^7 [a]Brethren, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^(A)from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard ^[b]from the beginning. ⁸ Again, ^(B)a new commandment I write to you, which thing is true in Him and in you, ^(C)because the darkness is passing away, and ^(D)the true light is already shining.

^9 (E)He who says he is in the light, and hates his brother, is in darkness until now. ^10 (F)He who loves his brother abides in the light, and ^(G)there is no cause for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But he who ^(H)hates his brother is in darkness and ^(I)walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹³ Do not marvel, my brethren, if ^(A)the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love ^[a]his brother abides in death. ^15 (B)Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(C)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

The Outworking of Love

^16 (D)By this we know love, ^(E)because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. ¹⁷ But ^(F)whoever has this world’s goods, and sees his brother in need, and shuts up his heart from him, how does the love of God abide in him?

¹⁸ My little children, ^(G)let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

^19 (A)We love ^[a]Him because He first loved us.

Obedience by Faith

^20 (B)If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^[b]how can he love God ^(C)whom he has not seen? ²¹ And ^(D)this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also.