Chapter 1
1 That 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 touched, of the Word of life, —
2 For the life appeared, and we have seen it, and we testify to it, and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was in the within the Father, and which has been revealed to us —
3 We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ.
4 And we are writing these things to you so that your joy may be complete.
5 This is the message that he gave us, and that we proclaim to you in turn, that God is light, and that in him there is no darkness at all.
6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and yet walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.
7 But 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, purifies us from all sin.
8 If we say that we are without sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
9 If we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
10 If we say that we are without sin, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
Chapter 2
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.
2 He is himself a propitiatory sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world.
3 And this is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
4 He who says he knows him and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But whoever keeps his word, in him the love of God is truly perfected; by this we know that we are in him.
6 He who says he abides in him must also walk as he himself walked.
7 My beloved, I am not writing you a new commandment, but an old commandment, which you have received from the beginning; this old commandment is the word which you have heard.
8 On the other hand, I am writing you a new commandment, which has been verified in Christ Jesus and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is still in the darkness.
10 Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and there is nothing in him to stumble.
11 But he who hates his brother is in the darkness; he walks in the darkness, not knowing where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you for his name’s sake.
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I have written to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I 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 evil one.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
16 For 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.
17 The world passes away, and its desires; but he who does the will of God lives forever.
18 My little children, this is the last hour. As you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have appeared: this is how we know it is the last hour.
19 They went out from among us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but They got out of it, so that it may be made clear that not all of them are of ours.
20 But you have received an anointing from the Holy One, and you know everything.
21 I have written to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and that you know that no lie comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
23 Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father either; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also remain in the Son and in the Father.
25 And the promise that he himself made to us is eternal life.
26 That is what I had to write to you about those who seduce you.
27 As 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, this teaching is true and is not a lie; and as it has taught you, remain in him.
28 And now, my little children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence, and not be cast away from him in shame at his coming.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
Chapter 3
3 Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.
4 Everyone who commits sin breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.
5 But you know that Jesus appeared to take away sins, and that sin is not in him.
6 Whoever remains in him does not sin; whoever sins has neither seen him nor known him.
7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as he is righteous.
8 The one who commits sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.
9 No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God’s seed remains in him; and he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born of God.
10 This 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 a child of God, nor is anyone who does not love their brother or sister.
11 For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another;
12 not like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's were righteous.
13 Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who does not love remains in death.
15 Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.
16 This is how we know what love is: He laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees his brother in need but closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word and tongue, but in deed and in truth.
19 By this we know that we belong to the truth, and we can reassure our hearts before God;
20 For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows all things.
21 My beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we can approach God with confidence.
22 Whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what is pleasing in his sight.
23 And his commandment is that we believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and that we love one another, just as he commanded us.
24 Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him; and we know that he abides in us by the Spirit whom he has given us.
Chapter 4
1 My Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test to see whether the spirits are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 By this you will recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;
3 and every spirit that does not confess this Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, whose coming you have been told about, and even now is already in the world.
4 You, my little 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.
5 They are of the world; therefore they speak the language of the world, and the world listens to them.
6 But we are from God; he who knows God listens to us; he who is not from God does not listen to us: this is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
7 My Beloved, let us love one another, for love comes from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.
8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
9 He showed his love for us by sending his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him.
10 And this is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 My Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
12 No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God abides in us, and his love is perfected in us.
13 We know that we abide in him and he abides in us, because he gives us of his Spirit.
14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent us the Son as Savior of the world.
15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him and he in God.
16 And 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.
17 This is the perfection of love in us: that we have sure confidence on the day of judgment; for such is Jesus Christ, That is also how we are in this world.
18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has to do with punishment; whoever fears is not perfected in love.
19 Therefore, we love God because God first loved us.
20 If anyone says, »I love God,« and hates his brother, he is a liar; how can he who does not love his brother whom he has seen love God whom he has not seen?
21 And we have received this commandment from him: »Whoever loves God must also love his brother.«
Chapter 5
1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God; and everyone who loves the Father loves his child as well.
2 By this we know that we love the children of God, if we love God and keep his commandments.
3 For this is love: to keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome,
4 For everyone born of God overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.
5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?
6 This is the same Jesus Christ who came by water and blood—not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.
7 For there are three that bear witness [in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Spirit; and these three are one.
8 And there are three that testify on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree.
9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; and this is indeed the testimony of God, who has testified concerning his Son.
10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has this testimony (of God) in himself; whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed the testimony that God has given about his Son.
11 And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.
12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
13 I have written these things to you, so that you may know that you have eternal life, you who believe in the name of the Son of God.
14 And this is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us.
15 And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask of him, we know that we get what we ask for.
16 If anyone sees their brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, they should pray, and God will give that person life. There is a sin that does lead to death; I am not saying that you should pray about that.
17 All iniquity is sin, and there is sin which does not lead to death.
18 We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; but the one who was born of God keeps himself safe, and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are of God and that the whole world is plunged into evil.
20 But we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know the truth. God, and we are in this true God, being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21 My Grandchildren, beware of idols.
