1 John 5
New American Standard Bible
Overcoming the World
5 (A)Everyone who believes that Jesus is the [a]Christ has been (B)born of God, and everyone who loves the [b]Father (C)loves the child born of Him. 2 (D)By this we know that (E)we love the children of God, when we love God and [c]follow His commandments. 3 For (F)this is the love of God, that we (G)keep His commandments; and (H)His commandments are not burdensome. 4 For [d]whoever has been (I)born of God (J)overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world: our faith.
5 Who is the one who overcomes the world, but the one who (K)believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the One who came (L)by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not [e]with the water only, but [f]with the water and [g]with the blood. It is (M)the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7 For there are (N)three that testify: 8 [h]the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are [i]in agreement. 9 (O)If we receive the testimony of people, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that (P)He has testified concerning His Son. 10 The one who believes in the Son of God (Q)has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has (R)made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son. 11 And the testimony is this, that God has given us (S)eternal life, and (T)this life is in His Son. 12 (U)The one who has the Son has the life; the one who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.
This Is Written That You May Know
13 (V)These things I have written to you who (W)believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have (X)eternal life. 14 This is (Y)the confidence which we have [j]before Him, that, (Z)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, (AA)we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.
16 If anyone sees his brother or sister [k]committing a sin not leading to death, (AB)he shall ask and [l]God will, for him, give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. (AC)There is sin leading to death; (AD)I am not saying that he should ask about that. 17 (AE)All unrighteousness is sin, and (AF)there is sin not leading to death.
18 (AG)We know that (AH)no one who has been born of God [m]sins; but He who was born of God (AI)keeps him, and (AJ)the evil one does not (AK)touch him. 19 (AL)We know that (AM)we are of God, and that (AN)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. 20 And (AO)we know that (AP)the Son of God has come, and has (AQ)given us understanding so that we may know (AR)Him who is true; and we (AS)are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. (AT)This is the true God and (AU)eternal life.
21 (AV)Little children, guard yourselves from (AW)idols.
Footnotes
- 1 John 5:1 I.e., Messiah
- 1 John 5:1 Lit one who has fathered
- 1 John 5:2 Lit do
- 1 John 5:4 Lit everything that
- 1 John 5:6 Lit in
- 1 John 5:6 Lit in
- 1 John 5:6 Lit in
- 1 John 5:8 A few late mss add ...in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. And there are three that testify on earth, the Spirit
- 1 John 5:8 Lit for the one thing
- 1 John 5:14 Lit toward
- 1 John 5:16 Lit sinning
- 1 John 5:16 Or God will give him life, that is, to those who...
- 1 John 5:18 Or sins continually
1 John 5
Contemporary English Version
Victory over the World
5 If we believe Jesus is truly Christ, we are God's children. Everyone who loves the Father will also love his children. 2 If we love and obey God, we know we will love his children. 3 (A) We show our love for God by obeying his commandments, and they are not hard to follow.
4 Every child of God can defeat the world, and our faith is what gives us this victory. 5 No one can defeat the world without having faith in Jesus as the Son of God.
Who Jesus Is
6 Water and blood came out from the side of Jesus Christ. It wasn't just water, but water and blood.[a] The Spirit tells about this, because the Spirit is truthful. 7 In fact, there are three who tell about it. 8 They are the Spirit, the water, and the blood, and they all agree.
9 We believe what people tell us. But we can trust what God says even more, and God is the one who has spoken about his Son. 10 If we have faith in God's Son, we have believed what God has said. But if we don't believe what God has said about his Son, it is the same as calling God a liar. 11 (B) God has also said he gave us eternal life and this life comes to us from his Son. 12 And so, if we have God's Son, we have this life. But if we don't have the Son, we don't have this life.
Knowing about Eternal Life
13 All of you have faith in the Son of God, and I have written to let you know you have eternal life. 14 We are certain God will hear our prayers when we ask for what pleases him. 15 And if we know God listens when we pray, we are sure our prayers have already been answered.
16 Suppose you see one of our people commit a sin that isn't a deadly sin. You can pray, and this person will be given eternal life. But the sin must not be one that is deadly. 17 Everything that is wrong is sin, but not all sins are deadly.
18 We are sure God's children do not keep on sinning. God's own Son protects them, and the devil cannot harm them.
19 We are certain we come from God and the rest of the world is under the power of the devil.
20 We know that Jesus Christ the Son of God has come and has shown us the true God. And because of Jesus, we now belong to the true God who gives eternal life.
21 Children, you must stay away from idols.
Footnotes
- 5.6 Water and blood came out from the side of Jesus Christ. It wasn't just water, but water and blood: See John 19.34. It is also possible to translate, “Jesus Christ came by the water of baptism and by the blood of his death! He was not only baptized, but he bled and died.” The purpose of the verse is to tell that Jesus was truly human and that he really died.
1 John 5
Easy-to-Read Version
God’s Children Win Against the World
5 The people who believe that Jesus is the Messiah are God’s children. Anyone who loves the Father also loves the Father’s children. 2 How do we know that we love God’s children? We know because we love God and we obey his commands. 3 Loving God means obeying his commands. And God’s commands are not too hard for us, 4 because everyone who is a child of God has the power to win against the world. 5 It is our faith that has won the victory against the world. So who wins against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.
God Told Us About His Son
6 Jesus Christ is the one who came. He came with water and with blood.[a] He did not come by water only. No, Jesus came by both water and blood. And the Spirit tells us that this is true. The Spirit is the truth. 7 So there are three witnesses that tell us about Jesus: 8 the Spirit, the water, and the blood. These three witnesses agree.
9 We believe people when they say something is true. But what God says is more important. And this is what God told us: He told us the truth about his own Son. 10 Whoever believes in the Son of God has the truth that God told us. But people who do not believe God make God a liar, because they do not believe what God told us about his Son. 11 This is what God told us: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life, but whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
We Have Eternal Life Now
13 I write this letter to you who believe in the Son of God. I write so that you will know that you have eternal life now. 14 We can come to God with no doubts. This means that when we ask God for things (and those things agree with what God wants for us), God cares about what we say. 15 He listens to us every time we ask him. So we know that he gives us whatever we ask from him.
16 Suppose you see your fellow believer sinning (sin that does not lead to eternal death). You should pray for them. Then God will give them life. I am talking about people whose sin does not lead to eternal death. There is sin that leads to death. I don’t mean that you should pray about that kind of sin. 17 Doing wrong is always sin. But there is sin that does not lead to eternal death.
18 We know that those who have been made God’s children do not continue to sin. The Son of God keeps them safe.[b] The Evil One cannot hurt them. 19 We know that we belong to God, but the Evil One controls the whole world. 20 And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding. So now we can know the one who is true, and we live in that true God. We are in his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the true God, and he is eternal life. 21 So, dear children, keep yourselves away from false gods.
Footnotes
- 1 John 5:6 water, blood Probably meaning the water of Jesus’ baptism and the blood he shed on the cross.
- 1 John 5:18 The Son … safe Literally, “The one who was born from God keeps him safe” or “… keeps himself safe.”
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