New Catholic Bible/The Letter of Jude

**The Epistle of Jude**, as translated by the Catholic Book Publishing Corp in the New Catholic Bible.

### Contending for the Faith

The Letter of Jude, which consists of only twenty-five verses, is a strange and surprising document, in which many of the details escape us. One thing is clear, however: there was a need to defend the essentials of the faith handed down by the Apostles and to warn people against erroneous currents of thought that combined immorality and mysticism in an odd way.

Some groups were tearing the communities apart, right in the midst of the community gatherings. These people, who thought of themselves as spiritual, went on inventing classes and hierarchies of celestial beings, to the point of dissolving the lordship of Christ and of insulting the angels.

Although the Letter does not indicate for whom it was specifically intended, it was most likely aimed at the Jews of the Dispersion (i.e., those living throughout the Roman empire) who had accepted Christ as their Savior. If such were not the case, it would be difficult to understand the reason for the use of such obscure personages in Jude’s Old Testament illustrations and for the citations from apocryphal books that would have meant very little to a Gentile audience.

We are here in the final period of the apostolic age, toward the end of the first century. The author, who speaks so vehemently in the name of truth, writes under the name of Jude, a brother of James (the most representative person of the Jerusalem Church: see Gal 1:19; 2:9; Acts 15:13-21; James: Introduction) and therefore perhaps also a relative of Jesus (see Mt 13:55; Mk 6:3).

It is possible, though not necessary, to identify this Jude with the apostle of the same name: Jude Thaddeus (see Mt 10:3; Mk 3:18; Lk 6:16; Jn 14:22; Acts 1:13). Perhaps this person filled some office after the death of his brother James in A.D. 62. He may have exhorted the faithful to fight for the true faith against a distortion of the Gospel.

Whoever the author was, he wrote in some of the best Greek of the New Testament. Furthermore, he shows great acquaintance with Jewish writings of his time, the texts of apocalypses that he cites and that he approximates in his writing. His energetic and picturesque style is also reminiscent of the early Prophets of the Old Testament.

His violent intervention must have had some success, for in fact it is picked up in the Second Letter of Peter, but with some revisions (see, for example, verses 17-18 cited almost verbatim in 2 Pet 3:3).

We should not be surprised that the author is not afraid to employ abusive formulas; these are formulas often already in use in the religious literature of the time. We should attend rather to the author’s deeper concern: not to let the Christian mystery be enfeebled.

Indeed, the Letter opens with a salutation and a splendid expression of the awareness of being a Christian (1-4). It goes on to warn against false teachers (5-19). Then it provides a capsule program of the Christian life encompassing faith, prayer, love, mutual assistance, and avoidance of corruptors of the faith (20-23). It concludes with one of the most beautiful doxologies of the New Testament, noting that we must stand one day before the living God, who gives us strength to persevere and make progress (24-25).

 **The Divisions of The Letter of Jude**

The Letter of Jude may be divided as follows:

**Salutation (1-2)**

**Benefits of Being a Christian (3-4)**

**Character and Doom of the False Teachers (5-16)**

**Appeal to the Faithful (17-19)**

**A Program of the Christian Life (20-23)**

**Doxology (24-25)**

## CHAPTER 1

### Salutation.

**1** Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, and the brother of James,

to those who have been called, who are dear to God the Father and have been kept safe by Jesus Christ: **2** may mercy, peace, and love be granted you in abundance.

### Benefits of Being a Christian.

**3** Beloved, I was just at the point of writing to you about the salvation we share, when it became necessary for me to write and urge you to fight earnestly for the faith that was once and for all entrusted to the saints.

**4** For certain men have infiltrated your ranks, people who long ago were designated for condemnation.

These godless persons pervert the grace of our God into an excuse for immorality and disown our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

### Character and Doom of the False Teachers.

**5** Although you already know all this, allow me to remind you that the Lord, who once delivered the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who refused to believe.

**6** Remember also that the angels, who were dissatisfied with the dominion that had been assigned to them and abandoned their proper dwelling place, have been kept bound by him in darkness with eternal chains until the judgment of the great Day.

**7** And do not fail to remember Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities, which in a similar way indulged in sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who undergo the punishment of eternal fire.

**8** In the same way, these dreamers defile their bodies, make light of authority, and insult celestial beings.

**9** Even the archangel Michael, when he engaged in an argument with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but instead said: “May the Lord rebuke you!”

**10** However, these people pour abuse on anything they do not understand, and the very things that they know by instinct, like irrational animals, lead to their destruction.

