2 John - Jude

New King James Version

Greeting the Elect Lady

¹ The Elder,

To the ^[a]elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all those who have known ^(A)the truth, ² because of the truth which abides in us and will be with us forever:

^3 (B)Grace, mercy, and peace will be with ^[b]you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

Walk in Christ’s Commandments

⁴ I ^(C)rejoiced greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, as we received commandment from the Father. ⁵ And now I plead with you, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment to you, but that which we have had from the beginning: ^(D)that we love one another. ^6 (E)This is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, that ^(F)as you have heard from the beginning, you should walk in it.

Beware of Antichrist Deceivers

⁷ For ^(G)many deceivers have gone out into the world ^(H)who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. ^(I)This is a deceiver and an antichrist. ^8 (J)Look to yourselves, ^(K)that ^[c]we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward.

^9 (L)Whoever ^[d]transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and ^(M)does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; ¹¹ for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds.

John’s Farewell Greeting

^12 (N)Having many things to write to you, I did not wish to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, ^(O)that our joy may be full.

^13 (P)The children of your elect sister greet you. Amen.

Greeting to Gaius

¹ The Elder,

To the beloved Gaius, ^(Q)whom I love in truth:

² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be in health, just as your soul prospers. ³ For I ^(R)rejoiced greatly when brethren came and testified of the truth that is in you, just as you walk in the truth. ⁴ I have no greater ^(S)joy than to hear that ^(T)my children walk in ^[e]truth.

Gaius Commended for Generosity

⁵ Beloved, you do faithfully whatever you do for the brethren ^[f]and for strangers, ⁶ who have borne witness of your love before the church. If you send them forward on their journey in a manner worthy of God, you will do well, ⁷ because they went forth for His name’s sake, ^(U)taking nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ We therefore ought to ^(V)receive^[g] such, that we may become fellow workers for the truth.

Diotrephes and Demetrius

⁹ I wrote to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence among them, does not receive us. ¹⁰ Therefore, if I come, I will call to mind his deeds which he does, ^(W)prating^[h] against us with malicious words. And not content with that, he himself does not receive the brethren, and forbids those who wish to, putting them out of the church.

¹¹ Beloved, ^(X)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. ^(Y)He who does good is of God, ^[i]but he who does evil has not seen ^(Z)God.

¹² Demetrius ^(AA)has a good testimony from all, and from the truth itself. And we also ^[j]bear witness, ^(AB)and you know that our testimony is true.

Farewell Greeting

^13 (AC)I had many things to write, but I do not wish to write to you with pen and ink; ¹⁴ but I hope to see you shortly, and we shall speak face to face.

Peace to you. Our friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.

Greeting to the Called

¹ Jude, a bondservant of Jesus Christ, and ^(AD)brother of James,

To those who are ^(AE)called, ^[k]sanctified by God the Father, and ^(AF)preserved in Jesus Christ:

² Mercy, ^(AG)peace, and love be multiplied to you.

Contend for the Faith

³ Beloved, while I was very diligent to write to you ^(AH)concerning our common salvation, I found it necessary to write to you exhorting ^(AI)you to contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints. ⁴ For certain men have crept in unnoticed, who long ago were marked out for this condemnation, ungodly men, who turn the grace of our God into lewdness and deny the only Lord ^[l]God and our Lord Jesus Christ.

Old and New Apostates

⁵ But I want to remind you, though you once knew this, that ^(AJ)the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. ⁶ And the angels who did not keep their ^[m]proper domain, but left their own abode, He has reserved in everlasting chains under darkness for the judgment of the great day; ⁷ as ^(AK)Sodom and Gomorrah, and the cities around them in a similar manner to these, having given themselves over to sexual immorality and gone after strange flesh, are set forth as an example, suffering the ^[n]vengeance of eternal fire.

^8 (AL)Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and ^(AM)speak evil of ^[o]dignitaries. ⁹ Yet Michael the archangel, in ^[p]contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said, ^(AN)“The Lord rebuke you!” ^10 (AO)But these speak evil of whatever they do not know; and whatever they know naturally, like brute beasts, in these things they corrupt themselves. ¹¹ Woe to them! For they have gone in the way ^(AP)of Cain, ^(AQ)have run greedily in the error of Balaam for profit, and perished ^(AR)in the rebellion of Korah.

Apostates Depraved and Doomed

¹² These are ^[q]spots in your love feasts, while they feast with you without fear, serving only themselves. They are clouds without water, carried ^[r]about by the winds; late autumn trees without fruit, twice dead, pulled up by the roots; ^13 (AS)raging waves of the sea, ^(AT)foaming up their own shame; wandering stars ^(AU)for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.

¹⁴ Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, “Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, ¹⁵ to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the ^(AV)harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.”

Apostates Predicted

¹⁶ These are grumblers, complainers, walking according to their own lusts; and they ^(AW)mouth great swelling words, ^(AX)flattering people to gain advantage. ^17 (AY)But you, beloved, remember the words which were spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ: ¹⁸ how they told you that ^(AZ)there would be mockers in the last time who would walk according to their own ungodly lusts. ¹⁹ These are ^[s]sensual persons, who cause divisions, not having the Spirit.

Maintain Your Life with God

²⁰ But you, beloved, ^(BA)building yourselves up on your most holy faith, ^(BB)praying in the Holy Spirit, ²¹ keep yourselves in the love of God, ^(BC)looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.

²² And on some have compassion, ^[t]making a distinction; ²³ but ^(BD)others save ^[u]with fear, ^(BE)pulling them out of the ^[v]fire, hating even ^(BF)the garment defiled by the flesh.

Glory to God