Jude
1 Judah, slave of Christ Jesus, Jacob’s brother,
to those in God the Father, those whom Christ Jesus loves,
those whom he watched over, those whom he called.
2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you all.
3 Beloved, in planning to write you about our common salvation—with all speed—
I needed to write you to encourage you
to fight for this holy belief which was at one time transmitted to you.
4 For certain ungodly people have slipped in—
I’d formerly written a critique about them a while ago—
who twist our God’s grace into libertarianism,
who reject our only dictator and master, Christ Jesus.
5 I want to remind you—though you knew all this already:
First the Lord rescued his people out of Egypt.
Second, he destroyed those who didn’t trust him.
6 Including the angels!—who didn’t keep watch over their own realms,
but left their own dwelling-place by choice.
On the Great Day, in eternal prison, in the dark—
that keeps watch.
7 Like Sodom, Gomorrah, and the cities round them with this same lifestyle:
Fornicators and deviants, chasing other flesh.
They set an example of eternal fire,
the punishment they suffer.
8 Of course these people who dream of flesh stain themselves.
They reject authority. They slander the well-thought-of.
9 When the head angel Michael was debating with the devil over Moses’s body,
it didn’t dare bring a charge of slander, but said, “Lord rebuke you.”
10 These people don’t understand such things, and slander them.
By nature they reason like thoughtless animals, and are undone by these things.
11 How sad for them! They went down Cain’s road.
They make Balaam’s mistake, giving themselves up for a salary.
They’re destroyed, repeating Korah’s dispute.
12 They’re rocks in your stew, fearlessly having fun with you.
Waterless clouds, led by the shepherding winds.
Shriveling, fruitless trees, also dying from the roots.
13 Roaring waves of the sea, dredging up their own embarrassing behavior.
Bright planets going into gloomy shadow during the age God has preserved.
14 Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them,
saying “Look, the Lord comes with myriads of his saints,
15 making judgment upon all, examining every life
against all their irreverent work, irreverently done;
concerning every harsh thing the irreverent sinners said against him.”
16 These complainers are blaming others for the desires they chase on their own.
Their huge mouths speak, astonished by the grace we gain.
17 Beloved, remember the word foretold by the apostles of our master, Christ Jesus!
18 They told you in the End Time, there’ll be those who mock,
who irreverently go after their own desires.
19 They’re the ones making distinctions based on a “psychic spirit” they don’t have.
20 You, beloved: Build each other up in your most holy faith. Pray by the Holy Spirit.
21 Watch over yourselves in God’s love.
Get ready for the mercy of our master, Christ Jesus: Life in the next age.
22 Show mercy to those who are shaky. 23 Rescue them. Snatch them out of fire!
Show mercy to them in fear—“hate even the tunic stained by the body.”
24 To the one able to protect you from stumbling,
who in great joy considers you blameless, in his opinion—
25 God alone, our savior through Christ Jesus our master:
Our glory, greatness, power, and strength before everything else,
in the next age, now, and in every age. Amen!