Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, ^sI am writing these things to you ^tso that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an ^uadvocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2 He is the ^vpropitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^wkeep his commandments. 4 Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a ^xliar, and ^ythe truth is not in him, 5 but whoever ^zkeeps his word, in him truly the love of God is ^aperfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6 whoever says he ^babides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

7 Beloved, ^cI am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. 8 At the same time, it is ^da new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because^{1 e}the darkness is passing away and ^fthe true light is already shining. 9 Whoever says he is in the light and ^ghates his brother is still in darkness. 10 Whoever ^hloves his brother abides in the light, and in him² there is no cause for ⁱstumbling. 11 But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and ^jwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. ^pIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life³—is not from the Father but is ^qfrom the world. 17 And ^rthe world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever ^sdoes the will of God abides forever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists

18 Children, it is the ^tlast hour, and ^uas you have heard that ^vantichrist is coming, so ^wnow 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 had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us. 20 But you have been ^xanointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.⁴ 21 I write to you, ^ynot because you do not ^zknow the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that ^aJesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will ^babide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the ^cpromise that he made to us⁵—eternal life.

26 I write these things to you about those who are trying to ^ddeceive you. 27 But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

28 And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have ^econfidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming. 29 If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that ^feveryone who practices righteousness has been ^gborn of him.

3 See what kind of ^hlove the Father has given to us, that we should be called ⁱchildren of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that ^jit did not know him. 2 Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that ^kwhen he appears¹ we shall be ^llike him, because we shall see him as he is. 3 And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.

4 Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. 5 You know that he appeared in order to ^mtake away sins, and ⁿin him there is no sin. 6 ^oNo one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either ^pseen him or known him. 7 Little children, let no one ^qdeceive you. ^rWhoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. 8 Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to ^sdestroy the works of the devil. 9 No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s² seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. 10 By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.

Love One Another

11 For ^tthis is the message ^uthat you have heard from the beginning, that we should ^vlove one another. 12 We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and ^wmurdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s ^xrighteous. 13 Do not be surprised, brothers,³ that the world ^yhates you. 14 We know that we have ^zpassed out of death into life, ^abecause we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. 15 ^bEveryone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 ^cBy this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17 But ^dif anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide ^ein him? 18 Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.

19 By this we shall know that we are ^fof the truth and reassure our heart before him; 20 for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; 22 and ^gwhatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^hdo what pleases him. 23 And ⁱthis is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^jlove one another, just as he has commanded us. 24 ^kWhoever keeps his commandments abides in God,⁴ and God⁵ in him. ^lAnd by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.

Test the Spirits

4 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but ^mtest the spirits to see whether they are from God, for ⁿmany false prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come ^oin the flesh is from God, 3 and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the ^pantichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world ^qalready. 4 Little children, ^ryou are from God and ^shave overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5 ^tThey are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God. ^uWhoever ^vknows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the ^wSpirit of truth and the ^xspirit of error.

God Is Love

7 Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been ^yborn of God and knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9 ^zIn this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so 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 to be the ^apropitiation for our sins. 11 Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to ^blove one another. 12 ^cNo one has ever seen God; if we love one another, ^dGod abides in us and his love is ^eperfected in us.

13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, ^fbecause he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and ^gtestify that the Father has sent his Son to be ^hthe Savior of the world. 15 ⁱWhoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. 17 By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have ^jconfidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 If anyone says, ^k“I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a ^lliar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot¹ love God whom he has not seen. 21 And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.

Overcoming the World

5 ^mEveryone who believes that ⁿJesus is the Christ has been born of God, and ^oeveryone who ^ploves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 By this we know that we love the ^qchildren of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For ^rthis is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And ^shis commandments are not burdensome. 4 For everyone who has been born of God ^tovercomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

6 This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by ^uthe water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who ^vtestifies, because the ^wSpirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 If we receive the testimony of men, ^xthe testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God ^yhas the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has ^zmade him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is ^ain his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son ^bhas life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

13 ^cI write these things to you who ^dbelieve in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is the ^econfidence that we have toward him, that ^fif we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 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 sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God¹ will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that ^geveryone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

19 We know that ^hwe are from God, and ⁱthe whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may ^jknow him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. ^kHe is the ^ltrue God and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

2 John

Greeting

1 ^aThe elder to the ^belect lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who ^cknow the truth, 2 because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

3 ^dGrace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

Walking in Truth and Love

4 I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children ^ewalking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. 5 And now I ask you, dear lady—^fnot as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginning—that we ^glove one another. 6 And ^hthis is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, ⁱjust as you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. 7 For ^jmany ^kdeceivers have gone out into the world, those who ^ldo not confess the coming of Jesus Christ ^min the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the ⁿantichrist. 8 Watch yourselves, so that you may not lose what we¹ have worked for, but may win a full ^oreward. 9 Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God. Whoever ^pabides in the teaching ^qhas both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, ^rdo not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, 11 for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works.

Final Greetings

12 ^sThough I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. Instead ^tI hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that ^uour joy may be complete.

13 The children of your elect sister greet you.