1 John 1-5
New American Standard Bible
Chapter 1
1What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and touched with our hands, concerning the Word of Life— 2and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was revealed to us— 3what we have seen and heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4These things we write, so that our joy may be made complete.
5This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.
6If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth;
7but if we walk in the Light as He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous, so that He will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us.
Chapter 2
1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous; 2and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
3By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4The one who says, 'I have come to know Him,' and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him;
5but whoever follows His word, in him the love of God has truly been perfected. By this we know that we are in Him:
6the one who says that he remains in Him ought, himself also, walk just as He walked.
7Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.
8On the other hand, I am writing a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining.
9The one who says that he is in the Light and yet hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.
10The one who loves his brother and sister remains in the Light, and there is nothing in him to cause stumbling.
11But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of His name.
13I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
14I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17The world is passing away and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God continues to live forever.
18Children, it is the last hour; and just as you heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.
19They 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, so that it would be evident that they all are not of us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know.
21I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
22Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.
23Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24As for you, see that what you heard from the beginning remains in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
26These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
27And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you remain in Him.
28Now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears, we may have confidence and not draw back from Him in shame at His coming.
29If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness also has been born of Him.
Chapter 3
1See how great a love the Father has given us, that we would be called children of God; and in fact we are. For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know Him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope set on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
5You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.
6No one who remains in Him sins continually; no one who sins continually has seen Him or knows Him.
7Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;
8the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.
9No one who has been born of God practices sin, because His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin continually, because he has been born of God.
10By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother and sister.
11For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we are to love one another;
12not as Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.
13Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.
15Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
16We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.
17But whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God remain in him?
18Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.
19We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him,
20that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things.
21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22and whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.
23This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.
24The one who keeps His commandments remains in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.
Chapter 4
1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4You are from God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. The one who knows God listens to us; the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7Beloved, let’s love one another; for love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9By this the love of God was revealed in us, that God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him.
10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His love is perfected in us.
13By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit.
14We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.
15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.
16We have come to know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
17By this, love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, we also are in this world.
18There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
19We love, because He first loved us.
20If someone says, 'I love God,' and yet he hates his brother or sister, he is a liar; for the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.
21And this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.
Chapter 5
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves the child born of Him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and follow His commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome. 4For whoever has been born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
5Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6This is the One who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
7For there are three that testify:
8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
9If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that He has testified concerning His Son.
10The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.
11And the testimony is this, that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
16If anyone sees his brother or sister committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask and God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death; I am not saying that he should ask about that.
17All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
18We know that no one who has been born of God sins; but He who was born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding so that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.
King James Version
Chapter 1
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life; 2For the life was manifested, and we have seen it, and bear witness, and shew unto you that eternal life, which was with the Father, and was manifested unto us;) 3That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.
5This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Chapter 2
1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous: 2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world. 3And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him. 6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
8Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.
9He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.
10He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.
11But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.
12I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name's sake.
13I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.
14I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.
15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
18Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.
19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
20But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.
21I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.
23Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: (but) he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.
24Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.
25And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.
26These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.
27But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.
Chapter 3
1Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. 2Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 3And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
4Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.
5And ye know that he was manifested to take away our sins; and in him is no sin.
6Whosoever abideth in him sinneth not: whosoever sinneth hath not seen him, neither known him.
7Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
8He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.
9Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.
10In this the children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: whosoever doeth not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother.
11For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
12Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother's righteous.
13Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
14We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
15Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
16Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17But whoso hath this world's good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
19And hereby we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before him.
20For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.
21Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward God.
22And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.
23And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment.
24And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.
Chapter 4
1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: 3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. 4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. 5They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. 6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.
7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.
8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.
9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.
10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.
12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.
14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.
16And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.
17Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.
18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.
19We love him, because he first loved us.
20If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?
21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.
Chapter 5
1Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith. 5Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God?
6This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.
8And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
9If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
10He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son.
11And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12He that hath the Son hath life; and he that hath not the Son of God hath not life.
