JUDE 1
1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and a brother of James,
To those
who have been called, who are loved in God the Father and kept for [Or by; or in] Jesus
Christ:
2 Mercy,
peace and love be yours in abundance.
The Sin and Doom of Ungodly People
3 Dear
friends, although I was very eager to write to you about the salvation we
share, I felt compelled to write and urge you to contend for the faith that was
once for all entrusted to God’s holy people. 4 For certain individuals whose
condemnation was written about [Or individuals who were marked out for condemnation ] long ago have secretly slipped in among you.
They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for
immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord.
5 Though
you already know all this, I want to remind you that the Lord [Some early manuscripts Jesus] at one time
delivered his people out of Egypt, but later destroyed those who did not
believe. 6 And the angels who did not keep their positions of
authority but abandoned their proper dwelling—these he has kept in darkness,
bound with everlasting chains for judgment on the great Day. 7 In a
similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to
sexual immorality and perversion.
They serve as an example of
those who suffer the punishment of eternal fire.
8 In the
very same way, on the strength of their dreams these ungodly people pollute
their own bodies, reject authority and heap abuse on celestial beings. 9
But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the
body of Moses, did not himself dare to condemn him for slander but said, “The
Lord rebuke you!”[Jude is alluding to the Jewish Testament of Moses (approximately the first century a.d.).] 10 Yet these people slander whatever they do
not understand, and the very things they do understand by instinct—as irrational
animals do—will destroy them.
11 Woe to
them! They have taken the way of Cain; they have rushed for profit into
Balaam’s error; they have been destroyed in Korah’s rebellion.
12 These
people are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest
qualm—shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown
along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted—twice dead. 13 They
are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their shame; wandering stars, for whom
blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
14
Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about them: “See, the Lord is coming
with thousands upon thousands of his holy ones 15 to judge everyone, and to
convict all of them of all the ungodly acts they have committed in their
ungodliness, and of all the defiant words ungodly sinners have spoken against
him.”[From the Jewish First Book of Enoch (approximately the first century b.c.)] 16 These people are grumblers and faultfinders; they follow their own
evil desires; they boast about themselves and flatter others for their own
advantage.
A Call to
Persevere
17 But,
dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. 18
They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow
their own ungodly desires.” 19 These are the people who divide you, who follow
mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit.
20 But you,
dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in
the Holy Spirit, 21 keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of
our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.
22 Be
merciful to those who doubt; 23 save others by snatching them from the fire; to
others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by
corrupted flesh.[The Greek manuscripts of these verses vary at several points.]
Doxology
24 To him
who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious
presence without fault and with great joy— 25
to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through
Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.
NOTES:
1 Jude…brother of James: for the identity of the author of
this letter, see Introduction. To those who are called: the vocation to the
Christian faith is God’s free gift to those whom he loves and whom he safely
protects in Christ until the Lord’s second coming.
3–4 Our common salvation: the teachings of the Christian
faith derived from the apostolic preaching and to be kept by the Christian
community.
5 For this first example of divine punishment on those who
had been saved but did not then keep faith, see Nm 14:28–29 and the note there.
Some manuscripts have the word “once” (hapax as at Jude 3) after “you know”;
some commentators have suggested that it means “knowing one thing” or “you know
all things once for all.” Instead of “[the] Lord” manuscripts vary, having
“Jesus,” “God,” or no subject stated.
6 This second example draws on Gn 6:1–4 as elaborated in the
apocryphal Book of Enoch (cf. Jude 14): heavenly beings came to earth and had
sexual intercourse with women. God punished them by casting them out of heaven
into darkness and bondage.
7 Practiced unnatural vice: literally, “went after alien
flesh.” This example derives from Gn 19:1–25, especially 4–11, when the
townsmen of Sodom violated both hospitality and morality by demanding that
Lot’s two visitors (really messengers of Yahweh) be handed over to them so that
they could abuse them sexually. Unnatural vice: this refers to the desire for
intimacies by human beings with angels (the reverse of the example in Jude 6).
Sodom (whence “sodomy”) and Gomorrah became proverbial as object lessons for
God’s punishment on sin (Is 1:9; Jer 50:40; Am 4:11; Mt 10:15; 2 Pt 2:6).
8 Dreamers: the writer returns to the false teachers of Jude
4, applying charges from the three examples in Jude 5, 6, 7. This may apply to
claims they make for revelations they have received by night (to the author,
hallucinations). Defile the flesh: this may mean bodily pollutions from the
erotic dreams of sexual license (Jude 7). Lordship…glorious beings: these may
reflect the Lord (Jude 5; Jesus, Jude 4) whom they spurn and the angels (Jude
6; cf. note on 2 Pt 2:10, here, as there, literally, “glories”).
9 The archangel Michael…judgment: a reference to an incident
in the apocryphal Assumption of Moses. Dt 34:6 had said of Moses, literally in
Greek, “they buried him” or “he (God?) buried him” (taken to mean “he was
buried”). The later account tells how Michael, who was sent to bury him, was
challenged by the devil’s interest in the body. Our author draws out the point
that if an archangel refrained from reviling even the devil, how wrong it is
for mere human beings to revile glorious beings (angels).
11 Cain…Balaam…Korah: examples of rebellious men and of the
punishment their conduct incurred; cf. Gn 4:8–16; Nm 16:1–35; 31:16. See note
on 2 Pt 2:15.
12 Blemishes on your love feasts: or “hidden rocks” or
“submerged reefs” (cf. Jude 13). The opponents engaged in scandalous conduct in
connection with community gatherings called love feasts (agape meals), which
were associated with eucharistic celebrations at certain stages of early
Christian practice; cf. 1 Cor 11:18–34 and the note on 2 Pt 2:13.
14–15 Cited from the apocryphal Book of Enoch 1:9.
18 This is the substance of much early Christian preaching
rather than a direct quotation of any of the various New Testament passages on
this theme (see Mk 13:22; Acts 20:30; 1 Tm 4:1–3; 2 Pt 3:3).
22 Have mercy: some manuscripts read “convince,” “confute,”
or “reprove.” Others have “even though you waver” or “doubt” instead of who
waver.
23 With fear: some manuscripts connect the phrase “with
fear” with the imperative “save” or with the participle “snatching.” Other
manuscripts omit the phrase “on others have mercy,” so that only two groups are
envisioned. Rescue of those led astray and caution in the endeavor are both
enjoined. Outer garment stained by the flesh: the imagery may come from Zec 3:3–5,
just as that of snatching…out of the fire comes from Zec 3:2; the very garments
of the godless are to be abhorred because of their contagion.
24–25 With this liturgical statement about the power of God
to keep the faithful from stumbling, and praise to him through Jesus Christ,
the letter reaches its conclusion by returning to the themes with which it
began (Jude 1–2).
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