Warnings Against Denying the Son

¹⁸ Dear children, this is the last hour;^(A) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^(B) even now many antichrists have come.^(C) This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us,^(D) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.^(E)

²⁰ But you have an anointing^(F) from the Holy One,^(G) and all of you know the truth.^{[a](H) 21} I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it^(I) and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.^{(J) 23} No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.^(K)

²⁴ As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning^(L) remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.^{(M) 25} And this is what he promised us—eternal life.^(N)

²⁶ I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.^{(O) 27} As for you, the anointing^(P) you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things^(Q) and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.^(R)

The Baptism and Genealogy of Jesus^(A)(B)

²¹ When all the people were being baptized, Jesus was baptized too. And as he was praying,^(C) heaven was opened ²² and the Holy Spirit descended on him^(D) in bodily form like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son,^(E) whom I love; with you I am well pleased.”^(F)

Jesus Rejected at Nazareth

¹⁴ Jesus returned to Galilee^(A) in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside.^{(B) 15} He was teaching in their synagogues,^(C) and everyone praised him.

¹⁶ He went to Nazareth,^(D) where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue,^(E) as was his custom. He stood up to read,^{(F) 17} and the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. Unrolling it, he found the place where it is written: