¹¹For this is the message you heard^p from the beginning:^q We should love one another.^r ¹²Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^s and murdered his brother.^t And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^u ¹³Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^b if the world hates you.^v ¹⁴We know that we have passed from death to life,^w because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^x ¹⁵Anyone who hates a brother or sister^y is a murderer,^z and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^a

¹⁶This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^b And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^c ¹⁷If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^d how can the love of God be in that person?^e ¹⁸Dear children,^f let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^g

¹⁹This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹Dear friends,^h if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before Godⁱ ²²and receive from him anything we ask,^j because we keep his commands^k and do what pleases him.^l ²³And this is his command: to believe^m in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,ⁿ and to love one another as he commanded us.^o ²⁴The one who keeps God’s commands^p lives in him,^q and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^r

Read in Logos

1 John 3:16: By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.

Footnotes

bThe Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.

Cross references

p 1 Jn 1:5
qSee 1 Jn 2:7
r Jn 13:34, 35; 15:12; 1 Jn 4:7, 11, 21; 2 Jn 5
sSee Mt 5:37
t Ge 4:8
u Ps 38:20; Pr 29:10
v Jn 15:18, 19; 17:14
w Jn 5:24
xSee 1 Jn 2:9
ySee 1 Jn 2:9
z Mt 5:21, 22; Jn 8:44
a Gal 5:20, 21; Rev 21:8
b Jn 10:11
c Jn 15:13; Php 2:17; 1 Th 2:8
d Dt 15:7, 8; Jas 2:15, 16
e 1 Jn 4:20
fSee 1 Jn 2:1
g Eze 33:31; Ro 12:9
hSee 1 Co 10:14
iSee Eph 3:12; 1 Jn 5:14
jSee Mt 7:7
kSee Jn 14:15
l Jn 8:29; Heb 13:21
m Jn 6:29
nSee Lk 24:47; Jn 1:12; 3:18; 20:31; 1 Co 6:11; 1 Jn 5:13
oSee Jn 13:34
p 1 Jn 2:3
q 1 Jn 2:6; 4:15
r 1 Th 4:8; 1 Jn 4:13