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But ye, beloved, building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Ghost,
Jude 1:20 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB But you, beloved, keep building up yourselves on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
  • BSB But you, beloved, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit,
  • NKJV But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
  • NASB But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,
  • NLT But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit,

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

In contrast, believers are to build themselves up in their most holy faith and pray in the Holy Spirit.

Overview

Jude now gives positive instruction for perseverance. Believers grow by being established in the apostolic faith and by praying in dependence on the Holy Spirit, the very Spirit the false teachers lack. This active, Spirit-empowered devotion is the antidote to the corrupting influence Jude has described and the means of remaining faithful.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 27

  • Eph 6:18Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints;
  • Rom 8:26–27Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.
  • 1 Cor 14:15What is it then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also: I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also.
  • Col 2:7Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith, as ye have been taught, abounding therein with thanksgiving.
  • 1 Th 5:11Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do.
  • 1 Cor 14:4–5He that speaketh in an unknown tongue edifieth himself; but he that prophesieth edifieth the church.
  • Rom 8:15For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
  • Acts 9:31Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified; and walking in the fear of the Lord, and in the comfort of the Holy Ghost, were multiplied.
  • Gal 4:6And because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.
  • 1 Cor 14:26How is it then, brethren? when ye come together, every one of you hath a psalm, hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, hath an interpretation. Let all things be done unto edifying.
  • Eph 4:29Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.
  • Eph 4:16From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
  • Jas 2:22Seest thou how faith wrought with his works, and by works was faith made perfect?
  • 1 Jn 5:4For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.
  • Eph 4:12For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
  • Titus 1:1Paul, a servant of God, and an apostle of Jesus Christ, according to the faith of God’s elect, and the acknowledging of the truth which is after godliness;
  • Zech 12:10And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications: and they shall look upon me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his firstborn.
  • 1 Cor 10:23All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.
  • Rom 15:2Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification.
  • Acts 26:18To open their eyes, and to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan unto God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins, and inheritance among them which are sanctified by faith that is in me.
  • Acts 15:9And put no difference between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.
  • 1 Cor 1:8Who shall also confirm you unto the end, that ye may be blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
  • Rev 13:10He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.
  • Jude 1:3Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
  • 1 Tim 1:4Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do.
  • 2 Pet 1:1Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
  • 2 Tim 1:5When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also.

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Jude videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Jude 1:20YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on JudeMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    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 1:20 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.