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1 John 3
New King James Version

The Command to Love

3 Behold (A)what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that (B)we should be called children of [a]God! Therefore the world does not know [b]us, (C)because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, (D)now we are children of God; and (E)it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, (F)we shall be like Him, for (G)we shall see Him as He is. 3 (H)And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Sin and the Child of God

4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and (I)sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know (J)that He was manifested (K)to take away our sins, and (L)in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 (M)He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, (N)that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been (O)born of God does not sin, for (P)His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

The Imperative of Love(Q)

10 In this the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother. 11 For this is the message that you heard from the beginning, (R)that we should love one another, 12 not as (S)Cain who was of the wicked one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil and his brother’s righteous.

13 Do not marvel, my brethren, if (T)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 [c]his brother abides in death. 15 (U)Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that (V)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

The Outworking of Love

16 (W)By this we know love, (X)because He laid down His life for us. And we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren. 17 But (Y)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, (Z)let us not love in word or in tongue, but in deed and in truth. 19 And by this we [d]know (AA)that we are of the truth, and shall [e]assure our hearts before Him. 20 (AB)For if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, (AC)we have confidence toward God. 22 And (AD)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments (AE)and do those things that are pleasing in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ (AF)and love one another, as He gave [f]us commandment.

The Spirit of Truth and the Spirit of Error

24 Now (AG)he who keeps His commandments (AH)abides in Him, and He in him. And (AI)by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:1 NU adds And we are.
  2. 1 John 3:1 M you
  3. 1 John 3:14 NU omits his brother
  4. 1 John 3:19 NU shall know
  5. 1 John 3:19 persuade, set at rest
  6. 1 John 3:23 M omits us
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1 John 3
New International Version

3 See what great love(A) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!(B) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.(C) 2 Dear friends,(D) now we are children of God,(E) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[a](F) we shall be like him,(G) for we shall see him as he is.(H) 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves,(I) just as he is pure.(J)

4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.(K) 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.(L) And in him is no sin.(M) 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.(N) No one who continues to sin has either seen him(O) or known him.(P)

7 Dear children,(Q) do not let anyone lead you astray.(R) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.(S) 8 The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,(T) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God(U) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.(V) 9 No one who is born of God(W) will continue to sin,(X) because God’s seed(Y) 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(Z) are and who the children of the devil(AA) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love(AB) their brother and sister.(AC)

More on Love and Hatred

11 For this is the message you heard(AD) from the beginning:(AE) We should love one another.(AF) 12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one(AG) and murdered his brother.(AH) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.(AI) 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[b] if the world hates you.(AJ) 14 We know that we have passed from death to life,(AK) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.(AL) 15 Anyone who hates a brother or sister(AM) is a murderer,(AN) and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him.(AO)

16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us.(AP) And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.(AQ) 17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them,(AR) how can the love of God be in that person?(AS) 18 Dear children,(AT) let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.(AU)

19 This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: 20 If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. 21 Dear friends,(AV) if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God(AW) 22 and receive from him anything we ask,(AX) because we keep his commands(AY) and do what pleases him.(AZ) 23 And this is his command: to believe(BA) in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ,(BB) and to love one another as he commanded us.(BC) 24 The one who keeps God’s commands(BD) lives in him,(BE) and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.(BF)

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:2 Or when it is made known
  2. 1 John 3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.
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1 John 3
International Standard Version

We are God’s Children

3 See what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God’s children—and that is what we are![a] For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him, either.

2 Dear friends, we are now God’s children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiah[b] is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. 3 And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, just as the Messiah[c] is pure. 4 Everyone who keeps living in sin also practices disobedience. In fact, sin is disobedience. 5 You know that the Messiah[d] was revealed to take away sins,[e] and there is not any sin in him. 6 No one who remains in union with him keeps on sinning. The one who keeps on sinning hasn’t seen him or known him.

7 Little children, don’t let anyone deceive you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, just as the Messiah[f] is righteous. 8 The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the Devil has been doing. 9 No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God’s[g] seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born from God. 10 This is how God’s children and the Devil’s children are distinguished.[h] No person who fails to practice righteousness and to love his brother is from God.

Love One Another

11 This is the message that you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. 12 Do not be like Cain,[i] who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because what he was doing was evil and his brother’s actions[j] were righteous. 13 So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love one another. The person who does not love[k] remains spiritually[l] dead. 15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life present in him. 16 This is how we have come to know love: the Messiah[m] gave his life for us. We, too, ought to give our lives for our brothers. 17 Whoever has earthly possessions and notices a brother in need and yet withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God be present in him? 18 Little children, we must stop expressing love merely by our words and manner of speech; we must love[n] also in action[o] and in truth. 19 This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be able to keep ourselves[p] strong in his presence.

20 If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God. 22 Whatever we request we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. 23 And this is his commandment: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus the Messiah,[q] and to love one another as he commanded us. 24 The person who keeps his commandments abides in God,[r] and God abides in him.[s] This is how we can be sure that he remains in us: he has given us his Spirit.

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 3:1 Other mss. lack And that is what we are!
  2. 1 John 3:2 Lit. he
  3. 1 John 3:3 Lit. as he
  4. 1 John 3:5 Lit. that he
  5. 1 John 3:5 Other mss. read our sins
  6. 1 John 3:7 Lir. as he
  7. 1 John 3:9 Lit. his
  8. 1 John 3:10 Lit. are revealed
  9. 1 John 3:12 Lit. Not like Cain
  10. 1 John 3:12 The Gk. lacks actions
  11. 1 John 3:14 Other mss. read doesn’t love his brother
  12. 1 John 3:14 The Gk. lacks spiritually
  13. 1 John 3:16 Lit. he
  14. 1 John 3:18 The Gk. lacks love
  15. 1 John 3:18 Or work
  16. 1 John 3:19 Lit. keep our hearts
  17. 1 John 3:23 Or Christ
  18. 1 John 3:24 Lit. in him
  19. 1 John 3:24 Lit. and he in him
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