1 John 2
1 My children, I am writing to you to keep you from sinning. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the righteous.
My little children, I write these things to you, that you may not sin: and yet, if any one sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but the sins of the whole world.
And he is the expiation for our sins: not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole world.
3 It is by keeping God’s commands that we can be sure we know him.
And by this we know that we do know him, if we keep his commandments.
4 Whoever says ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commands, is a liar. The truth has no place in them.
He that says, I know him, and keeps not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But the person who keeps God’s word, in them the love of God has indeed reached its perfection. This is how we can be sure we are in him:
But whoever keeps his word, in him truly is the love of God perfected: by this we know that we are in him.
6 whoever claims to live in him should live just as Jesus did.
He that says, he abides in him, ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.
7 Dear friends, it is no new command that I am writing to you, but an old command, which you have had from the beginning. That old command is the message you have already heard.
Beloved, 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 have heard from the beginning.
8 Yet, in a way, it is a new command that I am writing to you – which is shown true in Christ’s life and in yours – for the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
Again, a new commandment I do write to you, which is true as it respects him and you; because the darkness is past, and the true light now shines.
9 The person who says that they are in the light, and yet hates others, is still in the darkness.
He that says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness till now.
10 The person who loves others is always in the light, and there is nothing within them to cause them to stumble.
He that loves his brother abides in the light, and there is in him no cause for offense.
11 The person who hates is in the dark. They stumble along in the darkness; they do not know where they are going because the darkness blinds them.
He that hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness; and he knows not whither he goes, because darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 Little children, I am writing to you because your sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake.
I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven for his name’s sake.
13 Parents, I am writing to you because you have come to know him who has been from the beginning. Young people, I am writing to you because you have conquered the evil one. Children, I write to you because you have come to know the Father.
I write to you, fathers, because you have known him that is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the wicked one. I write to you, my little children, because you have known the Father.
14 Parents, I write to you because you have learned to know him who has been from the beginning. Young people, I write to you because you are strong, and God’s message is always in your hearts, and you have conquered the evil one.
I have written to you, fathers, because you have known him that 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.
15 Do not love the world or what the world can offer. When anyone loves the world, there is no love for the Father in them.
Love not the world, nor the things that are in the world. If any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For all that the world can offer – the desires for physical pleasure, the enticements to the eye, the arrogance of wealth – belongs, not to the Father, but to the world.
For all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
17 And the world, and all that it gratifies, is passing away, but they who do God’s will remain for ever. (aiōn g165)
And the world and its desire passes away: but he that does the will of God, abides forever. (aiōn g165)
18 My children, it is the last hour. You were told that an antichrist was coming; and many antichrists have already arisen. This is why we know that this is the last hour.
Little children, it is the last time; and, as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now there are many antichrists; by which we know that it is the last time.
19 These people come from our ranks, but they were never truly part of us – if they had been then they would have stayed with us. They left so it would be clear that none of them really belonged to us.
They went out from us, but they were not of us: for, if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.
20 You, however, have been annointed by the Holy One. You all know the truth.
And you have an anointing from the Holy One, and know all things.
21 I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie can come from the truth.
I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
22 Who is a liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? That person is the antichrist – one who rejects the Father and the Son.
Who is a liar, but he that denies that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.
23 No one who rejects the Son has the Father; to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father also.
Whoever denies the Son, has not the Father: he that confesses the Son, has the Father also.
24 As for you, you must let what you have heard from the beginning continue to live in you. If what you heard from the beginning dwells in you, you will remain both in the Son and the Father.
Let that, therefore, abide in you which you have heard from the beginning. If that abide in you which you have heard from the beginning, you also shall abide in the Son and in the Father.
And this is the promise which he has promised us, even eternal life. (aiōnios g166)
26 In writing this to you, I have in mind those who are trying to mislead you.
I have written these things to you concerning those who deceive you.
27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains with you. You do not need anyone to teach you. His anointing teaches you about everything. What it teaches you is true, it is not a lie. Do what it has taught you: abide in him.
And the anointing which you have received from him abides in you; and you have no need that any one should teach you: but, as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true and is no lie, even as it has taught you, abide in it.
28 Yes, my children, remain in him, so that when he appears our confidence doesn’t fail us, and we are not ashamed to meet him at his coming.
And now, little children, abide in him, that when he appears, we may have confidence, and may not be made ashamed by him at his coming.
29 Since you know he is righteous, you realise that everyone who does what is right is his child.
If you know that he is righteous, you know that every one that works righteousness has been begotten by him.
