Jude 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
Most likely the AD 60s to 80s, in the second generation of the church when the original apostles were dying out
Location
Written from an unknown place, probably in or near Judea, to scattered congregations that the letter never names
Audience
Christians in mixed Jewish and Gentile congregations, evidently people who knew Jewish scripture and Jewish storytelling traditions well
Situation
Jude says he meant to write about salvation in general but had to switch to an urgent warning instead. Teachers have slipped into the congregations who treat God's forgiveness as permission to live however they please and who reject authority, and Jude piles up examples of judgment before telling his readers how to hold each other steady.
Key Background
The writer introduces himself as a brother of James, which points to the family of Jesus, and choosing the title servant rather than relative is a deliberate mark of humility. The letter draws on Jewish writings outside the Hebrew Bible, including the story of Enoch and a tradition about a dispute over the body of Moses, which was normal practice for a Jewish teacher arguing from shared cultural material rather than a claim that those books were scripture. His complaint about the love feasts refers to the shared communal meal that early congregations held, where a freeloading teacher could eat well at the church's expense while corrupting it.
From Jude, a of Jesus the and brother of James — to those who have been who are deeply loved by God the Father and for Jesus the
May and be given to you in full measure.
I was eager to write to you about the we share together, but I felt I had to write and urge you to fight hard for the that was handed down once and for all to
Because certain people have in among you — people who were marked out long ago for this judgment — ungodly people who twist the of our God into an excuse for and who deny Jesus the One, our only and Lord.
Now I want to remind you — even though you already know all this — that the Lord, after a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn't him.
And the who didn't stay within their of but abandoned their assigned home — he has kept them locked in darkness, bound with unbreakable chains, waiting for the judgment of the
In the same way, and and the surrounding cities — which gave themselves over to sexual immorality and chased after — serve as an example by suffering the punishment of an
Yet in the same way, these also their own bodies, reject authority, and slander
But even the when he was arguing with the devil in a dispute over the of didn't dare to pronounce a slanderous judgment against him. Instead, he said, "The Lord rebuke you!"
But these people whatever they don't understand, and they are destroyed by the things they know by — like unreasoning animals.
How for them! They've gone down the same road as rushed headlong into for profit, and been destroyed in
These people are at your eating with you without any sense of shame — shepherds who only They're clouds blown along by the wind but bringing no rain, trees in late autumn without fruit — twice ripped out by the roots.
They're churning up the foam of their own shame, for whom the has been reserved forever.
the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these people when he said: "Look, the Lord is coming with countless thousands of
to execute on everyone, and to convict every person of all the things they've done in their way, and of all the harsh words have spoken against him."
These people are constant always chasing after their own desires. They use and they flatter people when it benefits them.
But you, — remember what was predicted by the of our Lord Jesus the One.
They told you, "In the there will be who chase after their own ungodly desires."
These are the ones who — people driven by their who don't have the of
But you, dear friends, up on the foundation of your faith, which to and in the of
in as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus the One to bring you into
to those who are
Rescue others by them out of the And to others, show with — hating even the by their
Now to the one who is able to you from and to present you — flawless and overflowing with joy — before the presence of his
to the only God our through Jesus the One our Lord — all and are his, before all time, right now, and for all ages to come. Yes — let it be so.