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 will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the righteous 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 atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 It is by keeping God’s commands that we can be sure we know him.
By this we can be sure that we 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.
Whoever says, “I know him” but does not keep 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, truly in him the love of God has been perfected. By this we know that we are in him:
6 whoever claims to live in him should live just as Jesus did.
Whoever says he abides in him ought to walk just 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.
Brothers, I am not writing you a new commandment, but an old commandment, which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the message 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.
Yet I am writing you a new commandment, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away, and the true light is already shining.
9 The person who says that they are in the light, and yet hates others, is still in the darkness.
Whoever says he is in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness.
10 The person who loves others is always in the light, and there is nothing within them to cause them to stumble.
Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling 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 whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness; he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 Little children, I am writing to you because your sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake.
I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven you on account of 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 know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you, children, because you know 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 know 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 what the world can offer. When anyone loves the world, there is no love for the Father in them.
Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone 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 lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father, but from 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 is passing away along with its lusts, but whoever 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.
Children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know 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 did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they went out so that it might be revealed that they do not belong to us.
20 You, however, have been annointed by the Holy One. You all know the truth.
But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and you 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 who denies that Jesus is the Christ? Anyone who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist.
23 No one who rejects the Son has the Father; to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father also.
No one who denies 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.
Therefore let what you have heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you have heard from the beginning abides in you, then you will abide in the Son and in the Father.
And this is what he has promised us—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 are trying to 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.
But the anointing you received from him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you. But the same anointing teaches you about all things; it is true, not a lie. So, just as it has taught you, you must abide in him.
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, so that when he is revealed we may have confidence and not shrink away from him in shame when he comes back.
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 everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
