1 John 1–3

Prologue: Our Declaration

1What was from the beginning, ^a

what we have heard,

what we have seen with our eyes,

what we have observed

and have touched with our hands,

concerning the Word ^bof life—

²that life was revealed, ^c

and we have seen it

and we testify and declare to you

the eternal life that was with the Father

and was revealed to us ^d—

³what we have seen and heard

we also declare to you,

so that you may have fellowship ^ealong with us;

and indeed our fellowship is with the Father ^f

and with His Son Jesus Christ.

⁴We are writing these things ^g

so that our ^hjoy ⁱmay be complete.

Fellowship with God

⁵Now this is the message we have heard from Him and declare to you: God is light, ^jand there is absolutely no darkness in Him. ^k6If we say, “We have fellowship ^lwith Him,” yet we walk in darkness, ^mwe are lying and are not practicing ⁿthe truth. ^o7But if we walk in the light ^pas He Himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus ^qHis Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸If we say, “We have no sin,” ^rwe are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive ^sus our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say, “We don’t have any sin,” we make Him a liar, and His word ^tis not in us. ^u

2My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate ^vwith the Father—Jesus Christ the Righteous One. ²He Himself is the propitiation ^wfor our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. ^x

God’s Commands

³This is how we are sure ^ythat we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands. ^z4The one who says, “I have come to know Him,” yet doesn’t keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵But whoever keeps His word, ^atruly in him the love of God is perfected. ^bThis is how we know we are in Him: ^c6The one who says he remains in Him ^dshould walk just as He walked.

⁷Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command ^ebut an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message ^fyou have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away ^gand the true light ^his already shining. ⁱ

⁹The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother ^jis in the darkness until now. ¹⁰The one who loves his brother ^kremains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ^l11But the one who hates his brother ^mis in the darkness, walks in the darkness, ⁿand doesn’t know where he’s going, ^obecause the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Reasons for Writing

¹²I am writing to you, little children,

because your sins have been forgiven

because of Jesus’ name. ^p

¹³I am writing to you, fathers,

because you have come to know

the One who is from the beginning. ^q

I am writing to you, young men,

because you have had victory over the evil one. ^r

¹⁴I have written to you, children,

because you have come to know the Father.

I have written to you, fathers,

because you have come to know

the One who is from the beginning.

I have written to you, young men,

because you are strong,

God’s word ^sremains in you,

and you have had victory over the evil one.

A Warning about the World

¹⁵Do not love the world ^tor the things that belong to ^uthe world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. ¹⁶For everything that belongs to ^vthe world—the lust of the flesh, ^wthe lust of the eyes, ^xand the pride ^yin one’s lifestyle—is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷And the world with its lust is passing away, ^zbut the one who does God’s will ^aremains forever. ^b

The Last Hour

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour. ^cAnd as you have heard, “Antichrist ^dis coming,” even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.

²⁰But you have an anointing ^efrom the Holy One, ^fand all of you have knowledge. ^g21I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? ^hThis one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³No one who denies the Son can have the Father; ⁱhe who confesses the Son has the Father as well. ^j

Remaining with God

²⁴What you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son ^kand in the Father. ^l25And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life. ^m26I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

²⁷The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things ⁿand is true and is not a lie; just as He has taught you, remain in Him. ^o

God’s Children

²⁸So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears ^pwe may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. ^q29If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right ^rhas been born of Him. ^s3¹Look at how great a love ^tthe Father has given us that we should be called God’s children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know Him. ²Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. ^uWe know that when He appears, we will be like Him ^vbecause we will see Him as He is. ^w3And everyone who has this hope ^xin Him purifies himself just as He is pure. ^y

⁴Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; ^zsin is the breaking of law. ⁵You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, ^aband there is no sin in Him. ^c6Everyone who remains in Him ^ddoes not sin; ^efeveryone who ^gsins has not seen Him or known Him.

⁷Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. ⁸The one who commits ^hsin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God ⁱwas revealed ^jfor this purpose: to destroy the Devil’s works. ⁹Everyone who has been born of God ^kdoes not sin, ^lbecause His ^mseed ⁿremains in him; he is not able to sin, ^obecause he has been born of God. ¹⁰This is how God’s children—and the Devil’s children—are made evident.

The Command to Love

Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother. ^p11For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, ¹²unlike Cain, ^qwho was of the evil one ^rand murdered ^shis brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother’s were righteous. ¹³Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates ^tyou. ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. ^u15Everyone who hates his brother ^vis a murderer, ^wand you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.

Love in Action

¹⁶This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life ^xfor us. ^yWe should also lay down our lives for our brothers. ^z17If anyone has this world’s goods ^aand sees his brother in need ^bbut closes his eyes ^cto his need—how can God’s love reside in him? ^d

¹⁸Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action. ^e19This is how we will know we belong to the truth ^fand will convince our conscience in His presence, ²⁰even if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience, and He knows all things. ^g

²¹Dear friends, if our conscience doesn’t condemn us, we have confidence before God ²²and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands ^hand do what is pleasing in His sight. ²³Now this is His command: that we believe in the name ⁱof His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. ²⁴The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, ^jand He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us ^kis from the Spirit ^lHe has given us.