The First Letter of John
The Word of Life
1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our own eyes, which we saw and touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — 2 and the life was made manifest, and we have seen it and witness to it and announce to you all the eternal life, which was with the Father and made manifest to us — 3 that which we have seen and heard, we proclaim also to you all in order that you all also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ, 4 and we are writing these things in order that our joy may be fulfilled.
Walking in the Light
5 And this is the message which we have heard from Him and announced to you all, that God is light and darkness is not in Him at all. 6a If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and we walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practiceb the truth. 7 If we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Christ Our Advocate
2 My little children, these things I write to you all in order that you all may not sin. And if someone sins, we have an advocatec with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 And He is the propitiation for our sins, not concerning our sins only, but also concerning the sins of the whole world. 3 And in this, we know that we have known Him if we keep His commandments. 4 The one saying, “I have known Him,” and is not keeping His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5 but whoever keeps His word, truly in this person, the love of God has been perfected. In this, we know that we are in Him: 6 the one saying he remains in Him ought to walk in the same way as He walked.
The New Commandment
7 Beloved, not a new commandment I write to you all but an old commandment that you all hadd from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you all heard. 8 Again, a new commandment I write to you all that is true in Him and in you all that the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining. 9 The one, saying he is in the light and hating his brother, is in darkness until now. 10 The one, loving his brother, remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one, hating his brother, is in the darkness and walks in the darkness and does not know where he is going because the darkness blinded his eyes.
12 I write to you all, little children,
because your sins have been forgiven for His name's sake.
13 I write to you all, fathers,
because you all have known Him who is from the beginning.
I write to you all, young men,
because you all have overcome the evil one.
14 I wrote to you all, children,
because you all have known the Father.
I wrote to you all, fathers,
because you all have known Him who is from the beginning.
I wrote to you all, young men,
because you all are strong,
and the word of God remains in you all,
and you all have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not lovee the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in himf, 16 since everything that is in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life — is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away with its lusts, but the one doing the desire of God remains forever.
Warning Concerning Antichrists
18 Children, it is the last hour, and as you all heard that an antichrist is coming, and now many antichrists have come, therefore we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they were of us, they would have remained with us — but they went out in order that it might be made manifest that they all are not of us. 20 And you all have anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.g 21 I did not write to you all because you all do not know the truth, but because you all know it, and because every lie is not of the truth. 22 Who is the liar except the one denying that Jesus ish the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son. 23 Anyone denying the Son does not have the Father. The one confessing the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you all heard from the beginning remain in you all. If what you all heard from the beginning remains in you all; you all also remain in the Son and in the Father.i 25 And this is the promise which He promised to us — eternal life.
26 These things I wrote to you all concerning those deceiving you all. 27 And the anointing you all received from Him remains in you all, and you all have no need that anyone teach you all. But as His anointing teaches you all about everything — and it is true and it is no lie and as it taught you all — remain in Him.
Children of God
28 And now, little children, remain in Him in order that if He appears, we may have confidencej and not be ashamed before Him in His coming.k 29 If you all know that He is righteous, know also that everyone doing righteousness has been born of Him.
3 See what kind of love the Father has given to us that we may be called children of God; and we are. For this reason, the world does not know us because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be is not yet made manifest. Since we know if He is made manifest, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.l 3 And everyone having this hope in Him purifies himself as He is pure.
4 Everyone doing sin also does lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you all know that He was made manifest in order to take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. 6 Everyone who is remaining in Him does not sin; everyone who is sinning has not seen Him nor has known Him. 7 Little children, let no one deceive you all. The one doing righteousness is righteous as He is righteous. 8 The one doing sin is of the devil since the devil sins from the beginning. For this the Son of God was made manifest in order to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Everyone having been born of God does not make a practice of sin because His seed remains in him, and he is not able to sin because he has been born of God. 10 By this, it is manifest who are the children of God and the children of the devil: everyone not doing righteousness is not of God, and the one not loving his brother is not of God.
Love One Another
11 Since this is the message which you all heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, 12 not like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother — and why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, but the works of his brother were righteous. 13 And do not marvelm, brothers, if the world hates you all. 14 We know that we have departed out of death into life because we love the brothers. The one not loving remains in death. 15 Everyone hating his brother is a murderer, and you all know that every murderer does not have eternal life remaining in him.
16 By this, we have known love, that He laid down His own soul for us, and we ought to lay down our own souls for the brothers. 17 But whoever has the life of the world and sees his brother having need and closes his heartn against him, how does the love of God remain in him? 18 Little children, we should not love in word or talk, but in works and truth.
19 And by this, we will know that we are of the truth, and before Him, we will persuade our heart 20 because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our hearts and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidenceo before God 22 and whatever we ask, we receive from Him because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing before Him. 23 And this is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love another as He gave us commandment. 24 And the one keeping His commandments remains in Him and He in him. And by this, we know that He remains in us from the Spirit whom He gave to us.
Test the Spirits
4 Beloved, do not believep every spirit. Test the spirits, if they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this, you all know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the antichrist that you all have heard was coming and is in the world now. 4 You all are from God, little children, and have overcome them because greater is the One in you all than the one in the world. 5 They are from the world; for this reason, they speak from the world, and the world hears them. 6 We are from God. The one knowing God hears us; whoever is not of God does not hear us. By this, we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
God Is Love
7q Beloved, we should love one another because love is from God, and everyone loving has been born of God and knows God. 8 The one not loving does not know God because God is love. 9 By this, the love of God was made manifest in us because God has sent His only Son into the world in order that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love, not that we have loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a propitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
13 By this, we know that we remain in Him and He in us because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and witness that the Father has sent the Son, Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him and he in God.r 16 And we have known and have believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one remaining in love remains in God, and God remains in him. 17 By this, love has been perfected with us that we may have confidences in the day of judgment because as He is, we also are in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear because fear has punishment, but the one fearing has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because He first loved us. 20 If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar;t for the one not loving his brother whom he has seen, he is not ableu to love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from Him: the one loving God also loves his brother.
Overcoming the World
5 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone loving the Fatherv also loves the one born of Him. 2 By this, we know that we love the children of God when we love God and do His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God that we keep His commandments, and His commandments are not burdensome, 4 since everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the overcoming victory of the world: our faith. 5 But who is the one overcoming the world, except the one believing that Jesus is the Son of God?
Testimony Concerning the Son of God
6 This is the One who came through water and blood: Jesus Christ not in the water only but in the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one witnessing because the Spirit is the truth 7 since there are three witnessing: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood and these three are one in agreement. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater since this is the witness of God that He has witnessed concerning His Son. 10 The one believing in the Son of God has the witness in him. The one not believing in God has made Him a liar because he has not believed in the witness that God has witnessed concerning His Son. 11 And this is the witness that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 The one having the Son has life; the one not having the Son of God does not have life.
That You May Know
13 I wrote these things to you all in order that you all may know that you all have eternal life, those believing in the name of the Son of God. 14 And this is the confidencew that we have towards Him that if we ask according to His desire, He hears us.x 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a siny not leading to death, he will ask, and God will give him life —z to those sinning not leading to death. There is a sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.
18 We know that everyone having been born of God does not sin, but the one who has been born of God protects himself and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 But we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding in order that we may know Him who is true; and we are in He who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.