3 See ywhat kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called zchildren of God; and so we are. The reason why athe world does not know us is that bit did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are zGod’s children cnow, and what we will be dhas not yet appeared; but we know that ewhen he appears1 fwe shall be like him, because gwe shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who hthus hopes in him ipurifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; jsin is lawlessness. 5 You know that khe appeared in order to ltake away sins, and min him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; nno one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. 7 Little children, olet no one deceive you. pWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 qWhoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was rto destroy the works of the devil. 9 sNo one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s2 seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, tnor is the one who udoes not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For vthis is the message that you have heard from the beginning, wthat we should love one another. 12 We should not be like xCain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? yBecause his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,3 zthat the world hates you. 14 We know that awe have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 bEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that cno murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 By this we know love, that dhe laid down his life for us, and ewe ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But fif anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet gcloses his heart against him, hhow does God’s love abide in him? 18 Little children, let us not ilove in word or talk but in deed and jin truth.

19 By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, kif our heart does not condemn us, lwe have confidence before God; 22 and mwhatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ndo what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment, othat we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and plove one another, qjust as he has commanded us. 24 rWhoever keeps his commandments abides in God,4 and God5 in him. And sby this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

The Word of Life

1 aThat which was bfrom the beginning, cwhich we have heard, dwhich we have seen with our eyes, ewhich we looked upon and fhave touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2 gthe life hwas made manifest, and we have seen it, and itestify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, awhich was with the Father and hwas made manifest to us— 3 cthat which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed jour fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so kthat our1 joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

5 lThis is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that mGod is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 nIf we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and odo not practice the truth. 7 But pif we walk in the light, qas he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and rthe blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 sIf we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and tthe truth is not in us. 9 uIf we confess our sins, he is vfaithful and just to forgive us our sins and rto cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, wwe make him a liar, and xhis word is not in us.

Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ywe have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 zHe is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but aalso for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we bkeep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments cis a liar, and cthe truth is not in him, 5 but whoever dkeeps his word, in him truly ethe love of God is perfected. fBy this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he gabides in him hought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

7 Beloved, I am writing you ino new commandment, but jan old commandment kthat you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is la new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because1 mthe darkness is passing away and nthe true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and ohates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him2 there is no pcause for stumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and qwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12  I am writing to you, little children,

because ryour sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.

13  I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know shim who is from the beginning.

I am writing to you, young men,

because tyou have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, children,

because uyou know the Father.

14  I write to you, fathers,

because you know shim who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men,

because tyou are strong,

and the word of God abides in you,

and you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

15 vDo not love the world or the things in the world. wIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all

Overcoming the World

5 kEveryone who believes that lJesus is the Christ has been born of God, and meveryone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 nBy this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For othis is the love of God, that we pkeep his commandments. And qhis commandments are not burdensome. 4 For reveryone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—sour faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes tthat Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

6 This is he who came uby water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And vthe Spirit is the one who testifies, because wthe Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 xIf we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ythat he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God zhas the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ahas made him a liar, bbecause he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us ceternal life, and dthis life is in his Son. 12 eWhoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

13 I write fthese things to you who gbelieve in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is hthe confidence that we have toward him, that iif we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and jGod1 will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. kThere is sin that leads to death; lI do not say that one should pray for that. 17 mAll wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that neveryone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but ohe who was born of God pprotects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

19 We know that we are from God, and qthe whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and rhas given us understanding, so that we may know shim who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and teternal life. 21 Little children, ukeep yourselves from idols.