3 John

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Overcoming the World

kEveryone who believes that lJesus is the Christ has been born of God, and meveryone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. nBy this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For othis is the love of God, that we pkeep his commandments. And qhis commandments are not burdensome. For reveryone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the worldsour faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes tthat Jesus is the Son of God?

Testimony Concerning the Son of God

This is he who came uby water and bloodJesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And vthe Spirit is the one who testifies, because wthe Spirit is the truth. For there are three that testify: the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. xIf we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God ythat he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God zhas the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God ahas made him a liar, bbecause he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us ceternal life, and dthis life is in his Son. 12 eWhoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

That You May Know

13 I write fthese things to you who gbelieve in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is hthe confidence that we have toward him, that iif 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 jGod1 will give him lifeto those who commit sins that do not lead to death. kThere is sin that leads to death; lI do not say that one should pray for that. 17 mAll wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.

18 We know that neveryone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but ohe who was born of God pprotects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

19 We know that we are from God, and qthe whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

20 And we know that the Son of God has come and rhas given us understanding, so that we may know shim who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and teternal life. 21 Little children, ukeep yourselves from idols.

2 John Illustration

2 John

Greeting

aThe elder to the elect lady and her children, bwhom I love in truth, and not only I, but also all who cknow dthe truth, ebecause of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

fGrace, 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

gI rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father. And now I ask you, dear ladyhnot as though I were writing you a new commandment, but the one we have had from the beginningithat we love one another. And jthis is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just kas you have heard from the beginning, so that you should walk in it. For lmany deceivers mhave gone out into the world, nthose who do not confess the coming of Jesus Christ in the flesh. Such a one is the deceiver and the antichrist. Watch yourselves, oso that you may not lose what we1 have worked for, but pmay win a full reward. Everyone who goes on ahead and does not abide in the teaching of Christ, qdoes not have God. Whoever abides 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 stakes part in his wicked works.

Final Greetings

12 tThough I have much to write to you, I would rather not use paper and ink. uInstead I hope to come to you and talk face to face, vso that our joy may be complete.

13 The children of your elect sister greet you.

3 John Illustration

3 John

Greeting

aThe elder to the beloved Gaius, bwhom I love in truth.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. For cI rejoiced greatly when the brothers1 came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that dmy children are walking in the truth.

Support and Opposition

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for ethese brothers, fstrangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner gworthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of hthe name, iaccepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.

11 Beloved, jdo not imitate evil but imitate good. kWhoever does good is from God; lwhoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius mhas received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and nyou know that our testimony is true.

Final Greetings

13 oI had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.

15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, peach by name.

Jude Illustration

Jude

Greeting

Jude, a servant1 of Jesus Christ and brother of James,

aTo those who are called, bbeloved in God the Father and ckept for2 Jesus Christ:

May dmercy, epeace, and love be multiplied to you.

Judgment on False Teachers

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our fcommon salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you gto contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. For hcertain people ihave crept in unnoticed jwho long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert kthe grace of our God into sensuality and ldeny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

Now I want mto remind you, although you once fully knew it, that nJesus, who saved3 a people out of the land of Egypt, oafterward destroyed those who did not believe. And pthe angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day just as qSodom and Gomorrah and rthe surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and spursued unnatural desire,4 serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and tblaspheme the glorious ones. But when uthe archangel vMichael, contending with the devil, was disputing wabout the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, xThe Lord rebuke you. 10 yBut these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11 Woe to them! For they walked in zthe way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain ato Balaam’s error and bperished in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These are hidden reefs5 cat your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, dshepherds feeding themselves; ewaterless clouds, fswept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, guprooted; 13 hwild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of itheir own shame; jwandering stars, kfor whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever.

14 It was also about these that Enoch, lthe seventh from Adam, prophesied, saying, mBehold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of his holy ones, 15 nto execute judgment on all and to convict all the ungodly of all their deeds of ungodliness that they have ocommitted in such an ungodly way, and of all pthe harsh things that ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 These are grumblers, malcontents, qfollowing their own sinful desires; rthey are loud-mouthed boasters, sshowing favoritism to gain advantage.

A Call to Persevere

17 But you must tremember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. 18 They6 said to you, uIn the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions. 19 It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, vdevoid of the Spirit. 20 But you, beloved, wbuilding yourselves up in your most holy faith and xpraying in the Holy Spirit, 21 ykeep yourselves in the love of God, zwaiting for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. 22 And have mercy on those who doubt; 23 save others by asnatching them out of bthe fire; to others show mercy cwith fear, hating even dthe garment7 stained by the flesh.

Doxology

24 eNow to him who is able fto keep you from stumbling and gto present you hblameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, 25 to ithe only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, jbe glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time8 and now and forever. Amen.

Revelation Illustration

Revelation

Prologue

The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God agave him bto show to his servants1 the things that must soon take place. cHe made it known by sending his angel to his servant John, dwho bore witness to the word of God and to ethe testimony of Jesus Christ, even fto all that he saw. gBlessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, hfor the time is near.

Greeting to the Seven Churches

John to the seven churches that are in Asia:

Grace to you and peace from ihim jwho is and kwho was and who is to come, and from lthe seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ mthe faithful witness, nthe firstborn of the dead, and othe ruler of kings on earth.

To phim who loves us and qhas freed us from our sins by his blood and made us ra kingdom, rpriests to shis God and Father, to him be tglory and udominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold, vhe is coming with the clouds, and wevery eye will see him, even those who pierced him, and all tribes of the earth will wail2 on account of him. Even so. Amen.

xI am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, ywho is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.

Vision of the Son of Man

I, John, your brother and zpartner in athe tribulation and bthe kingdom and cthe patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos don account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 10 eI was in the Spirit fon the Lord’s day, and I heard behind me a loud voice glike a trumpet 11 saying, hWrite what you see in a book and send it to the seven churches, to Ephesus and to Smyrna and to Pergamum and to Thyatira and to Sardis and to Philadelphia and to Laodicea.

12 Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw iseven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands jone like ka son of man, lclothed with a long robe and mwith a golden sash around his chest. 14 nThe hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow. oHis eyes were like a flame of fire, 15 phis feet were like burnished bronze, refined in a furnace, and qhis voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 rIn his right hand he held seven stars, sfrom his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword, and this face was like the sun shining uin full strength.

17 vWhen I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But vhe laid his right hand on me, wsaying, Fear not, xI am the first and the last, 18 and the living one. yI died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and zI have the keys of Death and Hades. 19 aWrite therefore bthe things that you have seen, those that are and those that are to take place after this. 20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and cthe seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and dthe seven lampstands are the seven churches.