1 John 2:6-4:16

New American Standard Bible 1995

⁶ the one who says he ^(A)abides in Him ^(B)ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

^7 (C)Beloved, I am ^(D)not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^(E)from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard. ^8 [a]On the other hand, I am writing ^(F)a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because ^(G)the darkness is passing away and ^(H)the true Light is already shining. ⁹ The one who says he is in the Light and yet ^(I)hates his ^(J)brother is in the darkness until now. ^10 (K)The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But the one who ^(L)hates his brother is in the darkness and ^(M)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has ^(N)blinded his eyes.

¹² I am writing to you, ^(O)little children, because ^(P)your sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(Q)who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because ^(R)you have overcome ^(S)the evil one. I have written to you, children, because ^(T)you know the Father. ¹⁴ I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(U)who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are ^(V)strong, and the ^(W)word of God abides in you, and ^(X)you have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

¹⁵ Do not love ^(Y)the world nor the things in the world. ^(Z)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, ^(AA)the lust of the flesh and ^(AB)the lust of the eyes and ^(AC)the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. ^17 (AD)The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who ^(AE)does the will of God lives forever.

¹⁸ Children, ^(AF)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that ^(AG)antichrist is coming, ^(AH)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (AI)They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, ^(AJ)so that ^[b]it would be shown that they all are not of us. ^20 [c]But you have an ^(AK)anointing from ^(AL)the Holy One, and ^(AM)you all know. ²¹ I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but ^(AN)because you do know it, and ^[d]because no lie is ^(AO)of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(AP)the one who denies that Jesus is the ^[e]Christ? This is ^(AQ)the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (AR)Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ As for you, let that abide in you which you heard ^(AS)from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also ^(AT)will abide in the Son and in the Father.

The Promise Is Eternal Life

^25 (AU)This is the promise which He Himself ^[f]made to us: eternal life.

²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to ^(AV)deceive you. ²⁷ As for you, the ^(AW)anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing ^(AX)teaches you about all things, and is ^(AY)true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, ^[g]you abide in Him.

²⁸ Now, ^(AZ)little children, abide in Him, so that when He ^(BA)appears, we may have ^(BB)confidence and ^(BC)not ^[h]shrink away from Him in shame ^[i]at His ^(BD)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(BE)He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness ^(BF)is ^[j]born of Him.

Children of God Love One Another

3 See ^[k](BG)how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called ^(BH)children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because ^(BI)it did not know Him. ^2 (BJ)Beloved, now we are ^(BK)children of God, and ^(BL)it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He ^(BM)appears, we will be ^(BN)like Him, because we will ^(BO)see Him just as He is. ³ And everyone who has this ^(BP)hope fixed on Him ^(BQ)purifies himself, just as He is pure.

⁴ Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and ^(BR)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that He ^(BS)appeared in order to ^(BT)take away sins; and ^(BU)in Him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in Him ^(BV)sins; no one who sins has seen Him or ^[l](BW)knows Him. ^7 (BX)Little children, make sure no one ^(BY)deceives you; ^(BZ)the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; ⁸ the one who practices sin is ^(CA)of the devil; for the devil ^[m]has sinned from the beginning. ^(CB)The Son of God ^(CC)appeared for this purpose, ^(CD)to destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ No one who is ^[n](CE)born of God ^(CF)practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is ^[o]born of God. ¹⁰ By this the ^(CG)children of God and the ^(CH)children of the devil are obvious: ^[p]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who ^(CI)does not love his ^(CJ)brother.

^11 (CK)For this is the message ^(CL)which you have heard from the beginning, ^(CM)that we should love one another; ¹² not as ^(CN)Cain, who was of ^(CO)the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because ^(CP)his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

¹³ Do not be surprised, brethren, if ^(CQ)the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have ^(CR)passed out of death into life, ^(CS)because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who ^(CT)hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that ^(CU)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. ¹⁶ We know love by this, that ^(CV)He laid down His life for us; and ^(CW)we ought to lay down our lives for the ^(CX)brethren. ¹⁷ But ^(CY)whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and ^(CZ)closes his ^[q]heart ^[r]against him, ^(DA)how does the love of God abide in him? ^18 (DB)Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ^(DC)truth. ¹⁹ We will know by this that we are ^(DD)of the truth, and will ^[s]assure our heart before Him ^20 [t]in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. ^21 (DE)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have ^(DF)confidence ^[u]before God; ²² and ^(DG)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we ^(DH)keep His commandments and do ^(DI)the things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³ This is His commandment, that we ^[v](DJ)believe in ^(DK)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as ^(DL)He ^[w]commanded us. ²⁴ The one who ^(DM)keeps His commandments ^(DN)abides in Him, and He in him. ^(DO)We know by this that ^(DP)He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Testing the Spirits

4 ^(DQ)Beloved, do not believe every ^(DR)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because ^(DS)many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(DT)every spirit that ^(DU)confesses that ^(DV)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that ^(DW)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the ^(DX)antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and ^(DY)now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, ^(DZ)little children, and ^(EA)have overcome them; because ^(EB)greater is He who is in you than ^(EC)he who is in the world. ^5 (ED)They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ^6 (EE)We are from God; ^(EF)he who knows God listens to us; ^(EG)he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(EH)the spirit of truth and ^(EI)the spirit of error.

God Is Love

^7 (EJ)Beloved, let us ^(EK)love one another, for love is from God; and ^(EL)everyone who loves is ^[x](EM)born of God and ^(EN)knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, for ^(EO)God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was manifested ^[y](EP)in us, that ^(EQ)God has sent His ^[z]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(ER)not that we loved God, but that ^(ES)He loved us and sent His Son to be ^(ET)the propitiation for our sins. ^11 (EU)Beloved, if God so loved us, ^(EV)we also ought to love one another. ^12 (EW)No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His ^(EX)love is perfected in us. ^13 (EY)By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and ^(EZ)testify that the Father has ^(FA)sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

^15 (FB)Whoever confesses that ^(FC)Jesus is the Son of God, God ^(FD)abides in him, and he in God. ^16 (FE)We have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^[aa](FF)for us. ^(FG)God is love, and the one who ^(FH)abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.