7 Dear 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. 8 Yet 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 lighto is already shining.p

9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sisterb q is still in the darkness.r 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sisterc lives in the light,s and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.t 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sisteru 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

12 I am writing to you, dear children,x

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

13 I 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 overcomea the evil one.b

14 I 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 Godf lives in you,g

and you have overcome the evil one.h

On Not Loving the World

15 Do not love the world or anything in the world.i If anyone loves the world, love for the Fatherd 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. 17 The world and its desires pass away,m but whoever does the will of Godn lives forever.

Warnings Against Denying the Son

18 Dear children, this is the last hour;o and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,p even now many antichrists have come.q This is how we know it is the last hour.