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1 John 3-5
Contemporary English Version
1 John 3-5
Contemporary English Version
3 (A) Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ[a] is, they don't know who we are. 2 My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is. 3 This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ[b] is holy.
4 Everyone who sins breaks God's law, because sin is the same as breaking God's law. 5 (B) You know Christ came to take away our sins. He isn't sinful, 6 and people who stay one in their hearts with him won't keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don't know Christ, and they have never seen him.
7 Children, don't be fooled. Anyone who does right is good, just like Christ himself. 8 Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done. 9 God's children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power[c] lives in them and makes them his children, so they cannot keep on sinning. 10 You can tell God's children from the devil's children, because those who belong to the devil refuse to do right or to love each other.
Love Each Other
11 (C) From the beginning you were told we must love each other. 12 (D) Don't be like Cain, who belonged to the devil and murdered his own brother. Why did he murder him? He did it because his brother was good, and he was evil. 13 My friends, don't be surprised if the people of this world hate you. 14 (E) Our love for each other proves we have gone from death to life. But if you don't love each other, you are still under the power of death.
15 If you hate each other, you are murderers, and we know murderers do not have eternal life. 16 We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. This is why we must give our lives for each other. 17 If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God. 18 Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it.
19 When we love others, we know we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God. 20 But even if we don't feel at ease, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if we feel at ease in the presence of God, we will have the courage to come near him. 22 He will give us whatever we ask, because we obey him and do what pleases him. 23 (F) God wants us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to love each other. This is also what Jesus taught us to do. 24 If we obey God's commandments, we will stay one in our hearts with him, and he will stay one with us. The Spirit he has given us is proof that we are one with him.
God Is Love
4 Dear friends, don't believe everyone who claims to have the Spirit of God. Test them all to find out if they really do come from God. Many false prophets have already gone out into the world, 2 and you can know which ones come from God. His Spirit says that Jesus Christ had a truly human body. 3 But when someone doesn't say this about Jesus, you know this person has a spirit that doesn't come from God and is the enemy of Christ. You knew this enemy was coming into the world and now is already here.
4 Children, you belong to God, and you have defeated these enemies. God's Spirit[d] is in you and is more powerful than the one who is in the world. 5 These enemies belong to this world, and the world listens to them, because they speak its language. 6 We belong to God, and everyone who knows God will listen to us. But the people who don't know God won't listen to us. This is how we can tell the Spirit that speaks the truth from the one that tells lies.
7 My dear friends, we must love each other. Love comes from God, and when we love each other, it shows we have been given new life. We are now God's children, and we know him. 8 God is love, and anyone who doesn't love others has never known him. 9 God showed his love for us when he sent his only Son into the world to give us life. 10 Real love isn't our love for God, but his love for us. God sent his Son to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we must love each other.
12 (G) No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is truly in our hearts.
13 God has given us his Spirit. This is how we know we are one with him, just as he is one with us. 14 God sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. We saw his Son and are now telling others about him. 15 God stays one with everyone who openly says Jesus is the Son of God. This is how we stay one with God 16 and are sure God loves us.
God is love. If we keep on loving others, we will stay one in our hearts with God, and he will stay one with us. 17 If we truly love others and live as Christ did in this world, we won't be worried about the day of judgment. 18 A real love for others will chase those worries away. The thought of being punished is what makes us afraid. It shows we have not really learned to love.
19 We love because God loved us first. 20 But if we say we love God and don't love each other, we are liars. We cannot see God. So how can we love God, if we don't love the people we can see? 21 The commandment that God has given us is: “Love God and love each other!”
Victory over the World
5 If we believe Jesus is truly Christ, we are God's children. Everyone who loves the Father will also love his children. 2 If we love and obey God, we know we will love his children. 3 (H) We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.
4 Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. 5 No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.
Who Jesus Is
6 Water and blood came out from the side of Jesus Christ. It wasn't just water, but water and blood.[e] The Spirit tells about this, because the Spirit is truthful. 7 In fact, there are three who tell about it. 8 They are the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and they all agree.
9 We believe what people tell us. But we can trust what God says even more, and God is the one who has spoken about his Son. 10 If we have faith in God's Son, we have believed what God has said. But if we don't believe what God has said about his Son, it is the same as calling God a liar. 11 (I) God has also said he gave us eternal life and this life comes to us from his Son. 12 And so, if we have God's Son, we have this life. But if we don't have the Son, we don't have this life.
Knowing about Eternal Life
13 All of you have faith in the Son of God, and I have written to let you know you have eternal life. 14 We are certain God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him. 15 And if we know God listens when we pray, we are sure our prayers have already been answered.
16 Suppose you see one of our people commit a sin that isn't a deadly sin. You can pray, and this person will be given eternal life. But the sin must not be one that is deadly. 17 Everything that is wrong is sin, but not all sins are deadly.
18 We are sure God's children do not keep on sinning. God's own Son protects them, and the devil cannot harm them.
19 We are certain we come from God and the rest of the world is under the power of the devil.
20 We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God. And because of Jesus, we now belong to the true God who gives eternal life.
