⁶ If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness,^(A) we lie and do not live out the truth.^(B)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

³ We know^(A) that we have come to know him^(B) if we keep his commands.^{(C) 4} Whoever says, “I know him,”^(D) but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.^{(E) 5} But if anyone obeys his word,^(F) love for God^[a] is truly made complete in them.^(G) This is how we know^(H) we are in him: ⁶ Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.^(I)

⁷ Dear friends,^(J) I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.^(K) This old command is the message you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command;^(L) its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing^(M) and the true light^(N) is already shining.^(O)

⁹ Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister^[b](P) is still in the darkness.^{(Q) 10} Anyone who loves their brother and sister^[c] lives in the light,^(R) and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.^{(S) 11} But anyone who hates a brother or sister^(T) is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.^(U) They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.^(V)

³ All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(A) just as he is pure.^(B)

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

⁷ Dear children,^(I) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(J) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^{(K) 8} The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(L) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(M) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^{(N) 9} No one who is born of God^(O) will continue to sin,^(P) because God’s seed^(Q) 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^(R) are and who the children of the devil^(S) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(T) their brother and sister.^(U)

More on Love and Hatred

¹¹ For this is the message you heard^(V) from the beginning:^(W) We should love one another.^{(X) 12} Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one^(Y) and murdered his brother.^(Z) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.^{(AA) 13} Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,^[a] if the world hates you.^{(AB) 14} We know that we have passed from death to life,^(AC) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.^{(AD) 15} Anyone who hates a brother or sister^(AE) is a murderer,^(AF) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.^(AG)

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

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,^(AN) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God^{(AO) 22} and receive from him anything we ask,^(AP) because we keep his commands^(AQ) and do what pleases him.^(AR)