Jude 1
1 [I am] Jude. I [serve] Jesus Christ [like] a voluntary slave [MET]. I am a [younger] brother of James, [the leader of all the congregations. I am writing] to you whom [God] has chosen [to belong to him. You are] loved by God [our] Father and protected by Jesus Christ (OR, whom [God] has protected [to present] to Jesus Christ).
Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James: To those who are in God the Father, enfolded in His love, and kept for Jesus Christ, and called.
2 [I pray that] you will continue to [experience] very much [God acting] mercifully toward you, [causing you to have inner] peace, and loving [you].
May mercy, peace and love be abundantly granted to you.
3 You whom I love, I (was very eager/very much wanted) to write to you about that which we all (share/have in common), which is how ([God/Jesus Christ]) [has] saved [us]. But now I realize that it is necessary [for me] to write to you in order to exhort you to defend the [truth about Christ] that we believe. [Jesus and his apostles] gave that truth once and for all to us who belong to God, [and we must not let it be changed] {[anyone revise/change it]}.
Dear friends, since I am eager to begin a letter to you on the subject of our common salvation, I find myself constrained to write and cheer you on to the vigorous defense of the faith delivered once for all to God's people.
4 Some people falsely [teach that because] God kindly does for us what we do not deserve, it (does not matter/is all right) if we continue to sin. [Those people show by the way that they conduct their lives] that they do not want to admit/accept that Jesus Christ [is] our only Master and Lord. [It was written] long ago {[Someone] long ago wrote} that [God] would condemn (such ungodly people/people like that whose lives are displeasing to him). But some [of those] people have entered [MET] [like crawling snakes] into your congregations [and oppose the truth about Christ, so you must resist/oppose them].
For certain persons have crept in unnoticed--men spoken of in ancient writings as pre-destined to this condemnation--ungodly men, who pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality, and disown Jesus Christ, our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 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, ones who did not believe [in him].
I desire to remind you--although the whole matter is already familiar to you--that the Lord saved a people out of the land of Egypt, but afterwards destroyed those who had no faith.
6 And there were [many] angels to [whom God assigned/gave positions of authority in heaven]. But many did not continue to rule with authority [in those positions]. Instead, they abandoned the place that [God] gave them to live [in heaven]. So God has put those angels in chains forever in the darkness [in hell. They will stay there] until the great day when [God] will judge [and punish] them. (aïdios g126, questioned)
And angels--those who did not keep the position originally assigned to them, but deserted their own proper abode--He reserves in everlasting bonds, in darkness, in preparation for the judgement of the great day. (aïdios g126)
7 Similarly, the people who lived [MTY] in Sodom and Gomorrah [cities] 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 and those angels] shows that [God will] punish [people, such as the ones who teach false doctrine], in the eternal fire [of hell]. (aiōnios g166, questioned)
So also Sodom and Gomorrah--and the neighboring towns in the same manner--having been guilty of gross fornication and having gone astray in pursuit of unnatural vice, are now before us as a specimen of the fire of the Ages in the punishment which they are undergoing. (aiōnios g166)
8 Similarly, these [ungodly people in your midst] also defile their own bodies [by living immorally], because [they claim/say that God revealed] in visions [that they should act that way]. They refuse to [allow] anyone to have authority over them, and they (revile/speak evil about) [God’s] glorious/wonderful [angels].
Yet in just the same way these dreamers also pollute the body, while they set authority at naught and speak evil of dignities.
9 When (the devil/Satan) argued with the chief angel, Michael, about [who would take away] the body of [the prophet] Moses [to bury it], Michael did not [do as these teachers of false doctrine do. Even though Michael has much more authority than they do], he did not disrespectfully (revile/say evil things to) Satan and accuse/condemn him. Instead, he [only] said, “[I desire that] the Lord [God] will rebuke you!”
But Michael the Archangel, when contending with the Devil and arguing with him about the body of Moses, did not dare to pronounce judgement on him in abusive terms, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you."
10 But the [ones in your midst] who teach false doctrine (revile/speak evil against) the [spiritual] beings that they do not understand. They also [do the evil things that they desire], things that they know about (naturally/without needing to think), things that they just do without considering [the consequences/results], like animals. So they destroy themselves. [But they will also be punished by God] {[God will also] punish them}.
Yet these men are abusive in matters of which they know nothing, and in things which, like the brutes, they understand instinctively--in all these they corrupt themselves.
11 [God will do] terrible things to those who teach false doctrine! They conduct their lives [wickedly] like Cain, [who murdered his brother because he was] ([jealous/angry because God accepted his brother’s sacrifice and did not accept his]). These false teachers (devote themselves to [MET] [doing] wrong things [like] Balaam, who [tried to induce God’s people to sin in order to get the money that was offered to him]. They will perish like Korah, who rebelled [against the authority that God gave to Moses].
Alas for them; for they have followed in the steps of Cain; for the sake of gain they have rushed on headlong in the evil ways of Balaam; and have perished in rebellion like that of Korah!
