| New Living Translation | NET Bible |
| 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. | 1(My 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 One, |
| 2He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. | 2and he himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for our sins but also for the whole world. |
| 3And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. | 3Now by this we know that we have come to know God: if we keep 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. | 4The one who says "I have come to know God" and yet does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in such a person. |
| 5But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. | 5But whoever obeys his word, truly in this person the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him. |
| 6Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did. A New Commandment | 6The one who says he resides in God ought himself to walk just as Jesus walked. |
| 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. | 7Dear friends, 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 that you have already heard. |
| 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. | 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. |
| 9If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is still living in darkness. | 9The one who says he is in the light but still hates his fellow Christian is still in the darkness. |
| 10Anyone who loves a fellow believer is living in the light and does not cause others to stumble. | 10The one who loves his fellow Christian resides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. |
| 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. | 11But the one who hates his fellow Christian is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. |
| 12I am writing to you who are God’s children because your sins have been forgiven through Jesus. | 12I am writing to you, little children, that your sins have been forgiven because of his name. |
| 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. | 13I am writing to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, that you have conquered 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. Do Not Love This World | 14I have written to you, children, that you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, that you have known him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, that you are strong, and the word of God resides in you, and you have conquered 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. | 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 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. | 16because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world. |
| 17And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. Warning about Antichrists | 17And the world is passing away with all its desires, but the person who does the will of God remains 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. | 18Children, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. We know from this that it is the last hour. |
| 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. | 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us, because if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out from us to demonstrate that all of them do not belong to us. |
| 20But you are not like that, for the Holy One has given you his Spirit, and all of you know the truth. | 20Nevertheless you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all know. |
| 21So I am writing to you not because you don’t know the truth but because you know the difference between truth and lies. | 21I have not written to you that you do not know the truth, but that you do know it, and that no lie is of the truth. |
| 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. | 22Who is the liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist: the person who denies the Father and the Son. |
| 23Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. | 23Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either. The person who confesses 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. | 24As for you, what you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. |
| 25And in this fellowship we enjoy the eternal life he promised us. | 25Now this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life. |
| 26I am writing these things to warn you about those who want to lead you astray. | 26These things I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you. |
| 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. Living as Children of God | 27Now as for you, the anointing that you received from him resides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, it is true and is not a lie. Just as it has taught you, you reside in him. |
| 28And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. | 28And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back. |
| 29Since we know that Christ is righteous, we also know that all who do what is right are God’s children. | 29If you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by him. |
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