Dear children,(A) do not let anyone lead you astray.(B) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.(C) The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,(D) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God(E) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.(F) No one who is born of God(G) will continue to sin,(H) because God’s seed(I) 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(J) are and who the children of the devil(K) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love(L) their brother and sister.(M)

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Little children,[a] let no one deceive you. Everyone who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. Everyone who commits sin is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the works of the devil.(A) Those who have been born of God do not sin because God’s seed abides in them;[b] they cannot sin because they have been born of God.(B) 10 The children of God and the children of the devil are revealed in this way: all who do not do what is right are not from God, nor are those who do not love a brother or sister.(C)

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Footnotes

  1. 3.7 Other ancient authorities read Children
  2. 3.9 Or because the children of God abide in him