12 Those teachers of false doctrine are [as dangerous to you as] [MET] (hidden rocks on a reef/rocks underneath the surface of the ocean) [are to a boat]. When you gather together [to eat the meals that] help you believers to love each other more and have a closer relationship with each other, they [join you and] carouse shamelessly, caring [only] for themselves [and not for others. Because they do not do anything to help others] [MET], they are [as useless as] clouds that are blown along by the wind {that the wind blows along} but that do not [produce/give] any rain. [They are as disappointing as] [MET] trees that do not produce fruit in the autumn [as we expect them to]. They are not only [spiritually] [MET] dead themselves, [but they are] not [able to cause others to be] alive [spiritually, just like] [MET] trees that have been {that [someone] has} uprooted and [as a result] are unable to produce any fruit.
These men--sunken rocks! --are those who share the pleasure of your love-feasts, unrestrained by fear while caring only for themselves; clouds without water, driven away by the winds; trees that cast their fruit, barren, doubly dead, uprooted;
13 They are [restless] [MET], [like] the pounding waves of the ocean. [Just like] waves [produce foul-smelling] foam on the shore, [those teachers of false doctrine do] shameful [MTY] [deeds. We cannot depend/rely on them to show us how to conduct our lives] [MET], [just like we cannot depend/rely on] (meteors/falling stars) [to show us the way when we travel]. [God] has reserved intense darkness for them forever [in hell]. (aiōn g165, questioned)
wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom is reserved dense darkness of age-long duration. (aiōn g165)
14 Enoch, the sixth [person in the line of people who descended] from Adam, prophesied this about those [teachers of false doctrine]: “Listen carefully to this: The Lord will certainly come with a countless number of his holy [angels] in order
It was also about these that Enoch, who belonged to the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, "The Lord has come, attended by myriads of His people, to execute judgement upon all,
15 to judge everyone, and to punish all wicked and (ungodly people/people whose lives are displeasing to God) for all the (ungodly things/things that displease God) that they did in (an ungodly way/a way that displeases God), and for all the harsh things that ungodly sinful people have spoken against him.”
and to convict all the ungodly of all the ungodly deeds which in their ungodliness they have committed, and of all the hard words which they, ungodly sinners as they are, have spoken against Him."
16 Those [teachers] of [false doctrine] grumble [about] the [things that God does]. They complain [about what happens to them]. They do the sinful things that their [bodies] desire. They talk boastfully. They (flatter/say nice things to) people, only in order to get [those people to give them the] things that they want.
These men are murmurers, ever bemoaning their lot. Their lives are guided by their evil passions, and their mouths are full of big, boastful words, while they treat individual men with admiring reverence for the sake of the advantage they can gain.
17 But you people whom I love need to remember the things that were predicted by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ {that the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ said would happen}.
But as for you, my dearly-loved friends, remember the words that before now were spoken by the Apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ--
18 They told you, “In the final period of time [in which we are now living] there will be people who will laugh at [the truths that God has revealed]. They will do the (ungodly things/things that are displeasing to God) that their [bodies] desire.”
how they declared to you, "In the last times there shall be scoffers, obeying only their own ungodly passions."
19 [That describes] the teachers of false doctrine [well, because] they are the ones who cause divisions among believers. They do what their own minds tell them to do. The Spirit [of God] does not live within them.
These are those who cause divisions. They are men of the world, wholly unspiritual.
20 But you people whom I love, (hold/continue to trust) firmly to the very sacred truths that you believe. Pray by [letting] the Holy Spirit enable/empower you.
But you, my dearly-loved friends, building yourselves up on the basis of your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
21 Keep conducting your lives in [a way that is appropriate for those whom] God loves. Keep constantly expecting that our Lord Jesus Christ will [act] mercifully toward you. Keep expecting that until [the time when we begin] living eternally [with him]. (aiōnios g166)
must keep yourselves safe in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ which will result in the Life of the Ages. (aiōnios g166)
22 Mercifully [help] those who are not certain [what teaching they should believe].
Some, when they argue with you, you must endeavor to convince;
23 [Rescue] others from [the influence of those who teach what is false] [MET], [as you would rescue things by] snatching [them from] a fire. Pity those [whom the teachers of false doctrine have completely convinced], but beware that [you yourselves are not influenced by them] {that they do not influence you}. Detest [doing or even thinking about the sins that those people commit, just like you would detest] [MET] touching not only filthy things but the clothes that were stained by those things {that those things stained}.
others you must try to save, as brands plucked from the flames; and on others look with pity mingled with fear, while you hate every trace of their sin.
24 God is able to keep you from ceasing to trust in him (OR, from sinning), and he is able to bring you into his glorious presence. [As you stand before him], there will be nothing [for which] you [will] be condemned {[he can] condemn you}, and you will be rejoicing greatly.
But to Him who is able to keep you safe from stumbling, and cause you to stand in the presence of His glory free from blemish and full of exultant joy--
25 He is the only true God. He has saved us as a result of what Jesus Christ our Lord [did for us]. God was glorious and great and mighty and he [ruled] with great authority before time began. [He is still like that], and [he will remain like that] forever! (Amen!/That is true!) (aiōn g165)
to the only God our Saviour--through Jesus Christ our Lord, be ascribed glory, majesty, might, and authority, as it was before all time, is now, and shall be to all the Ages! Amen. (aiōn g165)
