Jude 1:11 (KJV)

Passage

Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Nearby Context

Jude 1:9 Yet Michael the archangel, when contending with the devil he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee.

Jude 1:10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves.

Jude 1:11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

Jude 1:12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water, carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots;

Jude 1:13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "gone", "cain", "greedily", "after", "error", "balaam", "reward", and "perished". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "gone" and "cain", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 10's "But these speak evil of those things..." into verse 12's "These are spots in your feasts of...", so "gone" and "cain" 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 "gone" and "cain" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.