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.

Read in Logos

1 John 3:18: Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

Cross references

i Ezek. 33:31; Eph. 4:15
j 2 John 1; 3 John 1
k[1 Cor. 4:4]
lch. 5:14; [Job 11:15; 22:26; Rom. 14:22]
mSee Matt. 7:7
n John 8:29
o John 6:29; [Acts 18:8]
pver. 11
q[ch. 2:8]

In other versions

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.

This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.

This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.

Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight. Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.

NLTNew Living Translation

Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.

Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.

And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth. By this we know that we are of the truth and will convince our heart before him, that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart and knows all things. Dear friends, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God, and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he commanded us.

KJV 1900King James Version

My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth. And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him. For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight. And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.

Public Domain