Walk According to His Commandments

^1 (A)The elder to the ^(B)chosen ^(C)lady and her children, whom I ^(D)love in truth; and not only I, but also all who ^(E)know the truth, ² for ^(F)the sake of the truth which abides ^(G)in us and will be ^(H)with us forever: ^3 (I)Grace, mercy and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

^4 (J)I was very glad to find some of your children walking in truth, just as we have received commandment to do from the Father. ⁵ Now I ask you, lady, ^(K)not as though I were writing to you a new commandment, but the one which we have had ^(L)from the beginning, that we ^(M)love one another. ⁶ And ^(N)this is love, that we walk according to His commandments. This is the commandment, ^(O)just as you have heard ^(P)from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

⁷ For ^(Q)many deceivers have ^(R)gone out into the world, those who ^(S)do not acknowledge Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is ^(T)the deceiver and the ^(U)antichrist. ^8 (V)Watch yourselves, ^(W)that you do not lose what we have accomplished, but that you may receive a full reward. ^9 [a]Anyone who ^[b]goes too far and ^(X)does not abide in the teaching of Christ, does not have God; the one who abides in the teaching, he has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, ^(Y)do not receive him into your house, and do not give him a greeting; ¹¹ for the one who gives him a greeting ^(Z)participates in his evil deeds.

^12 (AA)Though I have many things to write to you, I do not want to do so with paper and ink; but I hope to come to you and speak face to face, so that ^[c]your ^(AB)joy may be made full.

¹³ The children of your ^(AC)chosen sister greet you.

You Walk in the Truth

^1 (A)The elder to the beloved ^(B)Gaius, whom I ^(C)love in truth.

² Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers. ³ For I ^(D)was very glad when ^(E)brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you ^(F)are walking in truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than ^[a]this, to hear of ^(G)my children ^(H)walking in the truth.

⁵ Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever you accomplish for the ^(I)brethren, and ^[b]especially when they are ^(J)strangers; ⁶ and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to ^(K)send them on their way in a manner ^(L)worthy of God. ⁷ For they went out for the sake of ^(M)the Name, ^(N)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ Therefore we ought to ^[c]support such men, so that we may ^[d]be fellow workers ^[e]with the truth.

⁹ I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to ^(O)be first among them, does not accept ^[f]what we say. ¹⁰ For this reason, ^(P)if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not ^(Q)receive the ^(R)brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and ^(S)puts them out of the church.

¹¹ Beloved, ^(T)do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. ^(U)The one who does good is of God; ^(V)the one who does evil has not seen God. ¹² Demetrius ^(W)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and ^(X)you know that our testimony is true.

^13 (Y)I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink; ¹⁴ but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.

^15 (Z)Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends ^(AA)by name.