1 John 2

New International Version

2 My dear children,^(A) I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate^(B) with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ²He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,^(C) and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.^(D)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

³We know^(E) that we have come to know him^(F) if we keep his commands.^(G) ⁴Whoever says, “I know him,”^(H) but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.^(I) ⁵But if anyone obeys his word,^(J) love for God^[a] is truly made complete in them.^(K) This is how we know^(L) we are in him: ⁶Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.^(M)

⁷Dear friends,^(N) I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.^(O) This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸Yet I am writing you a new command;^(P) its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing^(Q) and the true light^(R) is already shining.^(S)

⁹Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister^[b]^(T) is still in the darkness.^(U) ¹⁰Anyone who loves their brother and sister^[c] lives in the light,^(V) and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.^(W) ¹¹But anyone who hates a brother or sister^(X) is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.^(Y) They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.^(Z)

Reasons for Writing

¹²I am writing to you, dear children,^(AA)
    because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.^(AB)
¹³I am writing to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.^(AC)
I am writing to you, young men,
    because you have overcome^(AD) the evil one.^(AE)

¹⁴I write to you, dear children,^(AF)
    because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
    because you know him who is from the beginning.^(AG)
I write to you, young men,
    because you are strong,^(AH)
    and the word of God^(AI) lives in you,^(AJ)
    and you have overcome the evil one.^(AK)

On Not Loving the World

¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world.^(AL) If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[d] is not in them.^(AM) ¹⁶For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^(AN) the lust of the eyes,^(AO) and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷The world and its desires pass away,^(AP) but whoever does the will of God^(AQ) lives forever.

Warnings Against Denying the Son

¹⁸Dear children, this is the last hour;^(AR) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^(AS) even now many antichrists have come.^(AT) This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹They went out from us,^(AU) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.^(AV)

²⁰But you have an anointing^(AW) from the Holy One,^(AX) and all of you know the truth.^[e]^(AY) ²¹I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it^(AZ) and because no lie comes from the truth. ²²Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.^(BA) ²³No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.^(BB)

²⁴As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning^(BC) remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.^(BD) ²⁵And this is what he promised us—eternal life.^(BE)

²⁶I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.^(BF) ²⁷As for you, the anointing^(BG) you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things^(BH) and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.^(BI)

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸And now, dear children,^(BJ) continue in him, so that when he appears^(BK) we may be confident^(BL) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(BM)

²⁹If you know that he is righteous,^(BN) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^(BO)

Footnotes

1 John 2:5 Or word, God’s love
1 John 2:9 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16.
1 John 2:10 The Greek word for brother and sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 3:10; 4:20, 21.
1 John 2:15 Or world, the Father’s love
1 John 2:20 Some manuscripts and you know all things