The Epistle of St. Jude

Chapter 1:1 Jude, the servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to them that are sanctified by God the Father, and preserved in Jesus Christ, and called:
1:2 Mercy unto you, and peace, and love, be multiplied.
1:3 Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
1:4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.
1:5 I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.
1:6 And the angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
1:7 Even as Sodom and Gomorrha, and the cities about them in like manner, giving themselves over to fornication, and going after strange flesh, are set forth for an example, suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.
1:8 Likewise also these filthy dreamers defile the flesh, despise dominion, and speak evil of dignities.
1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.
1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.
1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.
1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
1:14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints,
1:15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.
1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage.
1:17 But, beloved, remember ye the words which were spoken before of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;
1:18 How that they told you there should be mockers in the last time, who should walk after their own ungodly lusts.
1:19 These be they who separate themselves, sensual, having not the Spirit.
1:20 But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
1:22 And of some have compassion, making a difference:
1:23 And others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire; hating even the garment spotted by the flesh.
1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
1:25 To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.

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The Epistle of St. Jude

Edna Lister Bible

Edna Lister’s Rembrandt Edition Bible
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Letter of Jude, brief New Testament letter written to a general Christian audience. Although the epistle claims to have been written by St. Jude the Apostle, “a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James” (1:1), the author’s identity is uncertain. The cultivated Greek style is notable for numerous figures of speech and references to both the Old and New Testaments and to other sources. References to apocryphal literature, however, may have contributed to a 3rd-century dispute about the letter’s authenticity, but its canonical status in the early church is nonetheless well attested. The letter was probably composed, at an unknown place, during the first quarter of the 2nd century and before the Second Letter of Peter, which draws upon it. It is the 26th book of the New Testament canon.
  The letter appeals to Christians to “contend for the faith that was once for all entrusted to the saints” (1:3) and to be on their guard against people “who pervert the grace of our God into licentiousness and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ” (1:4). The author struggles forcefully against heretics who deny God and Christ and attempts to strengthen his readers in their fight against such heresy that leads to wickedness and disorder. Libertinism is a characteristic of such heresy, and he warns that the punishment of the heretics will be similar to that which befell the unfaithful in the Old Testament patriarchal times. Only steadfastness in faith, true doctrine, and prayer can lead to mercy, forgiveness, restoration, and final salvation. An attempt to bring the erring to repentance may save them. The letter concludes with a typical doxology.-Encyclopedia Britannica


References

Britannica Editors. "Letter of Jude". Encyclopedia Britannica, 26 Aug. 2020, https://www.britannica.com/topic/Letter-of-Jude.

The Holy Bible. King James Version (KJV).