^8 (A)Anyone who does not love does not know God, because ^(B)God is love.

¹⁶ So ^(A)we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. ^(B)God is love, and ^(C)whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

God Is Love

⁷ Beloved, ^(A)let us love one another, for love is from God, and ^(B)whoever loves has been born of God and knows God.

Final Greetings

¹¹ Finally, brothers,^[a] rejoice. ^(A)Aim for restoration, comfort one another,^{[b] (B)}agree with one another, ^(C)live in peace; and the God of love and ^(D)peace will be with you.

Walking in the Light

^5 (A)This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that ^(B)God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

⁶ The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, ^(A)“The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and ^(B)gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast ^(C)love and faithfulness, ^7 (D)keeping steadfast love for thousands,^{[a] (E)}forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but ^(F)who will by no means clear the guilty, ^(G)visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.”

⁹ Whoever says he is in the light and ^(A)hates his brother is still in darkness.