1My dear children, I’m writing this to you so that you will not sin. But suppose someone does sin. Then we have a friend who speaks to the Father for us. He is Jesus Christ, the Blameless One.2He gave his life to pay for our sins. But he not only paid for our sins. He also paid for the sins of the whole world.
Instructions about loving and hating other believers
3We know that we have come to know God if we obey his commands.4Suppose someone says, ‘I know him.’ But suppose this person does not do what God commands. Then this person is a liar and is not telling the truth.5But if anyone obeys God’s word, then that person truly loves God. Here is how we know we belong to him.6Those who claim to belong to him must live just as Jesus did.7Dear friends, I’m not writing you a new command. Instead, I’m writing one you have heard before. You have had it since the beginning.8But I am writing what amounts to a new command. Its truth was shown in how Jesus lived. It is also shown in how you live. That’s because the darkness is passing away. And the true light is already shining.9Suppose someone claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister. Then they are still in the darkness.10Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light. There is nothing in them to make them fall into sin.11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness. They walk around in the darkness. They don’t know where they are going. The darkness has made them blind.
Reasons for writing
12Dear children, I’m writing to you because your sins have been forgiven. They have been forgiven because of what Jesus has done.13Fathers, I’m writing to you because you know the one who is from the beginning. Young men, I’m writing to you because you have won the battle over the evil one.14Dear children, I’m writing to you because you know the Father. Fathers, I’m writing to you because you know the one who is from the beginning. Young men, I’m writing to you because you are strong. God’s word lives in you. You have won the battle over the evil one.
Do not love the world
15Do not love the world or anything in it. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.16Here is what people who belong to this world do. They try to satisfy what their sinful desires want to do. They long for what their sinful eyes look at. They take pride in what they have and what they do. All of this comes from the world. None of it comes from the Father.17The world and its evil desires are passing away. But whoever does what God wants them to do lives for ever.
Warnings about saying no to the Son
18Dear children, we are living in the last days. You have heard that the great enemy of Christ is coming. But even now many enemies of Christ have already come. That’s how we know that these are the last days.19These enemies left our community of believers. They didn’t really belong to us. If they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But by leaving they showed that none of them belonged to us.20You have received the Spirit from the Holy One. And all of you know the truth.21I’m not writing to you because you don’t know the truth. I’m writing because you do know it. I’m writing to you because no lie comes from the truth.22Who is the liar? It is anyone who says that Jesus is not the Christ. The person who says this is the great enemy of Christ. They say no to the Father and the Son.23The person who says no to the Son doesn’t belong to the Father. But anyone who says yes to the Son belongs to the Father also.24Make sure that you don’t forget what you have heard from the beginning. Then you will remain joined to the Son and to the Father.25And here is what God has promised us. He has promised us eternal life.26I’m writing these things to warn you. I am warning you about people trying to lead you astray.27But you have received the Holy Spirit from God. He continues to live in you. So you don’t need anyone to teach you. God’s Spirit teaches you about everything. What he says is true. He doesn’t lie. Remain joined to Christ, just as you have been taught by the Spirit.
God’s children and sin
28Dear children, remain joined to Christ. Then when he comes, we can be bold. We will not be ashamed to meet him when he comes.29You know that God is right and always does what is right. And you know that everyone who does what is right is God’s child.
1 John 2
English Standard Version
Christ Our Advocate
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. (Ro 8:34; 1Ti 2:5; Heb 7:25)2He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (Joh 1:29; Joh 4:42; Joh 11:51; Joh 12:32; Ro 3:25; 2Co 5:18; Col 1:20; 1Jo 4:10; 1Jo 4:14)3And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we keep his commandments. (Joh 14:15; Joh 15:10)4Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him, (Joh 8:44; 1Jo 1:8)5but whoever keeps his word, in him truly the love of God is perfected. By this we may know that we are in him: (Joh 14:23; 1Jo 3:24; 1Jo 4:12; 1Jo 4:13; 1Jo 5:2; 1Jo 5:3)6whoever says he abides in him ought to walk in the same way in which he walked. (Mt 11:29; Joh 15:4; Joh 15:7)
The New Commandment
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. (Le 19:18; 1Jo 2:24; 1Jo 3:11; 2Jo 1:5)8At the same time, it is a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because[1] the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. (Joh 1:9; Joh 8:12; Joh 13:34; Ro 13:12; Eph 5:8; 1Th 5:4)9Whoever says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in darkness. (Tit 3:3; 1Jo 3:14; 1Jo 4:20)10Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him[2] there is no cause for stumbling. (Pr 4:19; Joh 11:10; 2Pe 1:10)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. (1Jo 1:6)12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake. (Lu 24:47; Ac 10:43; Ac 13:38)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. (Joh 14:7; Eph 6:10; 1Jo 1:1; 1Jo 5:4)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. (1Jo 2:13)
Do Not Love the World
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. (Ro 12:2; 2Ti 4:10; Jas 4:4)16For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life[3]—is not from the Father but is from the world. (Ec 4:8; Ec 5:11; Ro 13:14; Eph 2:3; 1Pe 4:2; 2Pe 2:18)17And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. (1Co 7:31)
Warning Concerning Antichrists
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. (Mt 24:5; Mt 24:24; 1Ti 4:1; 2Ti 3:1; Jas 5:3; 2Pe 3:3; 1Jo 2:22; 1Jo 4:1; 1Jo 4:3; 2Jo 1:7; Jud 1:18)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. (De 13:13; Joh 17:12; Ac 20:30; 1Co 11:19)20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.[4] (Mr 1:24; Joh 14:26; 2Co 1:21; 1Jo 2:27)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. (1Jo 2:18; 1Jo 4:3; 2Jo 1:7)23No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. (1Jo 4:15; 1Jo 5:1; 2Jo 1:9)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. (Joh 14:23; 1Jo 1:3; 1Jo 3:11; 2Jo 1:6)25And this is the promise that he made to us[5]—eternal life. (Joh 17:2)26I write these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. (1Jo 3:7; 2Jo 1:7)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. (Jer 31:34; Joh 14:17; Heb 8:11; 1Jo 2:20)