Jude 1 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.

From Jude, a servant of Jesus the One, and brother of James — to those who have been called, who are deeply loved by God the Father and kept safe for Jesus the One:

May mercy, peace, and love be given to you in full measure.

Dear friends, I was eager to write to you about the rescue we share together, but I felt I had to write and urge you to fight hard for the faith that was handed down once and for all to God's set-apart people.

Because certain people have slipped in among you unnoticed — people who were marked out long ago for this judgment — ungodly people who twist the undeserved kindness of our God into an excuse for sexual excess, and who deny Jesus the One, our only Master and Lord.

Now I want to remind you — even though you already know all this — that the Lord, after rescuing a people out of Egypt, later destroyed those who didn't trust him.

And the angels who didn't stay within their proper place of authority, but abandoned their assigned home — he has kept them locked in darkness, bound with unbreakable chains, waiting for the judgment of the great Day.

In the same way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities — which gave themselves over to sexual immorality and chased after unnatural desire — serve as an example by suffering the punishment of an age-lasting fire.

Yet in the same way, these dreamers also pollute their own bodies, reject authority, and slander glorious beings.

But even Michael, the chief angel, when he was arguing with the devil in a dispute over the body of Moses, didn't dare to pronounce a slanderous judgment against him. Instead, he said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

But these people slander whatever they don't understand, and they are destroyed by the things they know by instinct — like unreasoning animals.

How terrible for them! They've gone down the same road as Cain, rushed headlong into Balaam's error for profit, and been destroyed in Korah's rebellion.

These people are dangerous reefs at your love feasts, eating with you without any sense of shame — shepherds who only feed themselves. They're clouds blown along by the wind but bringing no rain, trees in late autumn without fruit — twice dead, ripped out by the roots.

They're wild ocean waves churning up the foam of their own shame, wandering stars for whom the blackest darkness has been reserved forever.

Enoch, the seventh generation from Adam, also prophesied about these people when he said: "Look — the Lord is coming with countless thousands of his set-apart ones

to execute judgment on everyone, and to convict every person of all the ungodly things they've done in their ungodly way, and of all the harsh words ungodly failures have spoken against him."

These people are constant complainers, always finding fault, chasing after their own desires. They use arrogant, inflated language, and they flatter people when it benefits them.

But you, dear friends — remember what was predicted by the ambassadors of our Lord Jesus the One.

They told you, "In the final era, there will be scoffers who chase after their own ungodly desires."

These are the ones who cause divisions — people driven by their natural instincts, who don't have the Breath of God.

But you, dear friends — build yourselves up on the foundation of your most set-apart faith, and pray in the Breath of God.

Keep yourselves in God's love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus the One to bring you into limitless life.

Show mercy to those who are wavering.

Rescue others by snatching them out of the fire. And to others, show mercy mixed with caution — hating even the clothing stained by their corrupted lives.

Now to the one who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you — flawless and overflowing with joy — before the presence of his glory:

to the only God our Rescuer, through Jesus the One our Lord — all glory, majesty, power, and authority are his, before all time, right now, and for all ages to come. Yes — let it be so.