13These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God.
14And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
15And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him.
16If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
17All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death.
18We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.
19And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.
20And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, even in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.
21Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
Christian Standard Bible
Chapter 1
1What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— 2that life was revealed, and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us — 3what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4We are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is absolutely no darkness in him.
6If we say, "We have fellowship with him," and yet we walk in darkness, we are lying and are not practicing the truth.
7If we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8If we say, "We have no sin," we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say, "We have not sinned," we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Chapter 2
1My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. 2He himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.
3This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commands.
4The one who says, "I have come to know him," and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5But whoever keeps his word, truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:
6The one who says he remains in him should walk just as he walked.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word you have heard.
8Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister is in the darkness until now.
10The one who loves his brother or sister remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
11But the one who hates his brother or sister is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he’s going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12I am writing to you, little children, since your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have conquered the evil one.
14I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the one who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God’s word remains in you, and you have conquered the evil one.
15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world.
17And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.
18Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour.
19They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
21I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
22Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son.
23No one who denies the Son has the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.
24What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.
26I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you.
27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you, remain in him.
28So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
29If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
Chapter 3
1See what great love the Father has given us that we should be called God’s children—and we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn’t know him. 2Dear friends, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when he appears, we will be like him because we will see him as he is. 3And everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself just as he is pure.
4Everyone who commits sin practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.
5You know that he was revealed so that he might take away sins, and there is no sin in him.
6Everyone who remains in him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen him or known him.
7Children, let no one deceive you. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8The one who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the devil’s works.
9Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because his seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God.
10This is how God’s children and the devil’s children become obvious. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother or sister.
11For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another,
12unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.
13Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death.
15Everyone who hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
16This is how we have come to know love: He laid down his life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17If anyone has this world’s goods and sees a fellow believer in need but withholds compassion from him—how does God’s love reside in him?
18Little children, let us not love in word or speech, but in action and in truth.
19This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and will reassure our hearts before him
20whenever our hearts condemn us; for God is greater than our hearts, and he knows all things.
21Dear friends, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have confidence before God
22and receive whatever we ask from him because we keep his commands and do what is pleasing in his sight.
23Now this is his command: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as he commanded us.
24The one who keeps his commands remains in him, and he in him. And the way we know that he remains in us is from the Spirit he has given us.
2This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,
3but every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming; even now it is already in the world.
4You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them.
6We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
7Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his one and only Son into the world so that we might live through him.
10Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another.
12No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and his love is made complete in us.
13This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
14And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent his Son as the world’s Savior.
15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God—God remains in him and he in God.
16And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
17In this, love is made complete with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because as he is, so also are we in this world.
18There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears is not complete in love.
19We love because he first loved us.
20If anyone says, "I love God," and yet hates his brother or sister, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother or sister whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21And we have this command from him: The one who loves God must also love his brother and sister.
Chapter 5
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father also loves the one born of him. 2This is how we know that we love God’s children: when we love God and obey his commands. 3For this is what love for God is: to keep his commands. And his commands are not a burden, 4because everyone who has been born of God conquers the world. This is the victory that has conquered the world: our faith.
5Who is the one who conquers the world but the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6Jesus Christ—he is the one who came by water and blood, not by water only, but by water and by blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
7For there are three that testify:
8the Spirit, the water, and the blood —and these three are in agreement.
9If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is God’s testimony that he has given about his Son.
10The one who believes in the Son of God has this testimony within himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony God has given about his Son.
11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12The one who has the Son has life. The one who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14This is the confidence we have before him: If we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15And if we know that he hears whatever we ask, we know that we have what we have asked of him.
16If anyone sees a fellow believer committing a sin that doesn’t lead to death, he should ask, and God will give life to him—to those who commit sin that doesn’t lead to death. There is sin that leads to death. I am not saying he should pray about that.
17All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin that doesn’t lead to death.
18We know that everyone who has been born of God does not sin, but the one who is born of God keeps him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19We know that we are of God, and the whole world is under the sway of the evil one.
