1 John 5
English Standard Version
Overcoming the World
5 (A)Everyone who believes that (B)Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and (C)everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. 2 (D)By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. 3 For (E)this is the love of God, that we (F)keep his commandments. And (G)his commandments are not burdensome. 4 For (H)everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—(I)our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes (J)that Jesus is the Son of God?
Testimony Concerning the Son of God
6 This is he who came (K)by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And (L)the Spirit is the one who testifies, because (M)the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. 9 (N)If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God (O)that he has borne concerning his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God (P)has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God (Q)has made him a liar, (R)because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us (S)eternal life, and (T)this life is in his Son. 12 (U)Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
That You May Know
13 I write (V)these things to you who (W)believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. 14 And this is (X)the confidence that we have toward him, that (Y)if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.
16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and (Z)God[a] will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. (AA)There is sin that leads to death; (AB)I do not say that one should pray for that. 17 (AC)All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death.
18 We know that (AD)everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but (AE)he who was born of God (AF)protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.
19 We know that we are from God, and (AG)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.
20 And we know that the Son of God has come and (AH)has given us understanding, so that we may know (AI)him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and (AJ)eternal life. 21 Little children, (AK)keep yourselves from idols.
Footnotes
- 1 John 5:16 Greek he
1 John 5
Lexham English Bible
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves the father[a] also loves the child fathered by him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God: whenever we love God and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome, 4 because everyone who is fathered by God conquers the world.
God Has Given Us Eternal Life in the Son
And this is the victory which has conquered the world: our faith. 5 Now who is the one who conquers the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ, not with the water only, but with the water and with the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are three that testify,[b] 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three are in agreement[c].
9 If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that he has testified concerning his Son. 10 (The one who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one who does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has testified concerning his Son.) 11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
Our Assurance of Eternal Life
13 These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.
14 And this is the confidence that we have before him: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked from him. 16 If anyone should see his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he should ask, and he will grant life to him, to those who sin not leading to death. (There is a sin leading to death; I do not say that he should ask about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.)
18 We know that everyone who is fathered by God does not sin, but the one fathered by God, he protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. 19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, in order that we may know the one who is true, and we are in the one who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This one is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little children, guard yourselves from idols.
Footnotes
- 1 John 5:1 Literally “the one who fathers”
- 1 John 5:7 Later Latin manuscripts add the following words to v. 7 and v. 8: “in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth”
- 1 John 5:8 Literally “for the one”
1 John 5
New International Reader's Version
Faith in God’s Son Who Became a Human Being
5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children as well. 2 Here is how we know that we love God’s children. We know it when we love God and obey his commands. 3 In fact, here is what it means to love God. We love him by obeying his commands. And his commands are not hard to obey. 4 That’s because everyone who is a child of God has won the battle over the world. Our faith has won the battle for us. 5 Who is it that has won the battle over the world? Only the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6 Jesus Christ was born as we are, and he died on the cross. He wasn’t just born as we are. He also died on the cross. The Holy Spirit is a truthful witness about him. That’s because the Spirit is the truth. 7 There are three that are witnesses about Jesus. 8 They are the Holy Spirit, the birth of Jesus, and the death of Jesus. And the three of them agree. 9 We accept what people say when they are witnesses. But it’s more important when God is a witness. That’s because it is what God says about his Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts what God says about him. Whoever does not believe God is calling him a liar. That’s because they have not believed what God said about his Son. 11 Here is what God says about the Son. God has given us eternal life. And this life is found in his Son. 12 Whoever belongs to the Son has life. Whoever doesn’t belong to the Son of God doesn’t have life.
Final Words
13 I’m writing these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. I’m writing so you will know that you have eternal life. 14 Here is what we can be sure of when we come to God in prayer. If we ask anything in keeping with what he wants, he hears us. 15 If we know that God hears what we ask for, we know that we have it.
16 Suppose you see any brother or sister commit a sin. But this sin is not the kind that leads to death. Then you should pray, and God will give them life. I’m talking about someone whose sin does not lead to death. But there is a sin that does lead to death. I’m not saying you should pray about that sin. 17 Every wrong thing we do is sin. But there are sins that do not lead to death.
18 We know that those who are children of God do not keep on sinning. The Son of God keeps them safe. The evil one can’t harm them. 19 We know that we are children of God. We know that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20 We also know that the Son of God has come. He has given us understanding. So we can know the God who is true. And we belong to the true God by belonging to his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21 Dear children, keep away from statues of gods.
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