To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love because we share the truth. I’m not the only one who loves you. Everyone who knows the truth also loves you. ²We love you because of the truth which lives in us and will be with us forever.

³Good will,^bmercy, and peace will be with us. They come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, who in truth and love is the Father’s Son.

Living in the Truth

⁴I was very happy to find some of your children living in the truth as the Father has commanded us. ⁵Dear lady, I’m now requesting that we continue to love each other. It’s not as though I’m writing to give you a new commandment. Rather, from the beginning we were commanded to love each other. ⁶Love means that we live by doing what he commands. We were commanded to live in love, and you have heard this from the beginning.

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2 John 3: Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

Footnotes

a 1 Or “pastor,” or “elder.”
b 3 Or “Grace.”

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

The elder to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who know the truth, because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear lady—not as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

The elder,

To the lady chosen by God and to her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I only, but also all who know the truth—because of the truth, which lives in us and will be with us forever:

Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Father’s Son, will be with us in truth and love.

It has given me great joy to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us. And now, dear lady, I am not writing you a new command but one we have had from the beginning. I ask that we love one another. And this is love: that we walk in obedience to his commands. As you have heard from the beginning, his command is that you walk in love.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

The elder:

To the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not only I, but also all who know the truth—because of the truth that remains in us and will be with us forever.

Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, in keeping with a command we have received from the Father. So now I ask you, dear lady—not as if I were writing you a new command, but one we have had from the beginning—that we love one another. This is love: that we walk according to his commands. This is the command as you have heard it from the beginning: that you walk in love.

NLTNew Living Translation

This letter is from John, the elder.

I am writing to the chosen lady and to her children, whom I love in the truth—as does everyone else who knows the truth—because the truth lives in us and will be with us forever.

Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.

How happy I was to meet some of your children and find them living according to the truth, just as the Father commanded.

I am writing to remind you, dear friends, that we should love one another. This is not a new commandment, but one we have had from the beginning. Love means doing what God has commanded us, and he has commanded us to love one another, just as you heard from the beginning.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

The elder, to the elect lady and her children, whom I love in truth—and not I alone, but also all those who know the truth—because of the truth that resides in us and will be with us forever. Grace, mercy, peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father in truth and love.

I was very glad because I found some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father commanded us.

And now I ask you, lady (not as if I were writing a new commandment to you, but one that we have had from the beginning), that we should love one another. And this is love: that we walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it.

KJV 1900King James Version

The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth; for the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever. Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love. I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father. And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

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