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1 John 1
International Children’s Bible
1 John 1
International Children’s Bible
God Forgives Our Sins
1 We write you now about something that has always existed.
We have heard.
We have seen with our own eyes.
We have watched,
and we have touched with our hands.
We write to you about the Word[a] that gives life. 2 He who gives life was shown to us. We saw him, and we can give proof about it. And now we tell you that he has life that continues forever. The one who gives this life was with God the Father. God showed him to us. 3 Now we tell you what we have seen and heard because we want you to have fellowship with us. The fellowship we share together is with God the Father and his Son, Jesus Christ. 4 We write this to you so that we may be full of joy.[b]
5 Here is the message we have heard from God and now tell to you: God is light,[c] and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 So if we say that we have fellowship with God, but we continue living in darkness, then we are liars. We do not follow the truth. 7 God is in the light. We should live in the light, too. If we live in the light, we share fellowship with each other. And when we live in the light, the blood of the death of Jesus, God’s Son, is making us clean from every sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we are fooling ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 But if we confess our sins, he will forgive our sins. We can trust God. He does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrongs we have done. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, then we make God a liar. We do not accept God’s true teaching.
Footnotes
- 1:1 Word The Greek word is “logos,” meaning any kind of communication. It could be translated “message.” Here, it means Christ. Christ was the way God told people about himself.
- 1:4 so . . . joy Some Greek copies read “so that you may be full of joy.”
- 1:5 light This word is used to show what God is like. It means goodness or truth.
1 John 1
New King James Version
1 John 1
New King James Version
What Was Heard, Seen, and Touched(A)
1 That (B)which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have (C)seen with our eyes, (D)which we have looked upon, and (E)our hands have handled, concerning the (F)Word of life— 2 (G)the life (H)was manifested, and we have seen, (I)and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was (J)with the Father and was manifested to us— 3 that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is (K)with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And these things we write to you (L)that [a]your joy may be full.
Fellowship with Him and One Another
5 (M)This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that (N)God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 (O)If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we (P)walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and (Q)the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we (R)confess our sins, He is (S)faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to (T)cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we (U)make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.
Footnotes
- 1 John 1:4 NU, M our
1 John 1
New International Version
1 John 1
New International Version
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)
Footnotes
- 1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
- 1 John 1:7 Or every
1 John 1
English Standard Version
1 John 1
English Standard Version
The Word of Life
1 (A)That which was (B)from the beginning, (C)which we have heard, (D)which we have seen with our eyes, (E)which we looked upon and (F)have touched with our hands, concerning the word[a] of life— 2 (G)the life (H)was made manifest, and we have seen it, and (I)testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, (J)which was with the Father and (K)was made manifest to us— 3 (L)that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed (M)our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things so (N)that our[b] joy may be complete.
Walking in the Light
5 (O)This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that (P)God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 (Q)If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and (R)do not practice the truth. 7 But (S)if we walk in the light, (T)as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and (U)the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 (V)If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and (W)the truth is not in us. 9 (X)If we confess our sins, he is (Y)faithful and just to forgive us our sins and (Z)to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say we have not sinned, (AA)we make him a liar, and (AB)his word is not in us.
Footnotes
- 1 John 1:1 Or Word
- 1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
International Children’s Bible (ICB) 
The Holy Bible, International Children’s Bible® Copyright© 1986, 1988, 1999, 2015 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission.
New King James Version (NKJV)
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.
English Standard Version (ESV) 
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.