1 John 2:3–17

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

³We know^b that we have come to know him^c if we keep his commands.^{d 4}Whoever says, “I know him,”^e but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.^{f 5}But if anyone obeys his word,^g love for God^a is truly made complete in them.^h This is how we knowⁱ we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.^j

⁷Dear friends,^k I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.^l This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new command;^m its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passingⁿ and the true light^o is already shining.^p

⁹Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister^bq is still in the darkness.^{r 10}Anyone who loves their brother and sister^c lives in the light,^s and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.^{t 11}But anyone who hates a brother or sister^u is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.^v They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.^w

Reasons for Writing

¹²I am writing to you, dear children,^x

because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.^y

¹³I am writing to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.^z

I am writing to you, young men,

because you have overcome^a the evil one.^b

¹⁴I write to you, dear children,^c

because you know the Father.

I write to you, fathers,

because you know him who is from the beginning.^d

I write to you, young men,

because you are strong,^e

and the word of God^f lives in you,^g

and you have overcome the evil one.^h

On Not Loving the World

¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world.ⁱ If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^d is not in them.^{j 16}For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^k the lust of the eyes,^l and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away,^m but whoever does the will of Godⁿ lives forever.