wild waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
Parallel translations
- KJV Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.
- BSB They are wild waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars, for whom blackest darkness has been reserved forever.
- NKJV raging waves of the sea, foaming up their own shame; wandering stars for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.
- NASB wild waves of the sea, churning up their own shameful deeds like dirty foam; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of darkness has been reserved forever.
- NLT They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds. They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
They are like wild waves casting up shameful foam and wandering stars destined for eternal darkness.
Overview
Continuing the imagery, Jude compares the false teachers to turbulent sea waves that throw up only the filth of their own shame, and to stars that wander off course, for whom utter darkness is reserved forever. The pictures convey both moral chaos and a fixed, hopeless end. Their destiny of eternal darkness stands in sharp contrast to the secure inheritance of the saints.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- 2 Pet 2:17These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever.
- Phil 3:19whose end is destruction, whose god is the belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who think about earthly things.
- Isa 57:20But the wicked are like the troubled sea; for it can’t rest, and its waters cast up mire and mud.
- Ps 65:7who stills the roaring of the seas, the roaring of their waves, and the turmoil of the nations.
- Rev 20:10The devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet are also. They will be tormented day and night forever and ever.
- Rev 14:10–11he also will drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is prepared unmixed in the cup of his anger. He will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels, and in the presence of the Lamb.
- 2 Tim 3:13But evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived.
- Ps 93:3–4The floods have lifted up, Yahweh, the floods have lifted up their voice. The floods lift up their waves.
- Jer 5:22–23Don’t you fear me?’ says Yahweh ‘Won’t you tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it can’t pass it? and though its waves toss themselves, yet they can’t prevail; though they roar, yet they can’t pass over it.’
- Rev 8:10–11The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from the sky, burning like a torch, and it fell on one third of the rivers, and on the springs of the waters.
- Rev 21:8But for the cowardly, unbelieving, sinners, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars, their part is in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.”
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Christ is the one who keeps his people from stumbling and presents them blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy — the object of contending faith.
How Jude 1:13 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.