The Epistle of Jude

¹ Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, to those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: ² May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Notes on the Translation

The NA28 Greek text identifies “Ἰούδας” as “Jude,” a servant (δοῦλος) of Jesus Christ, per the KJV. “Brother of James” renders “ἀδελφὸς Ἰακώβου,” likely James the Just (cf. Galatians 1:19). “Those who are called” translates “κλητοῖς,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. Capitalized “God the Father” and “Jesus Christ” follow instructions. “Mercy, peace, and love” echoes the KJV’s greeting, per the NA28.

³ Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Notes on the Translation

“Beloved” and “people” translate “ἀγαπητοί” and “τινες ἄνθρωποι,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. Capitalized “God,” “Master,” “Lord,” and “Jesus Christ” follow instructions. “Contend for the faith” renders “ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι τῇ πίστει,” echoing the KJV’s call to defend doctrine. “Crept in unnoticed” translates “παρεισέδυσαν,” preserving the KJV’s stealth imagery. “Designated for condemnation” aligns with the KJV’s predestination theme, per the NA28.

⁵ Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their own domain, but left their proper dwelling, He has kept in eternal chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day. ⁷ Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Notes on the Translation

“You” and “people” translate “ὑμᾶς” and “λαὸν,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. Capitalized “Lord” and “He” refer to God, following instructions. “Saved a people out of Egypt” renders “λαὸν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου σώσας,” echoing the KJV’s Exodus reference. “Angels in eternal chains” translates “ἀγγέλους…δεσμοῖς ἀϊδίοις,” per the NA28, aligning with the KJV’s fallen angels (cf. 2 Peter 2:4). “Sodom and Gomorrah” preserves the KJV’s moral warning.

⁸ Yet in the same way these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. ⁹ But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.”

Notes on the Translation

“People” translates “οὗτοι,” gender-neutral, referring to the false teachers in verse 4, per the NA28. “Glorious ones” renders “δόξας,” likely angels, echoing the KJV’s ambiguity. The Michael narrative, absent in canonical Scripture, draws from apocryphal tradition (e.g., Assumption of Moses), per the NA28, preserved as in the KJV. “The Lord rebuke you” translates “Κύριος ἐπιτιμήσαι σοι,” echoing Zechariah 3:2 and the KJV. Capitalized “Lord” follows instructions.

¹⁰ But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion.

Notes on the Translation

“These people” translates “οὗτοι,” gender-neutral, continuing verse 8’s false teachers, per the NA28. “Way of Cain,” “Balaam’s error,” and “Korah’s rebellion” render “ὁδῷ τοῦ Κάϊν,” “πλάνῃ τοῦ Βαλαὰμ,” and “ἀντιλογίᾳ τοῦ Κορέ,” echoing the KJV’s Old Testament allusions (Genesis 4, Numbers 22–24, Numbers 16). “Woe to them” preserves the KJV’s prophetic denunciation, per the NA28.

¹² These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; ¹³ wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

Notes on the Translation

“These” translates “οὗτοι,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. “Hidden reefs” renders “σπιλάδες,” echoing the KJV’s “spots” but clarified as navigational dangers. “Love feasts” translates “ἀγάπαις,” referring to early Christian communal meals, per the KJV. The metaphors (“waterless clouds,” “fruitless trees,” “wild waves,” “wandering stars”) preserve the KJV’s vivid imagery, per the NA28, with “twice dead” and “utter darkness” emphasizing judgment.

¹⁴ It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His holy ones, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have committed in such an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Notes on the Translation

“These” and “all” translate “οὗτοι” and “πάντας,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. Capitalized “Lord” and “Him” refer to God or Christ, following instructions. The Enoch quotation, from 1 Enoch 1:9, is rendered “ἰδοὺ ἦλθεν Κύριος,” echoing the KJV’s apocalyptic tone. “Holy ones” translates “ἁγίαις μυριάσιν,” likely angels, per the NA28, preserving the KJV’s judgment scene.

¹⁶ These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they are loud-mouthed boasters, showing favoritism to gain advantage. ¹⁷ But you, beloved, remember the words spoken beforehand by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ that they said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.”

Notes on the Translation

“These” and “you” translate “οὗτοι” and “ὑμεῖς,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. Capitalized “Lord Jesus Christ” follows instructions. “Grumblers” and “scoffers” render “γογγυσταί” and “ἐμπαῖκται,” echoing the KJV’s pejorative terms. “Apostles’ words” likely alludes to 2 Peter 3:3, per the NA28, preserving the KJV’s warning of apostasy. “Last time” translates “ἐσχάτῳ χρόνῳ,” echoing the KJV’s eschatology.

¹⁹ It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.

Notes on the Translation

“These” and “people” translate “οὗτοι” and “ψυχικοί,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. Capitalized “Spirit,” “Holy Spirit,” “God,” and “Lord Jesus Christ” follow instructions. “Cause divisions” renders “ἀποδιορίζοντες,” echoing the KJV’s “separate themselves.” “Worldly people, devoid of the Spirit” clarifies “ψυχικοί, πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες,” per the NA28, aligning with the KJV’s contrast. “Most holy faith” preserves the KJV’s emphasis.

²² And have mercy on those who doubt; ²³ save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh.

Notes on the Translation

“Those” and “others” translate “οὓς μέν” and “οὓς δέ,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. “Snatching them out of the fire” renders “ἐκ πυρὸς ἁρπάζοντες,” echoing the KJV’s vivid imagery (cf. Zechariah 3:2). “Garment stained by the flesh” translates “χιτῶνα ἐσπιλωμένον ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκός,” preserving the KJV’s metaphor for moral corruption. Textual variants in verses 22–23 are harmonized per the NA28, aligning with the KJV’s structure.

²⁴ Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, ²⁵ to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen.

Notes on the Translation

“You” translates “ὑμᾶς,” gender-neutral, per the NA28. Capitalized “Him,” “God,” “Savior,” “Jesus Christ,” “Lord,” and “His” follow instructions, referring to God or Christ. “Keep you from stumbling” renders “φυλάξαι ἀπταίστους,” echoing the KJV’s assurance. “Only God, our Savior” translates “μόνῳ Θεῷ Σωτῆρι ἡμῶν,” per the NA28, preserving the KJV’s doxology. “Amen” concludes the epistle, as in the KJV.