Condemnation of the False Teachers

1:3 Dear friends, although I have been eager to write to you7 about our common salvation, I now feel compelled8 instead to write to encourage9 you to contend earnestly10 for the faith11 that was once for all12 entrusted to the saints.13 1:4 For certain men14 have secretly slipped in among you15—men who long ago16 were marked out17 for the condemnation I am about to describe18—ungodly men who have turned the grace of our God into a license for evil19 and who deny our only Master20 and Lord,21 Jesus Christ.

1:5 Now I desire to remind you (even though you have been fully informed of these facts22 once for all23) that Jesus,24 having saved the25 people out of the land of Egypt, later26 destroyed those who did not believe. 1:6 You also know that27 the angels who did not keep within their proper domain28 but abandoned their own place of residence, he has kept29 in eternal chains30 in utter31 darkness, locked up32 for the judgment of the great Day. 1:7 So also33 Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring towns,34 since they indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire35 in a way similar to36 these angels,37 are now displayed as an example by suffering the punishment of eternal fire.

1:8 Yet these men,38 as a result of their dreams,39 defile the flesh, reject authority,40 and insult41 the glorious ones.42 1:9 But even43 when Michael the archangel44 was arguing with the devil and debating with him45 concerning Moses’ body, he did not dare to bring a slanderous judgment, but said, “May the Lord rebuke you!” 1:10 But these men do not understand the things they slander, and they are being destroyed by the very things that, like irrational animals, they instinctively comprehend.46 1:11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path,47 and because of greed48 have abandoned themselves49 to50 Balaam’s error; hence,51 they will certainly perish52 in Korah’s rebellion. 1:12 These men are53 dangerous reefs54 at your love feasts,55 feasting without reverence,56 feeding only themselves.57 They are58 waterless59 clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit60—twice dead,61 uprooted; 1:13 wild sea waves,62 spewing out the foam of63 their shame;64 wayward stars65 for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness66 have been reserved.

1:14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam,67 even prophesied of them,68 saying, “Look! The Lord is coming69 with thousands and thousands70 of his holy ones, 1:15 to execute judgment on71 all, and to convict every person72 of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds73 that they have committed,74 and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”75 1:16 These people are grumblers and76 fault-finders who go77 wherever their desires lead them,78 and they give bombastic speeches,79 enchanting folks80 for their own gain.81