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)