2 John 1; 3 John 1; Jude 1

2 John 1

1 From the church leader. To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love because we share the truth. I'm not the only one who loves you. Everyone who knows the truth also loves you.

2 We love you because of the truth which lives in us and will be with us forever.

3 Good will, mercy, and peace will be with us! They come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, who in truth and love is the Father's Son.

4 I was very happy to find some of your children living in the truth as the Father has commanded us.

5 Dear lady, I'm now requesting that we continue to love each other. It's not as though I'm writing to give you a new commandment. Rather, from the beginning we were commanded to love each other.

6 Love means that we live by doing what he commands. We were commanded to live in love, and you have heard this from the beginning.

7 Many people who deceive others have gone into the world. They refuse to declare that Jesus Christ came in flesh and blood. This is the mark of a deceiver and an antichrist.

8 Be careful that you don't destroy what we've worked for, but that you receive your full reward.

9 Everyone who doesn't continue to teach what Christ taught doesn't have God. The person who continues to teach what Christ taught has both the Father and the Son.

10 If anyone comes to you and doesn't bring these teachings, don't take him into your home or even greet him.

11 Whoever greets him shares the evil things he's doing.

12 I have a lot to write to you. I would prefer not to write a letter. Instead, I hope to visit and talk things over with you personally. Then we will be completely filled with joy.

13 The children of your chosen sister greet you.

3 John 1

1 From the church leader. To my dear friend Gaius, whom I love because we share the truth.

2 Dear friend, I know that you are spiritually well. I pray that you're doing well in every other way and that you're healthy.

3 I was very happy when some believers came and told us that you are living according to the truth.

4 Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.

5 Dear friend, you are showing your faith in whatever you do for other believers, especially when they're your guests.

6 These believers have told the congregation about your love. You will do well to support them on their trip in a way that proves you belong to God.

7 After all, they went on their trip to serve the one named Christ, and they didn't accept any help from the people to whom they went.

8 We must support believers who go on trips like this so that we can work together with them in spreading the truth.

9 I wrote a letter to the congregation. But Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, won't accept us.

10 For this reason, when I come I will bring up what he's doing. He's not satisfied with saying malicious things about us. He also refuses to accept the believers [we send] as guests. He even tries to stop others who want to accept them and attempts to throw those people out of the congregation.

11 Dear friend, never imitate evil, but imitate good. The person who does good is from God. The person who does evil has never seen God.

12 Everyone, including the truth itself, says good things about Demetrius. We also say good things about him, and you know that what we say is true.

13 I have a lot to write to you. However, I would rather not write.

14 I hope to visit you very soon. Then we can talk things over personally.

15 Peace be with you! Your friends here send you their greetings. Greet each of our friends by name.

Jude 1

1 From Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James. To those who have been called, who are loved by God the Father, and who are kept safe for Jesus Christ.

2 May mercy, peace, and love fill your lives!

3 Dear friends, I had intended to write to you about the salvation we share. But something has come up. It demands that I write to you and encourage you to continue your fight for the Christian faith that was entrusted to God's holy people once for all time.

4 Some people have slipped in among you unnoticed. Not long ago they were condemned in writing for the following reason: They are people to whom God means nothing. They use God's kindness as an excuse for sexual freedom and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

5 I want to remind you about what you already know: The Lord once saved his people from Egypt. But on another occasion he destroyed those who didn't believe.

6 He held angels for judgment on the great day. They were held in darkness, bound by eternal chains. These are the angels who didn't keep their position of authority but abandoned their assigned place.

7 What happened to Sodom and Gomorrah and the cities near them is an example for us of the punishment of eternal fire. The people of these cities suffered the same fate that God's people and the angels did, because they committed sexual sins and engaged in homosexual activities.

8 Yet, in a similar way, the people who slipped in among you are dreamers. They contaminate their bodies with sin, reject the Lord's authority, and insult his glory.

9 When the archangel Michael argued with the devil, they were arguing over the body of Moses. But Michael didn't dare to hand down a judgment against the devil. Instead, Michael said, "May the Lord reprimand you!"

10 Whatever these people don't understand, they insult. Like animals, which are creatures of instinct, they use whatever they know to destroy themselves.

11 How horrible it will be for them! They have followed the path of Cain. They have rushed into Balaam's error to make a profit. They have rebelled like Korah and destroyed themselves.

12 These people are a disgrace at the special meals you share with other believers. They eat with you and don't feel ashamed. They are shepherds who care [only] for themselves. They are dry clouds blown around by the winds. They are withered, uprooted trees without any fruit. As a result, they have died twice.

13 Their shame is like the foam on the wild waves of the sea. They are wandering stars for whom gloomy darkness is kept forever.

14 Furthermore, Enoch, from the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about them. He said, "The Lord has come with countless thousands of his holy angels.

15 He has come to judge all these people. He has come to convict all these ungodly sinners for all the ungodly things they have done and all the harsh things they have said about him."

16 These people complain, find fault, follow their own desires, say arrogant things, and flatter people in order to take advantage of them.

17 Dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ told you to expect:

18 "In the last times people who ridicule [God] will appear. They will follow their own ungodly desires."

19 These are the people who cause divisions. They are concerned about physical things, not spiritual things.

20 Dear friends, use your most holy faith to grow. Pray with the Holy Spirit's help.

21 Remain in God's love as you look for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to give you eternal life.

22 Show mercy to those who have doubts.

23 Save others by snatching them from the fire [of hell]. Show mercy to others, even though you are afraid that you might be stained by their sinful lives.

24 God can guard you so that you don't fall and so that you can be full of joy as you stand in his glorious presence without fault.

25 Before time began, now, and for eternity glory, majesty, power, and authority belong to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.