The First Letter of

JOHN

Chapter 1

Introduction, The Incarnate Word

1 What was afrom the beginning, what we have bheard, what we have cseen with our eyes, what we dhave looked at and etouched with our hands, concerning the fWord of Life—

2 and athe life was manifested, and we have bseen and ctestify and proclaim to you dthe eternal life, which was ewith the Father and was amanifested to us—

3 what we have aseen and bheard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our cfellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

4 aThese things we write, so that our bjoy may be made complete.

God Is Light

5 aThis is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that bGod is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

6 aIf we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we blie and cdo not practice the truth;

7 but if we awalk in the Light as bHe Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and cthe blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

8 aIf we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the btruth is not in us.

9 aIf we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and bto cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

10 aIf we say that we have not sinned, we bmake Him a liar and cHis word is not in us.

Chapter 2

Christ Is Our Advocate

1 aMy little children, I am bwriting these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, cwe have an 1dAdvocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

2 and He Himself is athe 1propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also bfor those of the whole world.

3 aBy this we know that we have come to bknow Him, if we ckeep His commandments.

4 The one who says, “aI have come to bknow Him,” and does not keep His commandments, is a cliar, and dthe truth is not in him;

5 but whoever akeeps His word, in him the blove of God has truly been perfected. cBy this we know that we are in Him:

6 the one who says he aabides in Him bought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

7 aBeloved, I am bnot writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had cfrom the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.

8 1On the other hand, I am writing aa new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because bthe darkness is passing away and cthe true Light is already shining.

9 The one who says he is in the Light and yet ahates his bbrother is in the darkness until now.

10 aThe one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

11 But the one who ahates his brother is in the darkness and bwalks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has cblinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, alittle children, because byour sins have been forgiven you for His name’s sake.

13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him awho has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because byou have overcome cthe evil one. I have written to you, children, because dyou know the Father.

14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him awho has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are bstrong, and the cword of God abides in you, and dyou have overcome the evil one.

Do Not Love the World

15 Do not love athe world nor the things in the world. bIf anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16 For all that is in the world, athe lust of the flesh and bthe lust of the eyes and cthe boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

17 aThe world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who bdoes the will of God lives forever.

18 Children, ait is the last hour; and just as you heard that bantichrist is coming, ceven now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

19 aThey 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, bso that 1it would be shown that they all are not of us.

20 1But you have an aanointing from bthe Holy One, and cyou all know.

21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but abecause you do know it, and 1because no lie is bof the truth.

22 Who is the liar but athe one who denies that Jesus is the 1Christ? This is bthe antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

23 aWhoever 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 afrom the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also bwill abide in the Son and in the Father.

The Promise Is Eternal Life

25 aThis is the promise which He Himself 1made to us: eternal life.

26 These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to adeceive you.

27 As for you, the aanointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing bteaches you about all things, and is ctrue and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, 1you abide in Him.

28 Now, alittle children, abide in Him, so that when He bappears, we may have cconfidence and dnot 1shrink away from Him in shame 2at His ecoming.

29 If you know that aHe is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness bis 1born of Him.

Chapter 3

Children of God Love One Another

1 See 1ahow great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called bchildren of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because cit did not know Him.

2 aBeloved, now we are bchildren of God, and cit has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He dappears, we will be elike Him, because we will fsee Him just as He is.

3 And everyone who has this ahope fixed on Him bpurifies himself, just as He is pure.

4 Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and asin is lawlessness.

5 You know that He aappeared in order to btake away sins; and cin Him there is no sin.

6 No one who abides in Him asins; no one who sins has seen Him or 1bknows Him.

7 aLittle children, make sure no one bdeceives you; cthe one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;

8 the one who practices sin is aof the devil; for the devil 1has sinned from the beginning. bThe Son of God cappeared for this purpose, dto destroy the works of the devil.

9 No one who is 1aborn of God bpractices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is 1born of God.

10 By this the achildren of God and the bchildren of the devil are obvious: 1anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who cdoes not love his dbrother.

11 aFor this is the message bwhich you have heard from the beginning, cthat we should love one another;

12 not as aCain, who was of bthe evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because chis deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if athe world hates you.

14 We know that we have apassed out of death into life, bbecause we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

15 Everyone who ahates his brother is a murderer; and you know that bno murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 We know love by this, that aHe laid down His life for us; and bwe ought to lay down our lives for the cbrethren.

17 But awhoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and bcloses his 1heart 2against him, chow does the love of God abide in him?

18 aLittle children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and btruth.

19 We will know by this that we are aof the truth, and will 1assure our heart before Him

20 1in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

21 aBeloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have bconfidence 1before God;

22 and awhatever we ask we receive from Him, because we bkeep His commandments and do cthe things that are pleasing in His sight.

23 This is His commandment, that we 1abelieve in bthe name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as cHe 2commanded us.

24 The one who akeeps His commandments babides in Him, and He in him. cWe know by this that dHe abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.