21 Children, you must stay away from idols.
Footnotes
- 3.1 Christ: The Greek text has “he” and may refer to God.
- 3.3 Christ: The Greek text has “that one” and may refer to God.
- 3.9 His life-giving power: The Greek text has “his seed.”
- 4.4 God's Spirit: The Greek text has “he” and may refer to the Spirit or to God or to Jesus.
- 5.6 Water and blood came out from the side of Jesus Christ. It wasn't just water, but water and blood: See John 19.34. It is also possible to translate, “Jesus Christ came by the water of baptism and by the blood of his death! He was not only baptized, but he bled and died.” The purpose of the verse is to tell that Jesus was truly human and that he really died.
1 John 3-5
New International Version
1 John 3-5
New International Version
3 See what great love(A) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!(B) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.(C) 2 Dear friends,(D) now we are children of God,(E) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a](F) we shall be like him,(G) for we shall see him as he is.(H) 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves,(I) just as he is pure.(J)
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.(K) 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.(L) And in him is no sin.(M) 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.(N) No one who continues to sin has either seen him(O) or known him.(P)
7 Dear children,(Q) do not let anyone lead you astray.(R) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.(S) 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,(T) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God(U) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.(V) 9 No one who is born of God(W) will continue to sin,(X) because God’s seed(Y) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. 10 This is how we know who the children of God(Z) are and who the children of the devil(AA) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love(AB) their brother and sister.(AC)
More on Love and Hatred
11 For this is the message you heard(AD) from the beginning:(AE) We should love one another.(AF) 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one(AG) and murdered his brother.(AH) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.(AI) 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[b] if the world hates you.(AJ) 14 We know that we have passed from death to life,(AK) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.(AL) 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister(AM) is a murderer,(AN) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.(AO)
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.(AP) And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.(AQ) 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,(AR) how can the love of God be in that person?(AS) 18 Dear children,(AT) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.(AU)
19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends,(AV) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God(AW) 22 and receive from him anything we ask,(AX) because we keep his commands(AY) and do what pleases him.(AZ) 23 And this is his command: to believe(BA) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,(BB) and to love one another as he commanded us.(BC) 24 The one who keeps God’s commands(BD) lives in him,(BE) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.(BF)
On Denying the Incarnation
4 Dear friends,(BG) do not believe every spirit,(BH) but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.(BI) 2 This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh(BJ) is from God,(BK) 3 but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,(BL) which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.(BM)
4 You, dear children,(BN) are from God and have overcome them,(BO) because the one who is in you(BP) is greater than the one who is in the world.(BQ) 5 They are from the world(BR) and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6 We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.(BS) This is how we recognize the Spirit[c] of truth(BT) and the spirit of falsehood.(BU)
God’s Love and Ours
7 Dear friends, let us love one another,(BV) for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God(BW) and knows God.(BX) 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.(BY) 9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son(BZ) into the world that we might live through him.(CA) 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us(CB) and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.(CC) 11 Dear friends,(CD) since God so loved us,(CE) we also ought to love one another.(CF) 12 No one has ever seen God;(CG) but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.(CH)
13 This is how we know(CI) that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.(CJ) 14 And we have seen and testify(CK) that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.(CL) 15 If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God,(CM) God lives in them and they in God.(CN) 16 And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.
God is love.(CO) Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.(CP) 17 This is how love is made complete(CQ) among us so that we will have confidence(CR) on the day of judgment:(CS) In this world we are like Jesus. 18 There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear,(CT) because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19 We love because he first loved us.(CU) 20 Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister(CV) is a liar.(CW) For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen,(CX) cannot love God, whom they have not seen.(CY) 21 And he has given us this command:(CZ) Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.(DA)
Faith in the Incarnate Son of God
5 Everyone who believes(DB) that Jesus is the Christ(DC) is born of God,(DD) and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well.(DE) 2 This is how we know(DF) that we love the children of God:(DG) by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.(DH) And his commands are not burdensome,(DI) 4 for everyone born of God(DJ) overcomes(DK) the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.(DL)
6 This is the one who came by water and blood(DM)—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.(DN) 7 For there are three(DO) that testify: 8 the[d] Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9 We accept human testimony,(DP) but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God,(DQ) which he has given about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony.(DR) Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar,(DS) because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life,(DT) and this life is in his Son.(DU) 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.(DV)
Concluding Affirmations
13 I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God(DW) so that you may know that you have eternal life.(DX) 14 This is the confidence(DY) we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.(DZ) 15 And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know(EA) that we have what we asked of him.(EB)
16 If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life.(EC) I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death.(ED) I am not saying that you should pray about that.(EE) 17 All wrongdoing is sin,(EF) and there is sin that does not lead to death.(EG)
18 We know that anyone born of God(EH) does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one(EI) cannot harm them.(EJ) 19 We know that we are children of God,(EK) and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.(EL) 20 We know also that the Son of God has come(EM) and has given us understanding,(EN) so that we may know him who is true.(EO) And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.(EP)
Footnotes
- 1 John 3:2 Or when it is made known
- 1 John 3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.
- 1 John 4:6 Or spirit
- 1 John 5:8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century)
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