2 John 1; 3 John 1; Jude 1

2 John 1

1 From the Elder - To the dear Lady and to her children, whom I truly love. And I am not the only one, but all who know the truth love you,

2 because the truth remains in us and will be with us forever.

3 May God the Father and Jesus Christ, the Father's Son, give us grace, mercy, and peace; may they be ours in truth and love.

4 How happy I was to find that some of your children live in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.

5 And so I ask you, dear Lady: let us all love one another. This is no new command I am writing you; it is the command which we have had from the beginning.

6 This love I speak of means that we must live in obedience to God's commands. The command, as you have all heard from the beginning, is that you must all live in love.

7 Many deceivers have gone out over the world, people who do not acknowledge that Jesus Christ came as a human being. Such a person is a deceiver and the Enemy of Christ.

8 Be on your guard, then, so that you will not lose what we have worked for, but will receive your reward in full.

9 Anyone who does not stay with the teaching of Christ, but goes beyond it, does not have God. Whoever does stay with the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

10 So then, if some come to you who do not bring this teaching, do not welcome them in your homes; do not even say, "Peace be with you."

11 For anyone who wishes them peace becomes their partner in the evil things they do.

12 I have so much to tell you, but I would rather not do it with paper and ink; instead, I hope to visit you and talk with you personally, so that we shall be completely happy.

13 The children of your dear Sister send you their greetings.

3 John 1

1 From the Elder - To my dear Gaius, whom I truly love.

2 My dear friend, I pray that everything may go well with you and that you may be in good health - as I know you are well in spirit.

3 I was so happy when some Christians arrived and told me how faithful you are to the truth - just as you always live in the truth.

4 Nothing makes me happier than to hear that my children live in the truth.

5 My dear friend, you are so faithful in the work you do for other Christians, even when they are strangers.

6 They have spoken to the church here about your love. Please help them to continue their trip in a way that will please God.

7 For they set out on their trip in the service of Christ without accepting any help from unbelievers.

8 We Christians, then, must help these people, so that we may share in their work for the truth.

9 I wrote a short letter to the church; but Diotrephes, who likes to be their leader, will not pay any attention to what I say.

10 When I come, then, I will bring up everything he has done: the terrible things he says about us and the lies he tells! But that is not enough for him; he will not receive the Christians when they come, and even stops those who want to receive them and tries to drive them out of the church!

11 My dear friend, do not imitate what is bad, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good belongs to God; whoever does what is bad has not seen God.

12 Everyone speaks well of Demetrius; truth itself speaks well of him. And we add our testimony, and you know that what we say is true.

13 I have so much to tell you, but I do not want to do it with pen and ink.

14 I hope to see you soon, and then we will talk personally.

15 Peace be with you. All your friends send greetings. Greet all our friends personally.

Jude 1

1 From Jude, servant of Jesus Christ, and brother of James - To those who have been called by God, who live in the love of God the Father and the protection of Jesus Christ:

2 May mercy, peace, and love be yours in full measure.

3 My dear friends, I was doing my best to write to you about the salvation we share in common, when I felt the need of writing at once to encourage you to fight on for the faith which once and for all God has given to his people.

4 For some godless people have slipped in unnoticed among us, persons who distort the message about the grace of our God in order to excuse their immoral ways, and who reject Jesus Christ, our only Master and Lord. Long ago the Scriptures predicted the condemnation they have received.

5 For even though you know all this, I want to remind you of how the Lord once rescued the people of Israel from Egypt, but afterward destroyed those who did not believe.

6 Remember the angels who did not stay within the limits of their proper authority, but abandoned their own dwelling place: they are bound with eternal chains in the darkness below, where God is keeping them for that great Day on which they will be condemned.

7 Remember Sodom and Gomorrah, and the nearby towns, whose people acted as those angels did and indulged in sexual immorality and perversion: they suffer the punishment of eternal fire as a plain warning to all.

8 In the same way also, these people have visions which make them sin against their own bodies; they despise God's authority and insult the glorious beings above.

9 Not even the chief angel Michael did this. In his quarrel with the Devil, when they argued about who would have the body of Moses, Michael did not dare condemn the Devil with insulting words, but said, "The Lord rebuke you!"

10 But these people attack with insults anything they do not understand; and those things that they know by instinct, like wild animals, are the very things that destroy them.

11 How terrible for them! They have followed the way that Cain took. For the sake of money they have given themselves over to the error that Balaam committed. They have rebelled as Korah rebelled, and like him they are destroyed.

12 With their shameless carousing they are like dirty spots in your fellowship meals. They take care only of themselves. They are like clouds carried along by the wind, but bringing no rain. They are like trees that bear no fruit, even in autumn, trees that have been pulled up by the roots and are completely dead.

13 They are like wild waves of the sea, with their shameful deeds showing up like foam. They are like wandering stars, for whom God has reserved a place forever in the deepest darkness.

14 It was Enoch, the seventh direct descendant from Adam, who long ago prophesied this about them: "The Lord will come with many thousands of his holy angels

15 to bring judgment on all, to condemn them all for the godless deeds they have performed and for all the terrible words that godless sinners have spoken against him!"

16 These people are always grumbling and blaming others; they follow their own evil desires; they brag about themselves and flatter others in order to get their own way.

17 But remember, my friends, what you were told in the past by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ.

18 They said to you, "When the last days come, people will appear who will make fun of you, people who follow their own godless desires."

19 These are the people who cause divisions, who are controlled by their natural desires, who do not have the Spirit.

20 But you, my friends, keep on building yourselves up on your most sacred faith. Pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,

21 and keep yourselves in the love of God, as you wait for our Lord Jesus Christ in his mercy to give you eternal life.

22 Show mercy toward those who have doubts;

23 save others by snatching them out of the fire; and to others show mercy mixed with fear, but hate their very clothes, stained by their sinful lusts.

24 To him who is able to keep you from falling and to bring you faultless and joyful before his glorious presence -

25 to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, might, and authority, from all ages past, and now, and forever and ever! Amen.