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 children, I am writing to you to keep you from sinning; but if any one should sin, we have one who can plead for us 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 atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but for those of the whole world besides.
3 It is by keeping God’s commands that we can be sure we know him.
And by this we know that we have learned to know him — by our laying his commands to heart.
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 know Jesus,’ but does not lay his commands to heart, is a liar, and the Truth has no place 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, whenever a man lays his Message to heart, in that man the love of God has indeed reached its perfection. By this we know that we are in union with God —
6 whoever claims to live in him should live just as Jesus did.
He who professes to maintain union with God is himself bound to live as Christ lived.
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.
Dear friends, it is no new command that I am writing to you, but an old command, which you have had from the first. That old command is the Message to which you listened.
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, again, it is a new Command that I am writing to you — manifest in Christ’s life and in your own — for 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.
He who says that he is in the Light, and yet hates his Brother, is in the Darkness even now.
10 The person who loves others is always in the light, and there is nothing within them to cause them to stumble.
He who loves his Brother is always in the Light, and there is nothing within him to cause him to stumble;
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.
while he who hates his Brother is in the Darkness, and is living in the Darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the Darkness prevents his seeing.
12 Little children, I am writing to you because your sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake.
I am writing, Children, to you, because your sins have been forgiven you for Christ’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 am writing, Fathers, to you, because you have learned to know him who has been from the Beginning. I am writing, Young Men, to you, because you have conquered the Evil One. I write, Children, to you, because you have learned to 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 write, Fathers, to you, because you have learned to know him who has been from the Beginning. I write, Young Men, to you, because you are strong, and God’s Message is always in your hearts, and you have conquered 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 what the world can offer. When any one loves the world, there is no love for the Father 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 the world can offer — the gratification of the earthly nature, the gratification of the eye, the pretentious life — belongs, not to the Father, but to 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 all that it gratifies, is passing away, but he who does God’s will remains 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.
My Children, these are the last days. You were told that an Anti-Christ was coming; and many Anti-Christs have already arisen. By that we know that these are the last days.
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.
From us, it is true, they went out, but they had never belonged to us; for, if they had belonged to us, they would have remained among us. They left us that it might be made clear that they do not, any of them, belong to us.
20 You, however, have been annointed by the Holy One. You all know the truth.
You, however, have received consecration from the Holy One.
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.
You all know — But I am not writing to you because you do not know the Truth, but because you do know it, and because nothing false can come from 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, if not the man who rejects the truth that Jesus is the Christ? He is the Anti-Christ — The man who rejects 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.
No one who rejects the Son has found the Father; he who acknowledges the Son has found 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.
As for you, let what you were told at the first be always in your thoughts. If, then, what you were told at the first is always in your thoughts, you yourselves will maintain your union both with the Son and with the Father.
And this is what he himself promised us — The Immortal Life! (aiōnios g166)
26 In writing this to you, I have in mind those who are trying to mislead you.
In writing thus to you, I have in mind those who are trying to mislead 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 you — you still retain in your hearts that consecration which you received from the Christ, and are not in need of any one to teach you; but, since his consecration of you teaches you about everything, and since it is a real consecration, and no lie, then, as it has taught you, maintain your union with 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.
Yes, my Children, maintain your union with Christ, so that, whenever he appears, our confidence may not fail us, and we may not be ashamed to meet him at his coming.
29 Since you know he is righteous, you realise that everyone who does what is right is his child.
Knowing him to be righteous, you realise that every one who lives righteously has received the new Life from him.
