¹⁰ By this the ^(A)children of God and the ^(B)children of the devil are obvious: ^[a]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who ^(C)does not love his ^(D)brother and sister.

^11 (E)For this is the message ^(F)which you have heard from the beginning, ^(G)that we are to love one another; ¹² not as ^(H)Cain, who was of ^(I)the evil one and murdered his brother. And for what reason did he murder him? Because ^(J)his own deeds were evil, but his brother’s were righteous.

¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if ^(K)the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have ^(L)passed out of death into life, ^(M)because we love the brothers and sisters. The one who does not love remains in death. ¹⁵ Everyone who ^(N)hates his brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that ^(O)no murderer has eternal life remaining in him. ¹⁶ We know love by this, that ^(P)He laid down His life for us; and ^(Q)we ought to lay down our lives for the ^(R)brothers and sisters. ¹⁷ But ^(S)whoever has worldly goods and sees his brother or sister in need, and ^(T)closes his ^[b]heart ^[c]against him, ^(U)how does the love of God remain in him? ^18 (V)Little children, let’s not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ^(W)truth. ¹⁹ We will know by this that we are ^(X)of the truth, and will set our heart at ease before Him, ²⁰ that if our heart condemns us, that God is greater than our heart, and He knows all things. ^21 (Y)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have ^(Z)confidence ^[d]before God; ²² and ^(AA)whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we ^(AB)keep His commandments and do ^(AC)the things that are pleasing in His sight.

²³ This is His commandment, that we ^[e](AD)believe in ^(AE)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as ^(AF)He ^[f]commanded us. ²⁴ The one who ^(AG)keeps His commandments ^(AH)remains in Him, and He in him. ^(AI)We know by this that ^(AJ)He remains in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Testing the Spirits

4 ^(AK)Beloved, do not believe every ^(AL)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because ^(AM)many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(AN)every spirit that ^(AO)confesses that ^(AP)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God; ³ and every spirit that ^(AQ)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the ^(AR)antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and ^(AS)now it is already in the world. ⁴ You are from God, ^(AT)little children, and ^(AU)have overcome them; because ^(AV)greater is He who is in you than ^(AW)he who is in the world. ^5 (AX)They are from the world, therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them. ^6 (AY)We are from God. ^(AZ)The one who knows God listens to us; ^(BA)the one who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(BB)the spirit of truth and ^(BC)the spirit of error.

God Is Love

^7 (BD)Beloved, let’s ^(BE)love one another; for love is from God, and ^(BF)everyone who loves has been ^(BG)born of God and ^(BH)knows God. ⁸ The one who does not love does not know God, because ^(BI)God is love. ⁹ By this the love of God was revealed ^[g](BJ)in us, that ^(BK)God has sent His only Son into the world so that we may live through Him. ¹⁰ In this is love, ^(BL)not that we loved God, but that ^(BM)He loved us and sent His Son to be ^(BN)the ^[h]propitiation for our sins. ^11 (BO)Beloved, if God so loved us, ^(BP)we also ought to love one another. ^12 (BQ)No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God remains in us, and His ^(BR)love is perfected in us. ^13 (BS)By this we know that we remain in Him and He in us, because He has given to us of His Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and ^(BT)testify that the Father has ^(BU)sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

^15 (BV)Whoever confesses that ^(BW)Jesus is the Son of God, God ^(BX)remains in him, and he in God. ^16 (BY)We have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^[i](BZ)for us. ^(CA)God is love, and the one who ^(CB)remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. ¹⁷ By this, ^(CC)love is perfected with us, so that we may have ^(CD)confidence in ^(CE)the day of judgment; because ^(CF)as He is, we also are in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love, but ^(CG)perfect love drives out fear, because fear ^[j]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not ^(CH)perfected in love. ^19 (CI)We love, because He first loved us. ^20 (CJ)If someone says, “I love God,” and yet he ^(CK)hates his brother or sister, he is a ^(CL)liar; for ^(CM)the one who does not love his brother and sister whom he has seen, ^(CN)cannot love God, whom he has not seen. ²¹ And ^(CO)this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God ^(CP)must also love his brother and sister.

Overcoming the World

5 ^(CQ)Everyone who believes that Jesus is the ^[k]Christ has been ^(CR)born of God, and everyone who loves the ^[l]Father ^(CS)loves the child born of Him. ^2 (CT)By this we know that ^(CU)we love the children of God, when we love God and ^[m]follow His commandments. ³ For ^(CV)this is the love of God, that we ^(CW)keep His commandments; and ^(CX)His commandments are not burdensome.

⁵ and hope ^(A)does not disappoint, because the love of God has been ^(B)poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.

⁶ For while we were still ^(C)helpless, ^(D)at the right time ^(E)Christ died for the ungodly. ⁷ For one will hardly die for a righteous person; ^[a]though perhaps for the good person someone would even dare to die. ⁸ But God ^(F)demonstrates ^(G)His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, ^(H)Christ died for us. ⁹ Much more then, having now been justified ^[b](I)by His blood, we shall be saved ^(J)from the wrath of God through Him. ¹⁰ For if while we were ^(K)enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved ^[c](L)by His life. ^11 (M)And not only this, but ^[d]we also celebrate in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received ^(N)the reconciliation.

The Excellence of Love

13 If I speak with the ^(A)tongues of mankind and of ^(B)angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a ^(C)clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of ^(D)prophecy and know all ^(E)mysteries and all ^(F)knowledge, and if I have ^(G)all faith so as to ^(H)remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ And if I ^(I)give away all my possessions to charity, and if I ^(J)surrender my body so that I may ^[a]glory, but do not have love, it does me no good.

⁴ Love ^(K)is patient, love is kind, it ^(L)is not jealous; love does not brag, it is not ^(M)arrogant. ⁵ It does not act disgracefully, it ^(N)does not seek its own benefit; it is not provoked, ^(O)does not keep an account of a wrong suffered, ^6 (P)it does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but ^(Q)rejoices with the truth; ⁷ it ^[b](R)keeps every confidence, it believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

⁸ Love never fails; but if there are gifts of ^[c](S)prophecy, they will be done away with; if there are ^(T)tongues, they will cease; if there is knowledge, it will be done away with. ⁹ For we ^(U)know in part and prophesy in part; ¹⁰ but when the perfect comes, the partial will be done away with. ¹¹ When I was a child, I used to speak like a child, think like a child, reason like a child; when I ^[d]became a man, I did away with childish things. ¹² For now we ^(V)see in a mirror ^[e]dimly, but then ^(W)face to face; now I know in part, but then I will know fully, just as I also ^(X)have been fully known. ¹³ But now faith, hope, and love remain, these three; but the ^[f]greatest of these is ^(Y)love.

⁸ Owe nothing to anyone except to love one another; for ^(A)the one who loves ^[a]his neighbor has fulfilled the Law. ⁹ For this, “^(B)You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and if there is any other commandment, it is summed up in this saying, “^(C)You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love ^[b]does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore ^(D)love is the fulfillment of the Law.