A Cornerstone in Zion
14 Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers,
who rule this people in Jerusalem!
15 Because you have said, “We have made a covenant with death,
and with Sheol we have an agreement,
when the overwhelming whip passes through
it will not come to us,
for we have made lies our refuge,
and in falsehood we have taken shelter”;
16 therefore thus says the Lord God,
m“Behold, I am the one who has laid1 as a nfoundation in Zion,
a ostone, a tested stone,
a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation:
p‘Whoever qbelieves will not be in haste.’
17 And I will make justice the rline,
and righteousness the plumb line;
and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies,
and waters will overwhelm the shelter.”
18 Then your covenant with death will be annulled,
and your agreement with Sheol will not stand;
when the overwhelming scourge passes through,
you will be beaten down by it.
19 As often as it passes through it will take you;
for morning by morning it will pass through,
by day and by night;
and it will be sheer terror to understand the message.
20 For the bed is too short to stretch oneself on,
and the covering too narrow to wrap oneself in.
21 For the Lord will rise up sas on Mount Perazim;
tas in the Valley of Gibeon he will be roused;
to do his deed—strange is his deed!
and to work his work—alien is his work!
22 Now therefore do not scoff,
lest your bonds be made strong;
for I have heard a udecree of destruction
from the Lord God of hosts against the whole land.
23 Give ear, and hear my voice;
give attention, and hear my speech.
24 Does he who plows for sowing plow continually?
Does he continually open and harrow his ground?
25 When he has leveled its surface,
does he not scatter dill, sow cumin,
and put in wheat in rows
and barley in its proper place,
and emmer2 as the border?
26 For he is rightly instructed;
his God teaches him.
27 Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge,
nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin,
but dill is beaten out with a stick,
and cumin with a rod.
28 Does one crush grain for bread?
No, he does not thresh it forever;3
when he drives his cart wheel over it
with his horses, he does not crush it.
29 This also comes from the Lord of hosts;
he is vwonderful in counsel
and excellent in wisdom.
Overcoming the World
1 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.
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.
Greeting
1 aThe elder to the beloved Gaius, whom I love in truth.
2 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. 3 For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers1 came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are bwalking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.
Support and Opposition
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, cstrangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing dfrom the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, ewho 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, do not imitate evil but imitate good. fWhoever does good is from God; gwhoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and you know that hour testimony is true.
Final Greetings
13 iI had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 jI hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, keach by name.
