^12 (A)“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. ^13 (B)Greater love has no one than this, ^(C)that someone lay down his life for his friends. ¹⁴ You are ^(D)my friends ^(E)if you do what I command you. ^15 (F)No longer do I call you servants,^[a] for the servant ^(G)does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for ^(H)all that I have heard from my Father ^(I)I have made known to you. ¹⁶ You did not choose me, but ^(J)I chose you and appointed you that you should go and ^(K)bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that ^(L)whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you. ¹⁷ These things I command you, ^(M)so that you will love one another.

^10 (A)Love one another with brotherly affection. ^(B)Outdo one another in showing honor.

Fulfilling the Law Through Love

^8 (A)Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for ^(B)the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. ⁹ For the commandments, ^(C)“You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: ^(D)“You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore ^(E)love is the fulfilling of the law.

God Is Love

⁷ Beloved, ^(A)let us love one another, for love is from God, and ^(B)whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. ^8 (C)Anyone who does not love does not know God, because ^(D)God is love. ⁹ In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that ^(E)God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(F)not that we have loved God ^(G)but that he loved us and sent his Son to be ^(H)the propitiation for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. ^12 (I)No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and ^(J)his love is perfected in us.

^13 (K)By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And ^(L)we have seen and testify that ^(M)the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of ^(N)the world. ^15 (O)Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ So ^(P)we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^(Q)God is love, and ^(R)whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ By this ^(S)is love perfected with us, so that ^(T)we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because ^(U)as he is so also are we in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but ^(V)perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not ^(W)been perfected in love. ^19 (X)We love because he first loved us. ^20 (Y)If anyone says, “I love God,” and ^(Z)hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot^[a] love God ^(AA)whom he has not seen. ²¹ And ^(AB)this commandment we have from him: ^(AC)whoever loves God must also love his brother.

When Brothers Dwell in Unity

A Song of ^(A)Ascents. Of David.