**11** Woe to them! They have followed in the footsteps of Cain; they have abandoned themselves to the error of Balaam for the sake of gain; and they have perished in the rebellion of Korah.

**12**

They are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without fear. They are shepherds who feed only themselves. They are like clouds blown about by winds without giving rain, or like trees in autumn barren and uprooted and so twice dead. **13** They are like wild sea waves whose foam reflects their shameless deeds, or like wandering stars for whom the gloom of darkness is stored up forever. **14**

Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied against them when he said, “Behold, the Lord is coming with tens of thousands of his saints, **15** to pronounce judgment on humanity and to convict all the ungodly for all the godless deeds that each has impiously committed and for all the defiant words spoken against him by godless sinners.” **16** These are grumblers and fault-finders. They indulge their own passions,

and their mouths are full of bombastic talk as they flatter others in order to achieve their own ends.

**17**

### Appeal to the Faithful.

But you, dear friends, must remember the predictions made by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

**18** For they said to you, “In the final age there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly passions.”

**19** It is these people who create divisions, who follow their natural instincts and do not possess the Spirit.

**20**

### A Program of the Christian Life.

However, you, dear friends, must build yourselves up in your most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit. **21** Keep yourselves in the love of God as you await our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy, who will grant you eternal life.

**22** Have compassion for those who are wavering. 23 Save others by snatching them out of the fire. And for still others have compassion mixed with fear, hating even the tunic defiled by their bodies.

**24**

### Doxology.

Now to him who is able to keep you from falling and to bring you safely to his glorious presence, unblemished and rejoicing, **25** to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ, our Lord, be glory, majesty, power, and authority, before all time, now, and forevermore. Amen.

## FOOTNOTES

**Jude 1:1:**
**Jude . . . the brother of James:**

see The Letter of Jude:Introduction.

**Servant:**
**see** **note** **on** **Romans 1:1.**
**Kept safe by Jesus Christ:**

he holds the universe together

**(see** **Colossians 1:17;** **And** **Hebrews 1:3)**

and will ensure

that Christians persevere

in the faith

and

reach their eternal inheritance

**(see** **John 6:37-John 6:40;** **John 17:11f;** **And** **1 Peter 1:3-1 Peter 1:5).**
**Jude 1:3:**

Those who possess

the true faith

must defend it zealously

against all error.

But this defense

of the truth

must always be carried out

in a lawful manner.

**Saints:**
**see** **note** **on** **Romans 1:7.**
**Jude 1:4:**
**Long ago were designated for condemnation:**

the author may be referring

to Old Testament denunciations

of godless men

or

to Enoch’s prophecy

**(see** **Jude** **vv.** **Jude 1:14-Jude 1:15)**

or

he may mean

that condemnation

has long ago been ready

to overtake them

because of their sin

**(see** **2 Peter 2:3).**
**Jude 1:5:**

The fate

of those

who pervert faith in Christ

and

the Christian life

is sketched out,

in the eyes of the author,

in that which overtook

the most infamous evildoers

of the Bible

and

which the Jewish literature

of the period

readily recounts.

Thus,

a few Biblical scenes

are strung together:

the people rebelling in the wilderness

**(Numbers 14:26-Numbers 14:35;** **see** **1 Corinthians 10:5);**

the fall of the

mysterious heavenly beings

that are likened to angels

**(Genesis 6:1-Genesis 6:3);**

the chastisement

of the wicked cities

**(Genesis 19:1-Genesis 19:29);**

the punishment of Cain

**(Genesis 4:1-Genesis 4:24);**

the error of Balaam

**(Numbers 22:2—Numbers 24:25;** **And** **Numbers 31:16);**

the revolt of Korah

**(Numbers 16:1-Numbers 16:35).**

Upon those whom he regards as liars,

the author calls down the prophecy of judgment

that is placed on the lips of Enoch,

that ancestor whose mysterious destiny

is scrutinized in Jewish literature

**(see** **Genesis 5:18-Genesis 5:24;** **Wisdom 4:10f;** **Luke 3:32-Luke 3:38;** **And** **Hebrews 11:5).**

Who, then, are these men

who pervert the Gospel?

They are people

who delight in bizarre speculations,

who go so far

as to deny the lordship of Christ

and

forget his Person,

his role,

and

his unique work.

They insult celestial beings;

they doubtless misunderstand the angels

or

want to judge their merits

and

their respective roles.

Even the archangel Michael—

according to the apocryphal book

entitled

The Assumption of Moses—

left to God alone

the task of condemning the devil

**(see** **Zechariah 3:2).**

They are spiritual in discourse

but

lax in morals and corruptors.
**Jude 1:5:**

The first of three examples

of divine punishment

formerly

meted out

is that which befell

those who had been saved

but

failed to keep the faith

**(see** **Numbers 14:28f).**
**Jude 1:6:**

The second example

is taken from

**Genesis 6:1-Genesis 6:4**

as elaborated in

the apocryphal Book of Enoch

**(see** **Jude 1:14).**

Enoch says that

the celestial beings

let themselves be seduced

by

the “daughters of men.”

But in Jude

as in

**2 Peter 2:4,**

the statement that the angels sinned

is not accompanied by any details.
**Jude 1:7:**

The third example

is taken from

**Genesis 19:1-Genesis 19:24.**

The townsmen of Sodom

lusted not after human beings

but

after the strangers who were angels.

The apocryphal Testament

of the Twelve Patriarchs,

like

**Jude 1:6-Jude 1:7,**

also compares the sin of the angels

with that of the Sodomites.
**Jude 1:8:**

The false teachers

are undeterred by the punishment

of the fallen angels

**(Jude** **vv.** **Jude 1:6-Jude 1:7).**

Yet they themselves,

by their crime and punishment,

are like those who were chastised

in the Old Testament.
**Jude 1:9:**

This is a reference

to an incident

recorded in the apocryphal

Assumption of Moses,

in which Michael the archangel

has a dispute

with the devil

concerning who can claim Moses’ body

after his death.

Jude argues that

if an archangel refrained

from reviling even the devil,

mere human beings

are certainly wrong

to revile angels

**(celestial** **beings—Jude 1:** **v.** **8).**
**Jude 1:11:**

The author

gives three Old Testament personalities

who each in some way

illustrate the character

of the false teachers:

**(1)**
**footsteps of Cain:**

selfishness

and

hatred for a brother

**(see** **Genesis 4:3f);**
**(2)**
**error of Balaam:**

surrendering integrity

as a spiritual leader

because of consuming greed

**(see** **note** **on** **2 Pet 2:15);**
**(3)**
**rebellion of Korah:**

rebelling against God’s appointed leadership

**(see** **Numbers 16).**

Thus, the false teachers

are

loveless,

greedy,

and

insubordinate—

and destruction is sure to overtake them.
**Jude 1:12:**

Jude now characterizes

the false teachers

by the use of

six graphic metaphors:

**(1)**
**blemishes at your love feasts:**
**see** **notes** **on** **1 Corinthians 11:17-1 Corinthians 11:34;** **1 Corinthians 11:27-1 Corinthians 11:34;** **And** **2 Peter 2:13;**
**(2)**
**shepherds who feed only themselves:**

instead of caring for their sheep

**(see** **Ezekiel 34:8-Ezekiel 34:10;** **And** **John 10:12f);**
**(3)**
**clouds blown about by winds without giving rain:**

the false teachers promise much

but give nothing;

**(4)**
**trees in autumn barren and uprooted and so twice dead:**

once again,

a figure of empty promises;

**(5)**
**wild sea waves whose foam reflects their shameless deeds:**

their product is like the foam

or

scum at the seashore;

**(6)**
**wandering stars:**

as these provide

no guidance for navigation,

neither do the false teachers

give any reliable guide

to the Christian life.
**Jude 1:14:**

Cited from the

noncanonical

**Book** **of** **Enoch** **1:9,**

probably from memory.

Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam:

cited from

**Enoch 60:8;**

this refers to the Enoch

in the line of Seth

**(Genesis 5:18-Genesis 5:24;** **And** **1 Chronicles 1:1-3),**

not the one

in the line of Cain

**(Genesis 4:17).**

The Book of Enoch

was highly respected

by

many Jews

and

Christians

of that time.
**Jude 1:16:**
**These are . . . passions:**

suggested by

**Enoch 5:5.**
**Jude 1:17:**

This is a reference

to the apostolic preaching

received through tradition,

to which Jude alluded

in

**Jude 1:** **v.** **3.**
**Jude 1:18:**

Right from the start,

the apostolic catechesis

had announced that

Christians should not be astonished

at the appearance of men

full of delirium

**(see** **Acts 20:29-Acts 20:30).**
**In the final age . . . ungodly passions:**

this does not seem to be

an exact Scripture citation,

but

**see** **Acts 20:29-Acts 20:31;** **1 Timothy 4:1;** **2 Timothy 3:1-2 Timothy 3:5;** **2 Timothy 4:3;** **And** **2 Peter 3:3;**
**see** **also** **Matthew 24:24;** **And** **Mark 13:22.**
**Jude 1:20:**

Jude now tells Christians

how to contend for the faith.

