Beloved, ^abelieve not every spirit, but ^btry ^cthe spirits whether they are of God: because ^dmany ^efalse prophets are gone out into the world. ²Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: ^fEvery spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ ^gis come in the flesh is of God: ³And every spirit ^hthat confesseth not that Jesus Christ ^gis come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of ⁱantichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even ^jnow already is it in the world. ⁴^kYe are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because ^lgreater is he that is in you, than ^mhe that is in the world. ⁵ⁿThey are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and ^othe world heareth them. ⁶We are of God: ^phe that knoweth God heareth us; ^phe that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we ^qthe spirit of truth, and ^qqthe spirit of error.

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Footnotes

aSee Matt. 24:4.
b 1 Thess. 5:21. So 1 Cor. 2:15. & 12:10. & 14:29. See 2 Cor. 11:13.
dSo Rev. 2:2. See ch. 2:18.
eSee Matt. 7:15. Comp. Rev. 16:13.
fSo 1 Cor. 12:3. ver. 15. ch. 5:1.
g 1 Tim. 3:16. See John 1:14.
h 2 John 7. So ch. 2:22.
g 1 Tim. 3:16. See John 1:14.
iSee ch. 2:18.
jSo 2 Thess. 2:3, 7. ch. 2:18, 22.
kSo ch. 5:4.
lSee Rom. 8:31.
mSee John 12:31. Comp. 1 Cor. 2:12.
n John 8:23. So John 3:31.
oSee John 15:19.
pSo John 8:47. & 10:27. & 18:37. Comp. Isai. 8:20. 1 Cor. 14:37. 2 Cor. 10:7.
pSo John 8:47. & 10:27. & 18:37. Comp. Isai. 8:20. 1 Cor. 14:37. 2 Cor. 10:7.
qSee John 14:17.
qq 1 Tim. 4:1 (Gk.).

Cross references

c 2 Thess. 2:2.

Public Domain

In other versions

ESVEnglish Standard Version

Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

NIVNew International Version (2011)

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

CSBChristian Standard Bible

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.

You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.

NLTNew Living Translation

Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.

But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.

LEBThe Lexham English Bible

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God, and this is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world.

You are from God, little children, and have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world and the world listens to them. We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.