A Greeting from Jude (James 1:1)
1 UDB I am Jude. I am a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother to James. I am writing to you whom God has called to him, to you whom God the Father loves, to you whom he is keeping for Jesus Christ. BSB BSB: Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James, To those who are called, loved by God the Father, and kept in Jesus Christ:
2 UDB May God have much mercy on you. May he give you much peace, and may he love you very much. BSB BSB: Mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
God’s Judgment on the Ungodly (2 Peter 3:1–7)
4 UDB There are men who are creeping into your assemblies; they are like the wicked men the prophets wrote about long ago—they teach false things and they twist the grace of God into giving permission to commit sexual sin. In this way they oppose what is true about Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. BSB BSB: For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 UDB Although you previously knew all these things, there are certain things about which I desire to remind you. Do not forget that although the Lord rescued his people from Egypt, he later destroyed most of those same people, those people who did not believe in him. BSB BSB: Although you are fully aware of this, I want to remind you that after Jesus had delivered His people out of the land of Egypt, He destroyed those who did not believe.
6 UDB Also, there were many angels to whom God assigned positions of authority in heaven. But they did not continue to rule with authority in those positions. Instead, they abandoned those places. So God has put those angels in chains forever in darkness in hell. They will stay there until the important day in which God will judge and punish them. BSB BSB: And the angels who did not stay within their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling—these He has kept in eternal chains under darkness, bound for judgment on that great day.
7 UDB Similarly, the people who lived in the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and the nearby cities committed sexual immorality. They sought all kinds of sexual relations that differ from what God permits. So God destroyed their cities. What happened to those people in heaven shows that God will punish people, such as the ones who teach false doctrine, in the eternal fire of hell. BSB BSB: In like manner, Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who indulged in sexual immorality and pursued strange flesh, are on display as an example of those who sustain the punishment of eternal fire.
8 UDB Similarly, these people in your midst also defile their own bodies by living immorally. They say that God has sent them visions that tell them to do this. But they do not obey God's commands, and they insult his wonderful angels. BSB BSB: Yet in the same way these dreamers defile their bodies, reject authority, and slander glorious beings.
9 UDB Even when Michael the archangel argued with Satan about who would take possession of Moses's body, he kept from insulting and condemning him; he merely said, "May the Lord punish you!" BSB BSB: But even the archangel Michael, when he disputed with the devil over the body of Moses, did not presume to bring a slanderous charge against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!”
10 UDB But these people about whom I am writing say evil words about everything good that they do not understand. They are just like wild animals that cannot think, because all the things that they are naturally able to understand destroy them. BSB BSB: These men, however, slander what they do not understand, and like irrational animals, they will be destroyed by the things they do instinctively.
11 UDB God will punish very severely those who do these things. They behave like Cain did. They commit the same sin as the sin Balaam committed for money, and they will die like Korah, who rebelled against Moses. BSB BSB: Woe to them! They have traveled the path of Cain; they have rushed for profit into the error of Balaam; they have perished in Korah’s rebellion.
12 UDB These people are like rocks under the water that ships crash against. When they share in your love feasts, they have no shame because they eat only to please themselves. They are like clouds that give no rain, clouds that the wind pushes along. They do no good deeds, for they are like trees in late autumn that bear no fruit. They are like people who have died two times; they are like trees that have been uprooted. BSB BSB: These men are hidden reefs in your love feasts, shamelessly feasting with you but shepherding only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried along by the wind; fruitless trees in autumn, twice dead after being uprooted.
13 UDB They do not control themselves. They are like the sea's strong waves in a storm, and they pollute others with their shame, just as the waves bring up foam and dirt onto the beaches. They are like stars that do not stay where they should in the sky. God will put them in very great darkness forever. BSB BSB: They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
15 UDB They will judge everyone and will punish all wicked people, and all who dishonor God. The angels will do this because of all the harsh things that these people have spoken against God." BSB BSB: to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict all the ungodly of every ungodly act of wickedness and every harsh word spoken against Him by ungodly sinners.”
16 UDB These teachers of false doctrine grumble about the things that God does. They complain about what happens to them. They do the evil things because they want to do them. They talk boastfully. They praise people in order to get things from them. BSB BSB: These men are discontented grumblers, following after their own lusts; their mouths spew arrogance; they flatter others for their own advantage.
A Call to Persevere (Hebrews 10:19–39; 2 Peter 3:1–7)
17 UDB But you people whom I love, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said long ago. BSB BSB: But you, beloved, remember what was foretold by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ
18 UDB They told you, "Just before the last day, some people will laugh at the true things that God has told us. They will commit the sins with their bodies that they want to commit because they dishonor God." BSB BSB: when they said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow after their own ungodly desires.”
19 UDB These are the people who make believers angry with each other. They do all the wicked things that they want to do. The Spirit of God does not live within them. BSB BSB: These are the ones who cause divisions, who are worldly and devoid of the Spirit.
20 UDB But you people whom I love, strengthen each other using the truth about God that you believe. Let the Holy Spirit guide you in the way to pray. BSB BSB: But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 UDB Continue to live your lives in a way that is right—living as people whom God loves. Constantly expect that our Lord Jesus Christ will act mercifully toward you, and his mercy will guide you to live eternally with him. BSB BSB: keep yourselves in the love of God as you await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you eternal life.
22 UDB Be kind to those who are not certain about what teachings they should believe, and help them. BSB BSB: And indeed, have mercy on those who doubt;
23 UDB Keep others from going into the fire of everlasting punishment. Be kind to people who sin, but be afraid to join them in those sins. Instead, hate even their clothing because it is made dirty by their sins. BSB BSB: save others by snatching them from the fire; and to still others show mercy tempered with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
Doxology (Romans 16:25–27)
24 UDB God is able to keep you trusting in him. He will also take you into his presence, where there is brilliant light. You will rejoice very much and be free from sin. BSB BSB: Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you unblemished in His glorious presence, with great joy—
25 UDB He is the only true God. He has saved us as a result of what Jesus Christ our Lord did for us. Before time began, God was glorious, great, and mighty, and he ruled with great authority. He is still like that, and he will remain like that forever! Amen! BSB BSB: to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority through Jesus Christ our Lord before all time, and now, and for all eternity. Amen.
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