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 am writing these things to you so that you may be without sin. And if any man is a sinner, we have a friend and helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, the upright one:
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but the sins of the whole world.
He is the offering for our sins; and not for ours only, but for all the world.
3 It is by keeping God’s commands that we can be sure we know him.
And by this we may be certain that we have knowledge of him, if we keep his laws.
4 Whoever says ‘I know him,’ but does not keep his commands, is a liar. The truth has no place in them.
The man who says, I have knowledge of him, and does not keep his laws, is false, and there is nothing true 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 in every man who keeps his word, the love of God is made complete. By this we may be certain that we are in him:
6 whoever claims to live in him should live just as Jesus did.
He who says that he is living in him, will do as he did.
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.
My loved ones, I do not give you a new law, but an old law which you had from the first; this old law is the word which came to your ears.
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, I give you a new law, which is true in him and in you; for the night is near its end and the true light is even now shining out.
9 The person who says that they are in the light, and yet hates others, is still in the darkness.
He who says that he is in the light, and has hate in his heart for his brother, is still in the dark.
10 The person who loves others is always in the light, and there is nothing within them to cause them to stumble.
He who has love for his brother is in the light, and there is no cause of error in him.
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.
But he who has hate for his brother is in the dark, walking in the dark with no knowledge of where he is going, unable to see because of the dark.
12 Little children, I am writing to you because your sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake.
I am writing to you, my children, because you have forgiveness of sins through his name.
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 am writing to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil One. I have sent a letter to you, children, because you have knowledge of 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 sent a letter to you, fathers, because you have knowledge of him who was from the first. I have sent a letter to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God is in you, and because you have overcome the Evil 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.
Have no love for the world or for the things which are in the world. If any man has love for 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.
Because everything in the world, the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father but 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 desires is coming to an end: but he who does God's pleasure is living for ever. (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 hour; and as you were given word that the Antichrist would come, so now a number of Antichrists have come to you; and by this we are certain that it is the last hour.
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; if they had been of us they would still be with us: but they went out from us so that it might be made clear that they were not of us.
20 You, however, have been annointed by the Holy One. You all know the truth.
And you have the Spirit from the Holy One and you all have knowledge.
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 sent you this letter because you have no knowledge of what is true, but because you have knowledge, and because that which is false has nothing in common with that which is true.
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 false but he who says that Jesus is not the Christ? He is the Antichrist who has no belief in the Father or the Son.
23 No one who rejects the Son has the Father; to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father also.
He who has no belief in the Son has not the Father: he who makes clear his belief in the Son has the Father.
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.
But as for you, keep in your hearts the things which were made clear to you from the first. If you keep these things in your hearts you will be kept in the Father and the Son.
And this is the hope which he gave you, even eternal life. (aiōnios g166)
26 In writing this to you, I have in mind those who are trying to mislead you.
I am writing these things to you about those whose purpose is that you may be turned out of the true way.
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.
As for you, the Spirit which he gave you is still in you, and you have no need of any teacher; but as his Spirit gives you teaching about all things, and is true and not false, so keep your hearts in him, through the teaching which he has given you.
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, my children, keep your hearts in him; so that at his revelation, we may have no fear or shame before 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 have knowledge that he is upright, it is clear to you that everyone who does righteousness is his offspring.
