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THE EPISTLE OF
JUDAH

ἸΟΎΔΑΣ         יְהוּדָה







From Judaha, slave of Jesus the Anointed Oneb, and brother of Jacobc,
to those who are called, who have been loved in God the Father and been kept in Jesus the Anointed One.
May mercy, peace and love be multiplied to y’all.

Dear friends, although I was eager to write to y’all concerning our common salvation, I needed to write to y’all exhorting y’all to contend earnestly for the faith that has been delivered to the saints once for all. Because certain men, who have been designated long ago to this condemnation, slipped into our community undetected. They are irreverent, ungodly ones, changing the grace of our God into debauchery and denying Jesus the Anointed One, our only Master and Lord.

Now I want to remind y’all, though y’all know all of this: Jesusd, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, destroyed afterwards those who didn’t believe. Also the heavenly messengers, who didn’t keep their own domain but abandoned their own dwelling - Jesus keeps in custody in eternal chains under darkness until the judgment of the great daye. Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, who in a similar manner had given themselves into sexual immorality and had gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, undergoing the penalty of eternal fire.

Yet also these dreamersf in the same way truly defile the flesh, reject authority and blaspheme the glory of the heavenly messengersg. But even Michael, the chief heavenly messenger, when he was disputing with the Slandererh in a debate about Moses’ body, did not dare to bring a blasphemousi judgment against him, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”j

These men, however, blasphemek whatever they have not seen, and what they do understand by instinct like the irrational animals - in these things they corrupt themselves. Woe to them, because they traveled in the way of Cainl, wasted themselvesm in the error of Balaamn for profit and were completely destroyed in the rebellion of Koraho.

These men are hidden reefs in your love-feasts,
feasting together with you fearlessly, caring only about themselves.
They are waterless clouds
being carried off by winds.
They are fruitless autumnal trees
that died twice and were uprooted.
They are wild waves of the sea,
foaming out of their disgrace.
They are wandering stars,
to whom the deep gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.

And Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these men:

Look! The Lord has come among myriads of His holy ones,
to execute judgment against all,
and to convict all the ungodly
of all the acts of their ungodliness
which they have done in an ungodly way,
and of all the harsh things that ungodlyp sinners have spoken against Him.q

These men are fault-finding grumblers that follow after their own lusts. They speak very excessive words, flattering people for their own advantage.

But you, dear friends, remember the predictions that the apostles of our Lord Jesus the Anointed told you. They said: “In the end time, there will be mockers following after their own passions of ungodliness.”r These men are people who cause divisions and are unbelievers who don’t have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, as you build yourselves in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit, guard yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus the Anointed One into eternal life. Also have mercy on those who doubt; save others, snatching them out of the fire; show mercy to others with fear, hating even the garment that has been defiled by the flesh.

Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling
and to present you in the presence of His glory,
blameless with exultation -
to the only God, our Savior,
through Jesus the Anointed One, our Lord,
be glory, majesty, dominion and authority,
before all time, now, and forever. Amen.

Footnotes

a. Traditionally known as Jude.

b. Or “Jesus Christ”, “Jesus the Messiah”.

c. Traditionally known as James. Judah and Jacob are quite common names in Jewish communities, so Judah, the author of this letter, specifies that he’s Jesus and Jacob’s brother, meaning he’s neither one of the two Judahs that were a part of the 12 disciples (students) and later 12 emissaries.

d. Some manuscripts read “the Lord” to ease it out, or “God” or “God Christ”.

e. Possibly the Day of the Lord.

f. “Jude [...] uses 1797 (enypniázomai) in connection with the wrong kind of dreaming. This hoping (desiring) opposes God's kingdom – and then expects such personal aspirations to be granted by Him! This shows someone is completely out of touch with the principles of God's kingdom” (HELPS Word-studies) “Metaphorically, to be beguiled with sensual images and carried away to an impious course of conduct.” (Thayer's Greek Lexicon)

g. Lit. "glories". Possibly a metonymy for heavenly messengers in service of God. “in a wider sense, in which angels are called δόξαι as being spiritual beings of preeminent dignity” (Thayer's Greek Lexicon).

h. That is, the devil. Devil is a transliteration of diabolos, διάβολος.

i. Or “slanderous”.

j. This account is possibly found (or missing) in the Assumption of Moses, or Testament of Moses, a 1st-century Jewish apocryphal work.

k. Or “slander”.

l. I.e. they followed Cain’s lifestyle. His story is found in Genesis 4 in your standard Bible, or in the Parashat Bereshit as in the Torah of the Jews.

m. Or “poured themselves out”, or “rushed”.

n. His story is in Numbers 22-24 or in the Parashat Balak.

o. His story is in Numbers 16 or in the Parashat Korach.

p. This sequence - all the ungodly, their ungodliness, done in an ungodly way, ungodly sinners - emphasizes the fact that these people’s lives revolve around ungodliness.

q. This is from 1 Enoch 1:9.

r. Jude quotes 2 Peter 3:3, polishing the syntax of the original phrase, since Peter’s grammar is quite rough.