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1 John 3
Legacy Standard Bible

Children of God, Love One Another

3 See [a](A)how great a love the Father has given to us, that we would be called (B)children of God; and we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because (C)it did not know Him. 2 (D)Beloved, now we are (E)children of God, and (F)it has not been manifested as yet what we will be. We know that when He (G)is manifested, we will be (H)like Him, because we will (I)see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone who has this (J)hope fixed on Him (K)purifies himself, just as He is pure.

4 Everyone who does sin also does lawlessness; and (L)sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He (M)was manifested in order to (N)take away sins, and (O)in Him there is no sin. 6 No one who abides in Him (P)sins; no one who sins has seen Him or [b](Q)has come to know Him. 7 (R)Little children, let no one (S)deceive you. (T)The one who does righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 The one who does sin is (U)of the devil, because the devil sins from the beginning. (V)The Son of God (W)was manifested for this purpose, (X)to destroy the works of the devil. 9 Everyone who has been [c](Y)born of God (Z)does not sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been [d]born of God. 10 By this the (AA)children of God and the (AB)children of the devil are manifested: everyone who does not do righteousness is not of God, as well as the one who (AC)does not love his (AD)brother.

11 (AE)For this is the message (AF)which you have heard from the beginning, (AG)that we should love one another; 12 not as (AH)Cain, who was of (AI)the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because (AJ)his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

13 Do not marvel, brothers, if (AK)the world hates you. 14 We know that we have (AL)passed out of death into life, (AM)because we love the brothers. The one who does not love abides in death. 15 Everyone who (AN)hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that (AO)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we have known love, that (AP)He laid down His life for us; and (AQ)we ought to lay down our lives for the (AR)brothers. 17 But (AS)whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and (AT)closes his [e]heart [f]against him, (AU)how does the love of God abide in him? 18 (AV)Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and (AW)truth. 19 And by this we will know that we are (AX)of the truth, and will [g]assure our heart before Him 20 [h]in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things. 21 (AY)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have (AZ)confidence [i]before God; 22 and (BA)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we (BB)keep His commandments and do (BC)the things that are pleasing in His sight.

23 And this is His commandment, that we [j](BD)believe in (BE)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as (BF)He gave a commandment to us. 24 And the one who (BG)keeps His commandments (BH)abides in Him, and He in him. (BI)We know by this that (BJ)He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He gave us.

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:1 Lit what kind of love
  2. 1 John 3:6 Or has known
  3. 1 John 3:9 Or begotten
  4. 1 John 3:9 Or begotten
  5. 1 John 3:17 Lit inward parts
  6. 1 John 3:17 Lit from
  7. 1 John 3:19 Lit persuade
  8. 1 John 3:20 Or that if our heart condemns us, that God...
  9. 1 John 3:21 Lit toward
  10. 1 John 3:23 Or believe the name
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1 John 3
Contemporary English Version

3 (A) Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ[a] is, they don't know who we are. 2 My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is. 3 This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ[b] is holy.

4 Everyone who sins breaks God's law, because sin is the same as breaking God's law. 5 (B) You know Christ came to take away our sins. He isn't sinful, 6 and people who stay one in their hearts with him won't keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don't know Christ, and they have never seen him.

7 Children, don't be fooled. Anyone who does right is good, just like Christ himself. 8 Anyone who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. He has sinned from the beginning, but the Son of God came to destroy all that he has done. 9 God's children cannot keep on being sinful. His life-giving power[c] lives in them and makes them his children, so they cannot keep on sinning. 10 You can tell God's children from the devil's children, because those who belong to the devil refuse to do right or to love each other.

Love Each Other

11 (C) From the beginning you were told we must love each other. 12 (D) Don't be like Cain, who belonged to the devil and murdered his own brother. Why did he murder him? He did it because his brother was good, and he was evil. 13 My friends, don't be surprised if the people of this world hate you. 14 (E) Our love for each other proves we have gone from death to life. But if you don't love each other, you are still under the power of death.

15 If you hate each other, you are murderers, and we know murderers do not have eternal life. 16 We know what love is because Jesus gave his life for us. This is why we must give our lives for each other. 17 If we have all we need and see one of our own people in need, we must have pity on that person, or else we cannot say we love God. 18 Children, you show love for others by truly helping them, and not merely by talking about it.

19 When we love others, we know we belong to the truth, and we feel at ease in the presence of God. 20 But even if we don't feel at ease, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if we feel at ease in the presence of God, we will have the courage to come near him. 22 He will give us whatever we ask, because we obey him and do what pleases him. 23 (F) God wants us to have faith in his Son Jesus Christ and to love each other. This is also what Jesus taught us to do. 24 If we obey God's commandments, we will stay one in our hearts with him, and he will stay one with us. The Spirit he has given us is proof that we are one with him.

Footnotes

  1. 3.1 Christ: The Greek text has “he” and may refer to God.
  2. 3.3 Christ: The Greek text has “that one” and may refer to God.
  3. 3.9 His life-giving power: The Greek text has “his seed.”
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