2 John - Jude

New American Standard Bible

Walk According to His Commandments

^1 (A)The elder to the ^(B)chosen ^(C)lady and her children, whom I ^(D)love in truth; and not only I, but also all who ^(E)know the truth, ^2 (F)because of the truth which remains ^(G)in us and will be ^(H)with us forever: ^3 (I)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

^4 (J)I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received a commandment to do from the Father. ⁵ Now I ask you, lady, ^(K)not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had ^(L)from the beginning, that we ^(M)love one another. ⁶ And ^(N)this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, ^(O)just as you have heard ^(P)from the beginning, that you are to walk in it.

⁷ For ^(Q)many deceivers have ^(R)gone out into the world, those who ^(S)do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is ^(T)the deceiver and the ^(U)antichrist. ^8 (V)Watch yourselves, ^(W)that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. ^9 [a]Anyone who ^[b]goes too far and ^(X)does not remain in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, ^(Y)do not receive him into your house, and do not ^[c]give him a greeting; ¹¹ for the one who ^[d]gives him a greeting ^[e](Z)participates in his evil deeds.

^12 (AA)Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak ^[f]face to face, so that ^[g]your ^(AB)joy may be made complete.

¹³ The children of your ^(AC)chosen sister greet you.

A Good Report

^1 (AD)The elder to the beloved ^(AE)Gaius, whom I ^(AF)love in truth.

² Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. ³ For I ^(AG)was overjoyed when ^(AH)brothers came and testified to your truth, that is, how you ^(AI)are walking in truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than ^[h]this, to hear of ^(AJ)my children ^(AK)walking in the truth.

⁵ Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the ^(AL)brothers and sisters, and ^[i]especially when they are ^(AM)strangers; ⁶ and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to ^[j](AN)send them on their way in a manner ^(AO)worthy of God. ⁷ For they went out for the sake of ^(AP)the Name, ^(AQ)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ Therefore we ought to ^[k]support such people, so that we may ^[l]prove to be fellow workers ^[m]with the truth.

⁹ I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to ^(AR)be first among them, does not accept ^[n]what we say. ¹⁰ For this reason, ^(AS)if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with malicious words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not ^(AT)receive the ^(AU)brothers either, and he forbids those who want to do so and ^(AV)puts them out of the church.

¹¹ Beloved, ^(AW)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. ^(AX)The one who does what is good is of God; ^(AY)the one who does what is evil has not seen God. ¹² Demetrius ^(AZ)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we testify too, and ^(BA)you know that our testimony is true.

^13 (BB)I had many things to write to you, but I do not want to write to you with pen and ink; ¹⁴ but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak ^[o]face to face.

^15 (BC)Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends ^(BD)by name.

The Warnings of History to the Ungodly

^1 [p](BE)Jude, a ^(BF)bond-servant of Jesus Christ and brother of ^[q]James,

To ^(BG)those who are the called, beloved in God the Father, and ^(BH)kept for Jesus Christ: ^2 (BI)May mercy, peace, and love ^(BJ)be multiplied to you.

^3 (BK)Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our ^(BL)common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you ^(BM)contend earnestly for ^(BN)the faith that was once for all time ^(BO)handed down to ^(BP)the ^[r]saints. ⁴ For certain people have ^(BQ)crept in unnoticed, those who were long beforehand ^[s](BR)marked out for this condemnation, ungodly persons who turn ^(BS)the grace of our God into ^(BT)indecent behavior and ^(BU)deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵ Now I want to ^(BV)remind you, though ^(BW)you know everything once and for all, that ^[t]the Lord, ^(BX)after saving a people out of the land of Egypt, ^[u]subsequently destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And ^(BY)angels who did not keep their own domain but abandoned their proper dwelling place, these He has ^(BZ)kept in eternal restraints under darkness for the judgment of the great day, ⁷ just as ^(CA)Sodom and Gomorrah and the ^(CB)cities around them, since they in the same way as these angels indulged in sexual perversion and ^(CC)went after ^[v]strange flesh, are exhibited as an ^[w](CD)example in undergoing the ^(CE)punishment of eternal fire.

⁸ Yet in the same way these people also, dreaming, ^(CF)defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak abusively of angelic ^[x]majesties. ⁹ But ^(CG)Michael ^(CH)the archangel, when he disputed with the devil and argued about ^(CI)the body of Moses, did not dare pronounce against him an abusive judgment, but said, “^(CJ)The Lord rebuke you!” ¹⁰ But ^(CK)these people disparage all the things that they do not understand; and ^(CL)all the things that they know by instinct, ^(CM)like unreasoning animals, by these things they are destroyed. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone ^(CN)the way of Cain, and for pay ^[y]they have given themselves up to ^(CO)the error of Balaam, and ^(CP)perished in the rebellion of Korah. ¹² These are the ones who are ^[z]hidden reefs ^(CQ)in your love feasts when they feast with you ^(CR)without fear, like shepherds caring only for themselves; ^(CS)clouds without water, ^(CT)carried along by winds; autumn trees without fruit, ^[aa]doubly dead, ^(CU)uprooted; ^13 (CV)wild waves of the sea, churning up ^(CW)their own shameful deeds like dirty foam; wandering stars, ^(CX)for whom the ^[ab]gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.

¹⁴ It was also about these people that ^(CY)Enoch, in the seventh generation from Adam, prophesied, saying, “^(CZ)Behold, the Lord has come with ^[ac]many thousands of His holy ones, ^15 (DA)to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their ungodly deeds which they have done in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ^(DB)ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.” ¹⁶ These are ^(DC)grumblers, finding fault, ^(DD)following after their own lusts; ^[ad]they speak ^(DE)arrogantly, flattering people ^(DF)for the sake of gaining an advantage.

Keep Yourselves in the Love of God

¹⁷ But you, ^(DG)beloved, ^(DH)ought to remember the words that were spoken beforehand by ^(DI)the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ, ¹⁸ that they were saying to you, “^(DJ)In the last time there will be mockers, ^(DK)following after their own ungodly lusts.” ¹⁹ These are the ones who cause divisions, ^[ae](DL)worldly-minded, ^[af]devoid of the Spirit. ²⁰ But you, ^(DM)beloved, ^(DN)building yourselves up on your most holy ^(DO)faith, ^(DP)praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, ^(DQ)looking forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to eternal life. ²² And have mercy on some, who are doubting; ²³ save others, ^(DR)snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, ^(DS)hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.

^24 (DT)Now to Him who is able to protect you from stumbling, and to ^(DU)make you stand in the presence of His glory, blameless with ^(DV)great joy, ²⁵ to the ^(DW)only ^(DX)God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, ^(DY)be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority ^(DZ)before all time and now and ^[ag]forever. Amen.