(1)

They must build themselves up

in their faith,

which is the orthodox body of

truth

and

practice

received from the Apostles

**(see** **Acts 2:42;** **Romans 6:17;** **And** **Gal 1:23);**

they do so by having fellowship

with the Lord and his people,

by continuing in the Gospel

and

in the Word of God,

and

by worshiping in spirit and truth—

especially the Eucharist.

(2)

They must be a praying people

**(see** **Luke 18:1),**

praying in the Holy Spirit

**(see** **Romans 8:26-Romans 8:27;** **Galatians 4:6;** **And** **Ephesians 6:18)**

that God’s Kingdom may come

and

his will may be done

**(see** **Matthew 6:10-11).**

(3)

They are to remain in God’s love

by imitating Jesus

**(Matthew 16:24)**

and

by mutual love and support

**(see** **1 John 5:1-1 John 5:4).**

(4)

They are to wait expectantly

for the Second Coming

and

to keep their eyes

on the mercy of Jesus

that leads to eternal life

**(see** **Jude 1:** **v.** **3).**

(5)

They are to tend to those who waver,

snatching others from the judgment,

and maintain an attitude of pity

and

concern

but keep their distance

from the corruptors.
**Jude 1:24:**

One of the greatest doxologies

of the New Testament

concludes this brief Letter.

Remaining in the presence

of the living God

gives Christians

the power

to persevere

and

make progress.

All this

is due to Jesus Christ,

who sums up in himself

the majesty,

the power,

and

the authority of God.

## OTHER BOOKS OF THE NEW CATHOLIC BIBLE TRANSLATION

 **THE BOOKS OF THE CATHOLIC BIBLE IN THE NEW CATHOLIC BIBLE TRANSLATION**

### Old Testament

#### Pentateuch/Torah:

1. The Book of Genesis
2. The Book of Exodus
3. The Book of Leviticus
4. The Book of Numbers
5. The Book of Deuteronomy

#### Historical Books:

1. The Book of Joshua
2. The Book of Judges
3. The Book of Ruth
4. The First Book of Samuel
5. The Second Book of Samuel
6. The First Book of Kings
7. The Second Book of Kings
8. The First Book of Chronicles
9. The Second Book of Chronicles
10. The Book of Ezra
11. The Book of Nehemiah
12. The Book of Tobit
13. The Book of Judith
14. The Book of Esther
15. The First Book of Maccabees
16. The Second Book of Maccabees

#### Poetic Books:

1. The Book of Job
2. The Book of Psalms
3. The Book of Proverbs
4. The Book of Ecclesiastes
5. The Book of the Song of Songs
6. The Book of Wisdom
7. The Book of The Wisdom of Ben Sira

#### Prophetic Books:

1. The Book of Isaiah
2. The Book of Jeremiah
3. The Book of Lamentations
4. The Book of Baruch
5. The Book of Ezekiel
6. The Book of Daniel
7. The Book of Hosea
8. The Book of Joel
9. The Book of Amos
10. The Book of Obadiah
11. The Book of Jonah
12. The Book of Micah
13. The Book of Nahum
14. The Book of Habakkuk
15. The Book of Zephaniah
16. The Book of Haggai
17. The Book of Zechariah
18. The Book of Malachi

### New Testament

#### The Four Gospels

1. The Gospel according to Matthew
2. The Gospel according to Mark
3. The Gospel according to Luke
4. The Gospel according to John

#### Pauline Epistles

1. The Letter to The Romans
2. The First Letter to The Corinthians
3. The Second Letter to The Corinthians
4. The Letter to The Galatians
5. The Letter to The Ephesians
6. The Letter to The Philippians
7. The Letter to The Colossians
8. The First Letter to The Thessalonians
9. The Second Letter to The Thessalonians
10. The First Letter to Timothy
11. The Second Letter to Timothy
12. The Letter to Titus
13. The Letter to Philemon

#### The General Epistles/Catholic Epistles

1. The Letter of James
2. The First Letter of Peter
3. The Second Letter of Peter
4. The First Letter of John
5. The Second Letter of John
6. The Third Letter of John
7. **The Letter of Jude**