⁴¹ “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me,^(A) you who are cursed, into the eternal fire^(B) prepared for the devil and his angels.^(C)

⁴¹ You are doing the works of your own father.”^(A)

“We are not illegitimate children,” they protested. “The only Father we have is God himself.”^(B)

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me,^(C) for I have come here from God.^(D) I have not come on my own;^(E) God sent me.^{(F) 43} Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say. ⁴⁴ You belong to your father, the devil,^(G) and you want to carry out your father’s desires.^(H) He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.^(I)

⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(A) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(B) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^{(C) 9} No one who is born of God^(D) will continue to sin,^(E) because God’s seed^(F) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God^(G) are and who the children of the devil^(H) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(I) their brother and sister.^(J)