Jude 1:16 (ASV)

Passage

These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouth speaketh great swelling [words]), showing respect of persons for the sake of advantage.

Nearby Context

Jude 1:14 And to these also Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, Behold, the Lord came with ten thousands of his holy ones,

Jude 1:15 to execute judgment upon all, and to convict all the ungodly of all their works of ungodliness which they have ungodly wrought, and of all the hard things which ungodly sinners have spoken against him.

Jude 1:16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their lusts (and their mouth speaketh great swelling [words]), showing respect of persons for the sake of advantage.

Jude 1:17 But ye, beloved, remember ye the words which have been spoken before by the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Jude 1:18 That they said to you, In the last time there shall be mockers, walking after their own ungodly lusts.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "murmurers", "complainers", "walking", "after", "lusts", "mouth", "speaketh", and "great". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "murmurers" and "complainers", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "to execute judgment upon all and to..." into verse 17's "But ye beloved remember ye the words...", so "murmurers" and "complainers" belong inside that flow. In Jude context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "murmurers" and "complainers" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.