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Jude 1

Jude confronts the corruption of grace and calls believers to guard the faith while trusting God’s power to keep them.

Jude writes to believers after people have slipped into their fellowship, turning God’s grace into permission for indecency and denying Jesus Christ. He identifies himself as a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James; the recipients’ location is unnamed. His planned letter about their shared salvation becomes an urgent appeal to defend the faith. Examples of rebellion and judgment lead into instructions for prayer, mercy toward those in danger, and praise to God who can keep them from stumbling.

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1Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James, to those who are called, sanctified by God the Father, and kept for Jesus Christ:
2May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
3Beloved, while I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I was constrained to write to you exhorting you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints.
4For there are certain men who crept in secretly, even those who were long ago written about for this condemnation: ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into indecency, and denying our only Master, God, and Lord, Jesus Christ.
5Now I desire to remind you, though you already know this, that the Lord, having saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who didn’t believe.
6Angels who didn’t keep their first domain, but deserted their own dwelling place, he has kept in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
7Even as Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities around them, having in the same way as these given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are shown as an example, suffering the punishment of eternal fire.
8Yet in the same way, these also in their dreaming defile the flesh, despise authority, and slander celestial beings.
9But Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil and arguing about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him an abusive condemnation, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!”
10But these speak evil of whatever things they don’t know. They are destroyed in these things that they understand naturally, like the creatures without reason.
11Woe to them! For they went in the way of Cain, and ran riotously in the error of Balaam for hire, and perished in Korah’s rebellion.
12These are hidden rocky reefs in your love feasts when they feast with you, shepherds who without fear feed themselves; clouds without water, carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;
13wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
14About these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, “Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,
15to execute judgment on all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
16These are murmurers and complainers, walking after their lusts—and their mouth speaks proud things—showing respect of persons to gain advantage.
17But you, beloved, remember the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
18They said to you, “In the last time there will be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.”
19These are those who cause divisions and are sensual, not having the Spirit.
20But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
21Keep yourselves in God’s love, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life.
22On some have compassion, making a distinction,
23and some save, snatching them out of the fire with fear, hating even the clothing stained by the flesh.
24Now to him who is able to keep them from stumbling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory in great joy,
25to God our Savior, who alone is wise, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and forever. Amen.
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Jude 1:24After severe warnings about judgment, Jude closes by praising God’s power to preserve believers and present them faultless.
Jude 1:20Building on the faith and praying in the Holy Spirit form the believers’ response to those causing division.
Jude 1:4This verse names the crisis behind the letter: intruders corrupt God’s grace and deny Jesus Christ’s authority.
Where this chapter reaches

Jude and 2 Peter share warnings about corrupt teachers, including examples of angels under judgment and the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Jude also shares with 1 Corinthians the warning drawn from Israel’s wilderness failure, and with Ephesians the call to pray in the Spirit.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

How does Jude’s call for compassion shape your understanding of defending the faith?

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What do you notice about the command to keep yourselves and the praise of God who keeps?

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Questions people ask about Jude 1

Who wrote the book of Jude?

The writer identifies himself as Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. Christians have long understood him to be Jesus’ brother Jude, though the letter does not state that relationship. It names neither the recipients’ location nor a date, so those details remain uncertain.

What does it mean to contend for the faith in Jude 1:3?

The faith here is the message delivered to the saints, which Jude treats as settled and authoritative. The threat comes from people who turn grace into indecency and deny Jesus Christ. Jude’s response includes remembering apostolic teaching, building up believers in faith, and showing compassion toward those in danger.

What does Jude 1:21 mean by keeping yourselves in God’s love?

The command belongs with building on the faith, praying in the Holy Spirit, and looking for Christ’s mercy leading to eternal life. It calls for perseverance amid corrupt teaching. Jude also describes believers as kept for Jesus Christ and closes by praising God’s ability to keep them from stumbling.

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What the Bible says about temptation →

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).