1 John 2:3-14

New International Version

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

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

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

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

Reasons for Writing

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

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

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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.