1 John 1–3

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 word¹ of life— ^2gthe 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— ^3cthat 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. ⁴And we are writing these things so ^kthat our² joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

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

Christ Our Advocate

2My 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. ^2zHe is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ^aalso for the sins of the whole world. ³And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^bkeep his commandments. ⁴Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^cis a liar, and ^cthe truth is not in him, ⁵but whoever ^dkeeps his word, in him truly ^ethe love of God is perfected. ^fBy this we may know that we are in him: ⁶whoever says he ^gabides in him ^hought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

⁷Beloved, 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. ⁸At the same time, it is ^la new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because^{1 m}the darkness is passing away and ⁿthe true light is already shining. ⁹Whoever says he is in the light and ^ohates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him² there is no ^pcause for stumbling. ¹¹But 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.

¹²I am writing to you, little children,

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

¹³I 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.

¹⁴I 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

^15vDo not love the world or the things in the world. ^wIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For all that is in the world—^xthe desires of the flesh and ^ythe desires of the eyes and pride of life³—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷And ^zthe world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists

¹⁸Children, ^ait is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^bantichrist is coming, so now ^cmany antichrists have come. ^dTherefore we know that it is the last hour. ^19eThey went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^fif they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^gthat it might become plain that they all are not of us. ²⁰But you have been ^hanointed by ⁱthe Holy One, and ^jyou all have knowledge.^{4 21}I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²²Who is the liar but ^khe who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^bthe antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. ^23lNo one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴Let ^mwhat you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ⁿyou too will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵And this is the promise that he made to us⁵—^oeternal life.

²⁶I write these things to you about ^pthose who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷But ^qthe anointing that you received from him abides in you, and ^ryou have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and ^sis true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

²⁸And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^twhen he appears ^uwe may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^vcoming. ²⁹If you know that ^whe is righteous, you may be sure that ^xeveryone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

3See ^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. ²Beloved, we are ^zGod’s children ^cnow, and what we will be ^dhas not yet appeared; but we know that ^ewhen he appears^{1 f}we shall be like him, because ^gwe shall see him as he is. ³And everyone who ^hthus hopes in him ⁱpurifies himself as he is pure.

⁴Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ^jsin is lawlessness. ⁵You know that ^khe appeared in order to ^ltake away sins, and ^min him there is no sin. ⁶No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ⁿno one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷Little children, ^olet no one deceive you. ^pWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ^8qWhoever 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. ^9sNo 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. ¹⁰By 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

¹¹For ^vthis is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^wthat we should love one another. ¹²We 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. ¹³Do not be surprised, brothers,^{3 z}that the world hates you. ¹⁴We know that ^awe have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ^15bEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^cno murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶By this we know love, that ^dhe laid down his life for us, and ^ewe ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷But ^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? ¹⁸Little children, let us not ⁱlove in word or talk but in deed and ^jin truth.

¹⁹By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹Beloved, ^kif our heart does not condemn us, ^lwe have confidence before God; ²²and ^mwhatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ⁿdo what pleases him. ²³And 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. ^24rWhoever 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.