20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true one. We are in the true one—that is, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
New Living Translation
Chapter 1
1We proclaim to you the one who existed from the beginning, whom we have heard and seen. We saw him with our own eyes and touched him with our own hands. He is the Word of life. 2This one who is life itself was revealed to us, and we have seen him. And now we testify and proclaim to you that he is the one who is eternal life. He was with the Father, and then he was revealed to us. 3We proclaim to you what we ourselves have actually seen and heard so that you may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We are writing these things so that you may fully share our joy.
5This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all.
6So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth.
7But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.
8If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves and not living in the truth.
9But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness.
10If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts.
Chapter 2
1My dear children, I am writing this to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate who pleads our case before the Father. He is Jesus Christ, the one who is truly righteous. 2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins — and not only our sins but the sins of all the world.
3And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments.
4If someone claims, 'I know God,' but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth.
5But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him.
6Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing a new commandment for you; rather it is an old one you have had from the very beginning. This old commandment — to love one another — is the same message you heard before.
8Yet it is also new. Jesus lived the truth of this commandment, and you also are living it. For the darkness is disappearing, and the true light is already shining.
9If anyone claims, 'I am living in the light,' but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness.
10Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble.
11But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.
12I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus.
13I am writing to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I am writing to you who are young in the faith because you have won your battle with the evil one.
14I have written to you who are God’s children because you know the Father. I have written to you who are mature in the faith because you know Christ, who existed from the beginning. I have written to you who are young in the faith because you are strong. God’s word lives in your hearts, and you have won your battle with the evil one.
15Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you.
16For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.
17And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
18Dear children, the last hour is here. You have heard that the Antichrist is coming, and already many such antichrists have appeared. From this we know that the last hour has come.
19These people left our churches, but they never really belonged with us; otherwise they would have stayed with us. When they left, it proved that they did not belong with us.
20But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth.
21So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies.
22And who is a liar? Anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.
23Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father.
25And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us.
26I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray.
27But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true — it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ.
Chapter 3
1See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. 2Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. 3And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure.
4Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God.
5And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.
6Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is.
7Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous.
8But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.
9Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God.
10So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God.
11This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
12We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous.
13So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead.
15Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.
16We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion — how can God’s love be in that person?
18Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions.
19Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God.
20Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything.
21Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence.
22And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him.
23And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us.
24Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us.
Chapter 4
1Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. 2This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. 3But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
4But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
5Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them.
6But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.
7Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
8But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
10This is real love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
12No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
13And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.
14Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
16We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
17And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
18Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
19We love each other because he loved us first.
20If someone says, 'I love God,' but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
21And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
Chapter 5
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. 2We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. 3Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. 4For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. 5And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
6And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross — not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony.
7So we have these three witnesses —
8the Spirit, the water, and the blood — and all three agree.
9Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son.
10All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son.
11And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life.
13I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life.
14And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.
15And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for.
16If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it.
17All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death.
English Standard Version
Chapter 1
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — 2the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us — 3that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
5This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
6If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
8If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Chapter 2
1My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. 3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. 4Whoever says "I know him" but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, 5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: 6whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.
7Beloved, I am writing you no new commandment, but an old commandment that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard.
8At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness.
10Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him there is no cause for stumbling.
11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name 's sake.
13I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you know the Father.
14I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16For all that is in the world — the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life — is not from the Father but is from the world.
17And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
18Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.
19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us.
20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
21I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
22Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
23No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also.
24Let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then you too will abide in the Son and in the Father.
25And this is the promise that he made to us — eternal life.
26I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27But the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and is true, and is no lie — just as it has taught you, abide in him.
28And now, little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.
29If you know that he is righteous, you may be sure that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
Chapter 3
1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Beloved, we are God 's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. 3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure.
4Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness.
5You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin.
6No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
7Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
8Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
9No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God 's seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God.
10By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother.
11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
12We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother 's righteous.
13Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you.
14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death.
15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
17But if anyone has the world 's goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God 's love abide in him?
18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
19By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him;
20for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything.
21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;
22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him.
23And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us.
24Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Chapter 4
1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. 4Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9In 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.
10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.
13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit.
14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16So 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.
17By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world.
18There 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.
19We love because he first loved us.
20If anyone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen.
21And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Chapter 5
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. 4For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world — our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6This is he who came by water and blood — Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
7For there are three that testify:
8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree.
9If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son.
10Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son.
11And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life.
14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God 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.
17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
New International Version
Chapter 1
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. 2The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us. 3We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. 4We write this to make our joy complete.
5This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.
6If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth.
7But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.
8If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.
10If we claim we have not sinned, we make him out to be a liar and his word is not in us.
Chapter 2
1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.
4Whoever says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
5But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:
6Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
10Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.
11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
13I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
14I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
16For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
17The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
19They went out from us, 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.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it 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.
23No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
25And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
26I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
27As for you, the anointing 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 and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
Chapter 3
1See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. 3All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure.
4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin.
6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.
9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God.
10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister.
11For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.
12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.
13Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you.
14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
15Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.
16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
18Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
19This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence:
20If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.
21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God
22and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him.
23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
24The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.
Chapter 4
1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.
4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them.
6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.
7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.
8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit.
14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God.
16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.
17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus.
18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
19We love because he first loved us.
20Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
21And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Chapter 5
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6This is the one who came by water and blood—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.
7For there are three that testify:
8the Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement.
9We accept human testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.
10Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.
11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life.
14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
16If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that.
17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them.
19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one.
20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
New King James Version
Chapter 1
1That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life— 2the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us— 3that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4And these things we write to you that your joy may be full.
5This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all.
6If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Chapter 2
1My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. 2And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world.
3Now by this we know that we know Him, if we keep His commandments.
4He who says, “I know Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
6He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.
7Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
8Again, a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
9He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now.
10He who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.
11But he who hates his brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12I write to you, little children, Because your sins are forgiven you for His name’s sake.
13I write to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, Because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, little children, Because you have known the Father.
14I have written to you, fathers, Because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, Because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, And you have overcome the wicked one.
15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.
17And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
18Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.
19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us; but they went out that they might be made manifest, that none of them were of us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you know all things.
21I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that no lie is of the truth.
22Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist who denies the Father and the Son.
23Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24Therefore let that abide in you which you heard from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father.
25And this is the promise that He has promised us—eternal life.
26These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you.
27But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.
28And now, little children, abide in Him, that when He appears, we may have confidence and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
29If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness is born of Him.
Chapter 3
1Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.
4Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness.
5And you know that He was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin.
6Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.
7Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous.
8He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil.
9Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.
10In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.
11For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,
12not as Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.
13Do not marvel, my brethren, if the world hates you.
14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love his brother abides in death.
15Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16By this we know love, because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17But whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18My little children, let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.
19And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our hearts before Him.
20For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God.
22And whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.
23And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He gave us commandment.
Chapter 4
1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, 3and every spirit that does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist, which you have heard was coming, and is now already in the world.
4You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.
5They are of the world. Therefore they speak as of the world, and the world hears them.
6We are of God. He who knows God hears us; he who is not of God does not hear us. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.
8He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him.
10In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us.
13By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.
14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.
15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God.
16And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
17Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world.
18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.
19We love Him because He first loved us.
20If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?
21And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.
Chapter 5
1Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves Him who begot also loves him who is begotten of Him. 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep His commandments. 3For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome. 4For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. 5Who is he who overcomes the world, but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6This is He who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not only by water, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who bears witness, because the Spirit is truth.
7For there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one.
8And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
9If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is the witness of God which He has testified of His Son.
10He who believes in the Son of God has the witness in himself; he who does not believe God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given of His Son.
11And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
12He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.
14Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
15And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him.
16If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death. There is sin leading to death. I do not say that he should pray about that.
17All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
