1 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.

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.

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?

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.

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 God² 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.