Humanitext Reader

New Testament · Jude §1.1-1.25

Warning against False Teachers and Contending for the Faith

Passage 1 of 1 · Greek

Summary

The author, Jude, exhorts believers to contend for the faith against ungodly intruders who pervert God's grace. Citing historical examples of divine judgment, he describes the corrupt character of these false teachers and encourages believers to build themselves up in the Holy Spirit and remain in God's love, concluding with a doxology.

§1.1ΙΟΥΔΑΣ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ δοῦλος, ἀδελφὸς δὲ Ἰακώβου, τοῖς ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ ἠγαπημένοις καὶ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ τετηρημένοις κλητοῖς· §1.2ἔλεος ὑμῖν καὶ εἰρήνη καὶ ἀγάπη πληθυνθείη.
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: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.
§1.3Ἀγαπητοί, πᾶσαν σπουδὴν ποιούμενος γράφειν ὑμῖν περὶ τῆς κοινῆς ἡμῶν σωτηρίας ἀνάγκην ἔσχον γράψαι ὑμῖν παρακαλῶν ἐπαγωνίζεσθαι τῇ ἅπαξ παραδοθείσῃ τοῖς ἁγίοις πίστει.
Beloved, while I was making every effort 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.
§1.4παρεισεδύησαν γάρ τινες ἄνθρωποι, οἱ πάλαι προγεγραμμένοι εἰς τοῦτο τὸ κρίμα, ἀσεβεῖς, τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ἡμῶν χάριτα μετατιθέντες εἰς ἀσέλγειαν καὶ τὸν μόνον δεσπότην καὶ κύριον ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν ἀρνούμενοι.
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.
§1.5Ὑπομνῆσαι δὲ ὑμᾶς βούλομαι, εἰδότας ἅπαξ πάντα, ὅτι Κύριος λαὸν ἐκ γῆς Αἰγύπτου σώσας τὸ δεύτερον τοὺς μὴ πιστεύσαντας ἀπώλεσεν,
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.
§1.6ἀγγέλους τε τοὺς μὴ τηρήσαντας τὴν ἑαυτῶν ἀρχὴν ἀλλὰ ἀπολιπόντας τὸ ἴδιον οἰκητήριον εἰς κρίσιν μεγάλης ἡμέρας δεσμοῖς ἀϊδίοις ὑπὸ ζόφον τετήρηκεν· §1.7ὡς Σόδομα καὶ Γόμορρα καὶ αἱ περὶ αὐτὰς πόλεις, τὸν ὅμοιον τρόπον τούτοις ἐκπορνεύσασαι καὶ ἀπελθοῦσαι ὀπίσω σαρκὸς ἑτέρας, πρόκεινται δεῖγμα πυρὸς αἰωνίου δίκην ὑπέχουσαι.
And the angels who did not keep their own position of authority but abandoned their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day— 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.
§1.8Ὁμοίως μέντοι καὶ οὗτοι ἐνυπνιαζόμενοι σάρκα μὲν μιαίνουσιν, κυριότητα δὲ ἀθετοῦσιν, δόξας δὲ βλασφημοῦσιν.
Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones.
§1.9Ὁ δὲ "Μιχαὴλ ὁ ἀρχάγγελος," ὅτε τῷ διαβόλῳ διακρινόμενος διελέγετο περὶ τοῦ Μωυσέως σώματος, οὐκ ἐτόλμησεν κρίσιν ἐπενεγκεῖν βλασφημίας, ἀλλὰ εἶπεν "Ἐπιτιμήσαι σοι Κύριος. " §1.10Οὗτοι δὲ ὅσα μὲν οὐκ οἴδασιν βλασφημοῦσιν, ὅσα δὲ φυσικῶς ὡς τὰ ἄλογα ζῷα ἐπίστανται, ἐν τούτοις φθείρονται.
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." But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively.
§1.11οὐαὶ αὐτοῖς, ὅτι τῇ ὁδῷ τοῦ Καὶν ἐπορεύθησαν, καὶ τῇ πλάνῃ τοῦ Βαλαὰμ μισθοῦ ἐξεχύθησαν, καὶ τῇ ἀντιλογίᾳ τοῦ Κορὲ ἀπώλοντο.
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.
§1.12οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἐν ταῖς ἀγάπαις ὑμῶν σπιλάδες συνευωχούμενοι, ἀφόβως "ἑαυτοὺς ποιμαίνοντες," νεφέλαι ἄνυδροι ὑπὸ ἀνέμων παραφερόμεναι, δένδρα φθινοπωρινὰ ἄκαρπα δὶς ἀποθανόντα ἐκριζωθέντα, §1.13κύματα ἄγρια θαλάσσης ἐπαφρίζοντα τὰς ἑαυτῶν αἰσχύνας, ἀστέρες πλανῆται οἷς ὁ ζόφος τοῦ σκότους εἰς αἰῶνα τετήρηται.
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; 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.
§1.14Ἐπροφήτευσεν δὲ καὶ τούτοις ἕβδομος ἀπὸ Ἀδὰμ Ἑνὼχ λέγων Ἰδοὺ "ἦλθεν Κύριος ἐν ἁγίαις μυριάσιν αὐτοῦ," §1.15ποιῆσαι κρίσιν κατὰ πάντων καὶ ἐλέγξαι πάντας τοὺς ἀσεβεῖς περὶ πάντων τῶν ἔργων ἀσεβείας αὐτῶν ὧν ἠσέβησαν καὶ περὶ πάντων τῶν σκληρῶν ὧν ἐλάλησαν κατʼ αὐτοῦ ἁμαρτωλοὶ ἀσεβεῖς. §1.16Οὗτοί εἰσιν γογγυσταί, μεμψίμοιροι, κατὰ τὰς ἐπιθυμίας αὐτῶν πορευόμενοι, καὶ τὸ στόμα αὐτῶν λαλεῖ ὑπέρογκα, θαυμάζοντες πρόσωπα ὠφελίας χάριν.
It was also about these that Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, "Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 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." These are grumblers, malcontents, following their own sinful desires; they loud-mouthedly utter bombast, showing favoritism to gain advantage.
§1.17Ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀγαπητοί, μνήσθητε τῶν ῥημάτων τῶν προειρημένων ὑπὸ τῶν ἀποστόλων τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ·
But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.
§1.18ὅτι ἔλεγον ὑμῖν Ἐπʼ ἐσχάτου χρόνου ἔσονται ἐμπαῖκται κατὰ τὰς ἑαυτῶν ἐπιθυμίας πορευόμενοι τῶν ἀσεβειῶν. §1.19Οὗτοί εἰσιν οἱ ἀποδιορίζοντες, ψυχικοί, πνεῦμα μὴ ἔχοντες.
They said to you, "In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions." It is these who cause divisions, worldly-minded, devoid of the Spirit.
§1.20Ὑμεῖς δέ, ἀγαπητοί, ἐποικοδομοῦντες ἑαυτοὺς τῇ ἁγιωτάτῃ ὑμῶν πίστει, ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ προσευχόμενοι, §1.21ἑαυτοὺς ἐν ἀγάπῃ θεοῦ τηρήσατε προσδεχόμενοι τὸ ἔλεος τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ εἰς ζωὴν αἰώνιον.
But you, beloved, building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in the love of God, waiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life.
§1.22Καὶ οὓς μὲν ἐλεᾶτε διακρινομένους σώζετε "ἐκ πυρὸς ἁρπάζοντες," §1.23οὓς δὲ ἐλεᾶτε ἐν φόβῳ, μισοῦντες καὶ τὸν ἀπὸ τῆς σαρκὸς "ἐσπιλωμένον χιτῶνα. "
And have mercy on those who doubt; save others by "snatching them out of the fire"; and on others have mercy with fear, hating even the "garment stained" by the flesh.
§1.24Τῷ δὲ δυναμένῳ φυλάξαι ὑμᾶς ἀπταίστους καὶ στῆσαι κατενώπιον τῆς δόξης αὐτοῦ ἀμώμους ἐν ἀγαλλιάσει §1.25μόνῳ θεῷ σωτῆρι ἡμῶν διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ τοῦ κυρίου ἡμῶν δόξα μεγαλωσύνη κράτος καὶ ἐξουσία πρὸ παντὸς τοῦ αἰῶνος καὶ νῦν καὶ εἰς πάντας τοὺς αἰῶνας·
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, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever.
ἀμήν.
Amen.

