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I, Jude, am writing this letter. I serve Jesus Christ. I am a brother of James. I am sending this letter to you who have been chosen by God. You are loved by God the Father. You are kept safe for Jesus Christ.
2 May more and more mercy, peace, and love be given to you.
3 Dear friends, I really wanted to write to you about the salvation we share. But now I feel I should write and ask you to stand up for the faith. God's holy people were trusted with it once and for all time. 4 Certain people have secretly slipped in among you. Long ago it was written that they would be judged. They are ungodly people. They misuse the grace of our God as an excuse for sexual sins. They say no to Jesus Christ, our only Lord and King.
1:1–4 Jude could have described himself as the brother of Jesus and of James. Instead he said that he was the servant of Jesus the Lord and King. This showed that Jude was humble. Jude told the believers that they were chosen, loved and safe. This would encourage them as they dealt with a danger that the church faced. The danger was that ungodly people were teaching things that weren't true. They encouraged believers to stop being faithful to the good news. So Jude wrote to encourage the believers to stand up for the faith. This means to struggle to hold on to what is true about God. It means to work hard to stay faithful to the way God wants people to live. This struggle happens inside of people as they grow in believing and following Jesus. It happens in their relationships with others as they refuse to believe people who teach lies. One lie that people in Jude's time taught was about God's grace. They taught that God's grace gave them permission to do whatever they wanted. They used this as permission to commit sexual sins. This lie led them to say no to obeying Jesus Christ as Messiah and King. Peter had also written about people who hated to be under Jesus' authority in 2 Peter 2:10.
5 I want to remind you about some things you already know. The Lord saved his people. At one time he brought them out of Egypt. But later he destroyed those who did not believe. 6 Some of the angels didn't stay where they belonged. They didn't keep their positions of authority. The Lord has kept those angels in darkness. They are held by chains that last for ever. On judgment day, God will judge them. 7 The people of Sodom and Gomorrah and the towns around them also did evil things. They freely committed sexual sins. They committed sins of the worst possible kind. There is a fire that never goes out. Those people are an example of those who are punished with it.
8 In the very same way, these ungodly people act on their evil dreams. So they make their own bodies impure. They don't accept authority. And they say evil things against heavenly beings. 9 But even Michael, the leader of the angels, didn't dare to say these things. He didn't even say these things when he argued with the devil about the body of Moses. Michael didn't dare to judge the devil. He didn't say the devil was guilty of saying evil things. Instead, Michael said, ‘May the Lord judge you!’ 10 But these people say evil things against whatever they don't understand. And the very things they do understand will destroy them. That's because they are like wild animals that can't think for themselves. Instead, they do what comes naturally to them.
11 How terrible it will be for them! They have followed the way of Cain. They have rushed into the same mistake Balaam made. They did it because they loved money. They are like Korah. He turned against his leaders. These people will certainly be destroyed, just as Korah was.
12 These ungodly people are like stains at the meals you share. They have no shame. They are shepherds who feed only themselves. They are like clouds without rain. They are blown along by the wind. They are like trees in the autumn. Since they have no fruit, they are pulled out of the ground. So they die twice. 13 They are like wild waves of the sea. Their shame rises up like foam. They are like falling stars. God has reserved a place of very black darkness for them for ever.
14 Enoch was the seventh man in the family line of Adam. He gave a prophecy about these people. He said, ‘Look! The Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of his holy ones. 15 He is coming to judge everyone. He is coming to sentence all of them. He will judge them for all the ungodly acts they have done. They have done them in ungodly ways. He will sentence ungodly sinners for all the things they have said to oppose him.’ 16 These people complain and find fault with others. They follow their own evil desires. They boast about themselves. They praise others to get what they want.
1:5–16 Ungodly people and evil spiritual beings had caused problems for God's people before. Jude gave many examples of this from Israel's past. These stories are found in the Old Testament and in other Jewish writings. Some of the examples showed God's judgement against those who opposed him. These examples included Israelites, angels and the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Other examples showed what the ungodly people in the church were like. They didn't accept authority like the angel Michael did. Jude compared them to Cain, Balaam and Korah. He also compared them to things in nature. This showed that they weren't doing what they were meant to do. The last example was about how they didn't pay attention to warnings. Jude mentioned a prophecy from the Book of Enoch about God judging ungodly people. But the ungodly people in Jude's time didn't listen to the warnings. They continued to follow their evil desires.
17 Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said would happen. 18 They told you, ‘In the last days, some people will make fun of the truth. They will follow their own ungodly desires.’ 19 They are the people who separate you from one another. They do only what comes naturally. They are not led by the Holy Spirit.
20 But you, dear friends, build yourselves up in your most holy faith. Let the Holy Spirit guide and help you when you pray. 21 And by doing these things, remain in God's love as you wait. You are waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.
22 Show mercy to those who doubt. 23 Save others by pulling them out of the fire. To others, show mercy mixed with fear of sin. Hate even the clothes that are stained by the sins of those who wear them.
24 Give praise to the God who is able to keep you from falling into sin. He will bring you into his heavenly glory without any fault. He will bring you there with great joy. 25 Give praise to the only God our Saviour. Glory, majesty, power and authority belong to him. Give praise to him through Jesus Christ our Lord. His praise was before all time, continues now, and will last for ever. Amen.
1:17–25 Jude didn't want his dear friends to be like the ungodly people in the church. Those people wanted to separate the believers into groups. Staying together depended on remaining in God's love together. This was like Jesus' teaching about remaining in his love in John 15:9–10. The believers were to grow strong together in their faith. They were to trust the Holy Spirit to guide them and help them. They were to pray together. As they waited for Jesus' mercy, they were to show mercy to one another. How to do this depended on what each person needed. Jude ended his letter by praising God. As the believers struggled for the faith they could trust in the true God. God is able to protect his people from the power of sin. God is their Saviour and will bring them into his glory in heaven. Jude was talking about the kingdom of God. This brings joy to God and to believers. The Lord Jesus Christ will be praised for ever.