The Incarnation of the Word of Life

1 That which was from the beginning,^(A) which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,^(B) which we have looked at and our hands have touched^(C)—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. ² The life appeared;^(D) we have seen it and testify to it,^(E) and we proclaim to you the eternal life,^(F) which was with the Father and has appeared to us. ³ We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,^(G) so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.^{(H) 4} We write this^(I) to make our^[a] joy complete.^(J)

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

⁵ This is the message we have heard^(K) from him and declare to you: God is light;^(L) in him there is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness,^(M) we lie and do not live out the truth.^{(N) 7} But if we walk in the light,^(O) as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all^[b] sin.^(P)

⁸ If we claim to be without sin,^(Q) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.^{(R) 9} If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins^(S) and purify us from all unrighteousness.^{(T) 10} If we claim we have not sinned,^(U) we make him out to be a liar^(V) and his word is not in us.^(W)

2 My dear children,^(X) I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate^(Y) with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. ² He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,^(Z) and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.^(AA)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

³ We know^(AB) that we have come to know him^(AC) if we keep his commands.^{(AD) 4} Whoever says, “I know him,”^(AE) but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.^{(AF) 5} But if anyone obeys his word,^(AG) love for God^[c] is truly made complete in them.^(AH) This is how we know^(AI) we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.^(AJ)

⁷ Dear friends,^(AK) I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.^(AL) This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command;^(AM) its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing^(AN) and the true light^(AO) is already shining.^(AP)

⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister^[d](AQ) is still in the darkness.^{(AR) 10} Anyone who loves their brother and sister^[e] lives in the light,^(AS) and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.^{(AT) 11} But anyone who hates a brother or sister^(AU) is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.^(AV) They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.^(AW)

Reasons for Writing

On Not Loving the World

¹⁵ Do not love the world or anything in the world.^(BI) If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[f] is not in them.^{(BJ) 16} For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^(BK) the lust of the eyes,^(BL) and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. ¹⁷ The world and its desires pass away,^(BM) but whoever does the will of God^(BN) lives forever.

Warnings Against Denying the Son

¹⁸ Dear children, this is the last hour;^(BO) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^(BP) even now many antichrists have come.^(BQ) This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us,^(BR) 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.^(BS)

²⁰ But you have an anointing^(BT) from the Holy One,^(BU) and all of you know the truth.^{[g](BV) 21} I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it^(BW) 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.^{(BX) 23} No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.^(BY)

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

²⁶ I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.^{(CC) 27} As for you, the anointing^(CD) 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^(CE) and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.^(CF)

God’s Children and Sin

²⁸ And now, dear children,^(CG) continue in him, so that when he appears^(CH) we may be confident^(CI) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(CJ)

²⁹ If you know that he is righteous,^(CK) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^(CL)

3 See what great love^(CM) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!^(CN) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.^{(CO) 2} Dear friends,^(CP) now we are children of God,^(CQ) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[h](CR) we shall be like him,^(CS) for we shall see him as he is.^{(CT) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(CU) just as he is pure.^(CV)

⁴ Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.^{(CW) 5} But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.^(CX) And in him is no sin.^{(CY) 6} No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.^(CZ) No one who continues to sin has either seen him^(DA) or known him.^(DB)

⁷ Dear children,^(DC) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(DD) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^{(DE) 8} The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(DF) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(DG) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^{(DH) 9} No one who is born of God^(DI) will continue to sin,^(DJ) because God’s seed^(DK) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God^(DL) are and who the children of the devil^(DM) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(DN) their brother and sister.^(DO)

More on Love and Hatred

¹¹ For this is the message you heard^(DP) from the beginning:^(DQ) We should love one another.^{(DR) 12} Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^(DS) and murdered his brother.^(DT) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^{(DU) 13} Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^[i] if the world hates you.^{(DV) 14} We know that we have passed from death to life,^(DW) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^{(DX) 15} Anyone who hates a brother or sister^(DY) is a murderer,^(DZ) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^(EA)

¹⁶ This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.^(EB) And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.^{(EC) 17} If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,^(ED) how can the love of God be in that person?^{(EE) 18} Dear children,^(EF) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.^(EG)

¹⁹ This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: ²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends,^(EH) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^{(EI) 22} and receive from him anything we ask,^(EJ) because we keep his commands^(EK) and do what pleases him.^{(EL) 23} And this is his command: to believe^(EM) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,^(EN) and to love one another as he commanded us.^{(EO) 24} The one who keeps God’s commands^(EP) lives in him,^(EQ) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.^(ER)

On Denying the Incarnation

4 Dear friends,^(ES) do not believe every spirit,^(ET) but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.^{(EU) 2} This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh^(EV) is from God,^{(EW) 3} but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist,^(EX) which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.^(EY)

⁴ You, dear children,^(EZ) are from God and have overcome them,^(FA) because the one who is in you^(FB) is greater than the one who is in the world.^{(FC) 5} They are from the world^(FD) and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. ⁶ We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us.^(FE) This is how we recognize the Spirit^[j] of truth^(FF) and the spirit of falsehood.^(FG)