To cthose who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and dkept for Jesus Christ: 2aMay mercy and peace and love bbe multiplied to you.
3aBeloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our bcommon salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you exhorting that you ccontend earnestly for dthe faith which was once for all ehanded down to fthe 1saints. 4For certain persons have acrept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand 1,bmarked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn cthe grace of our God into dsensuality and edeny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5Now I want to aremind you, though byou know all things, that 1Jesus, chaving once saved a people out of the land of Egypt, 2subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. 6And aangels who did not keep their own domain, but abandoned their proper abode, He has bkept in eternal bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day, 7just as aSodom and Gomorrah and the bcities around them, having indulged in the same way as these in gross sexual immorality and having cgone after 1strange flesh, are exhibited as an 2,dexample in undergoing the epunishment of eternal fire.
8Yet in the same way these men, also by dreaming, adefile the flesh, and reject authority, and blaspheme 1glorious ones. 9But aMichael bthe archangel, when he, disputing with the devil, was arguing about cthe body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him a blasphemous judgment, but said, “dThe Lord rebuke you!” 10But athese men blaspheme the things which they do not understand; and bthe things which they know by instinct, clike unreasoning animals, by these things they are 1destroyed. 11Woe to them! For they have gone athe way of Cain, and for pay they have poured themselves into bthe error of Balaam, and cperished in the rebellion of Korah. 12These are the men who are 1hidden reefs ain your love feasts when they feast with you bwithout fear, caring for themselves; cclouds without water, dcarried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, 2doubly dead, euprooted; 13awild waves of the sea, casting up btheir own 1shame like foam; wandering stars, cfor whom the 2black darkness has been reserved forever.
14But aEnoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men, saying, “bBehold, the Lord came with 1many thousands of His holy ones, 15ato 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 bungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” 16These are agrumblers, finding fault, bfollowing after their own lusts; and their mouth speaks carrogantly, 1flattering people dfor the sake of their own benefit.
Keep Yourselves in the Love of God
17But you, abeloved, bmust remember the words that were spoken beforehand by cthe apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, 18that they were saying to you, “aIn the last time there will be mockers, bfollowing after their own ungodly lusts.” 19These are the ones who cause divisions, 1,aworldly-minded, not having the Spirit. 20But you, abeloved, bbuilding yourselves up on your most holy cfaith, dpraying in the Holy Spirit, 21keep yourselves in the love of God, awaiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. 22And on some, who are doubting, have mercy; 23and for others, save, asnatching them out of the fire; and on others have mercy with fear, bhating even the tunic polluted by the flesh.