1 John 2:7–14

⁷Dear friends, I’m not writing you a new command. Instead, I’m writing one you have heard before. You have had it since the beginning.

⁸But I am writing what amounts to a new command. Its truth was shown in how Jesus lived. It is also shown in how you live. The darkness is passing away. The true light is already shining.

⁹Suppose someone claims to be in the light but hates his brother or sister. Then he is still in the darkness.

¹⁰Those who love their brothers and sisters are living in the light. There is nothing in them to make them fall into sin. ¹¹But those who hate a brother or sister are in the darkness. They walk around in the darkness. They don’t know where they are going. The darkness has made them blind.

¹²Dear children, I’m writing to you

because your sins have been forgiven.

They have been forgiven because of what Jesus has done.

¹³Fathers, I’m writing to you

because you have known the One who is from the beginning.

Young people, I’m writing to you

because you have won the battle over the evil one.

Dear children, I’m writing to you

because you have known the Father.

¹⁴Fathers, I’m writing to you

because you have known the One who is from the beginning.

Young people, I’m writing to you

because you are strong.

God’s word lives in you.

You have won the battle over the evil one.