Notes

  1. 1.1τοῖς ἐν θεῷ πατρὶ ἠγαπημένοις καὶ Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ τετηρημένοις κλητοῖς — The dative `Ἰησοῦ Χριστῷ` with the passive participle `τετηρημένοις` can be construed either as a dative of agent ("kept by Jesus Christ") or as a dative of purpose/interest ("kept for Jesus Christ"). The latter is preferred in this context, emphasizing that believers are preserved for Christ's possession and ultimate salvation.
  2. 1.3πᾶσαν σπουδὴν ποιούμενος — The present participle `ποιούμενος` functions adverbially in relation to the main verb `ἀνάγκην ἔσχον`, indicating temporal circumstance or concession ("while I was making every effort..." or "though I was eager..."). It sets the background of how the sudden necessity arose to change the theme of the letter to an urgent appeal.
  3. 1.5εἰδότας ἅπαξ πάντα — The accusative participle `εἰδότας` modifies `ὑμᾶς` (the subject/object of the infinitive `ὑπομνῆσαι`). It carries a concessive force ("although you once fully knew everything"), highlighting that the writer's intention is not to instruct the ignorant, but to remind and awaken those who already possess the truth.
  4. 1.12ἑαυτοὺς ποιμαίνοντες — The phrase "pasturing themselves" (shepherds feeding themselves) echoes the prophetic condemnation of false leaders in Ezekiel 34, who greedily satisfy their own desires instead of caring for the flock. The adverb `ἀφόβως` ("without fear") modifies `ποιμαίνοντες`, underlining their irreverence and shamelessness at the sacred love feasts.
  5. 1.22Καὶ οὓς μὲν ἐλεᾶτε διακρινομένους — The present middle/passive participle `διακρινομένους` means "those who doubt" or "those who dispute." It functions as a predicative modifier or direct object of `οὓς μὲν` (some people), indicating how the community must show pastoral compassion toward those wavering under the heretical influence.

Cite this passage

New Testament, Jude §1.1-1.25. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0031.tlg026.humanitext-grc2:1.1-1.25

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