HelpFinder Bible - Flipbook - Page 1518
JUDE
Greetings from Jude
This letter is from Jude, a slave of Jesus Christ
and a brother of James.
I am writing to all who have been called by
God the Father, who loves you and keeps you
safe in the care of Jesus Christ.*
2 May God give you more and more mercy,
peace, and love.
The Danger of False Teachers
3 Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to
write to you about the salvation we all share.
But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that
God has entrusted once for all time to his holy
people. 4 I say this because some ungodly people
have wormed their way into your churches,
saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to
live immoral lives. The condemnation of such
people was recorded long ago, for they have
denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5 So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus* first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later
he destroyed those who did not remain faithful. 6 And I remind you of the angels who did
not stay within the limits of authority God gave
them but left the place where they belonged.
God has kept them securely chained in prisons
of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment. 7 And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah
and their neighboring towns, which were filled
with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and
serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s
judgment.
8 In the same way, these people—who claim
authority from their dreams—live immoral
lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural
• Mercy & Grace
JU D E 1 :2 1 -2 3
Christians have sometimes been
accused of figuratively shooting their
own wounded. In our zeal for God, we
can sometimes become impatient and
judgmental with those who struggle
with sin or doubt. Instead of rejecting
them, Jude says, we should have mercy
on them—just as Christ had mercy on
us when he forgave our many sins.
While we must not tolerate or accept
sin, we are to love and accept others
with kindness and mercy. If you know
someone who has fallen away from
God, your kindness may be just what
is needed to lead them back to God.
page 1148
beings.* 9 But even Michael, one of the mightiest
of the angels,* did not dare accuse the devil of
blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke
you!” (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.) 10 But
these people scoff at things they do not understand. Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring
about their own destruction. 11 What sorrow
awaits them! For they follow in the footsteps of
Cain, who killed his brother. Like Balaam, they
deceive people for money. And like Korah, they
perish in their rebellion.
— promises —
from God
Now all glory to God,
who is able to keep you
from falling away and
will bring you with great
joy into his glorious
presence without
a single fault.
J U D E 1:24
12 When these people eat with you in your
fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s
love, they are like dangerous reefs that can
shipwreck you.* They are like shameless
shepherds who care only for themselves. They
are like clouds blowing over the land without
giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn
that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit
and have been pulled up by the roots. 13 They
are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the
foam of their shameful deeds. They are like
wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest
darkness.
14 Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation
after Adam, prophesied about these people. He
said, “Listen! The Lord is coming with countless
thousands of his holy ones 15 to execute judgment on the people of the world. He will convict
every person of all the ungodly things they have
done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners
have spoken against him.”*
16 These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires. They brag
loudly about themselves, and they flatter others
to get what they want.
1 Or keeps you for Jesus Christ. 5 Other manuscripts read
[the] Lord, or God, or God Christ. 8 Greek at glorious ones,
which are probably evil angels. 9 Greek Michael, the
archangel. 12 Or they are contaminants among you; or they
are stains. 14-15 The quotation comes from intertestamental
literature: 1 Enoch 1:9.