The Word of Life

(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 of life— (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— (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. And we are writing these things so (N)that our[a] joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

(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. (Q)If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and (R)do not practice the truth. 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. (V)If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and (W)the truth is not in us. (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. 1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your

Prologue

What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have looked at and our hands have touched, concerning the word of life— and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life which was with the Father and was revealed to us— what we have seen and heard, we announce to you also, in order that you also may have fellowship with us, and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And these things we write, in order that our joy may be complete.

God is Light, so Walk in the Light

And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.[a] But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, so that he will forgive us our[b] sins and will cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 1:6 Or “we are lying and are not practicing the truth”
  2. 1 John 1:9 Literally “the”; the Greek article is used here as a possessive pronoun