3 John
English Standard Version
Greeting
1 (A)The elder to the beloved Gaius, (B)whom I love in truth.
2 Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul. 3 For (C)I rejoiced greatly when the brothers[a] came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. 4 I have no greater joy than to hear that (D)my children are walking in the truth.
Support and Opposition
5 Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for (E)these brothers, (F)strangers as they are, 6 who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner (G)worthy of God. 7 For they have gone out for the sake of (H)the name, (I)accepting nothing from the Gentiles. 8 Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.
9 I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. 10 So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church.
11 Beloved, (J)do not imitate evil but imitate good. (K)Whoever does good is from God; (L)whoever does evil has not seen God. 12 Demetrius (M)has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself. We also add our testimony, and (N)you know that our testimony is true.
Final Greetings
13 (O)I had much to write to you, but I would rather not write with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and we will talk face to face.
15 Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends, (P)each by name.
Footnotes
- 3 John 1:3 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verses 5, 10
3 John
Contemporary English Version
1 (A) From the church leader.[a]
To my dear friend Gaius.
I love you because we follow the truth, 2 dear friend, and I pray all goes well for you. I hope you are as strong in body, as I know you are in spirit. 3 It makes me very happy when the Lord's followers come by and speak openly of how you obey the truth. 4 Nothing brings me greater happiness than to hear that my children[b] are obeying the truth.
Working Together
5 Dear friend, you have always been faithful in helping other followers of the Lord, even the ones you didn't know before. 6 They have told the church about your love. They say you were good enough to welcome them and to send them on their mission in a way God's servants deserve. 7 When they left to tell others about the Lord, they decided not to accept help from anyone who wasn't a follower. 8 We must support people like them, so we can take part in what they are doing to spread the truth.
9 I wrote to the church. But Diotrephes likes to be the number-one leader, and he won't pay any attention to us. 10 So if I come, I will remind him of how he has been attacking us with gossip. Not only has he been doing this, but he refuses to welcome any of the Lord's followers who come by. And when other church members want to welcome them, he puts them out of the church.
11 Dear friend, don't imitate the evil deeds of others, but follow the example of people who do kind deeds. They are God's children, but those who are always doing evil have never seen God.
12 Everyone speaks well of Demetrius, and so does the true message that he teaches. I also speak well of him, and you know what I say is true.
Final Greetings
13 I have much more to say to you, but I don't want to write it with pen and ink. 14 I hope to see you soon, and then we can talk in person.
15 I pray that God will bless you with peace!
Your friends send their greetings. Please give a personal greeting to each of our friends.
3 Jean
Nouvelle Edition de Genève – NEG1979
Adresse et salutation
1 L’ancien[a], à Gaïus, le bien-aimé, que j’aime dans la vérité.
2 Bien-aimé, je souhaite que tu prospères à tous égards et sois en bonne santé, comme prospère l’état de ton âme. 3 J’ai été fort réjoui, lorsque des frères sont arrivés et ont rendu témoignage de la vérité qui est en toi, de la manière dont tu marches dans la vérité. 4 Je n’ai pas de plus grande joie que d’apprendre que mes enfants marchent dans la vérité.
Fidélité de Gaïus
5 Bien-aimé, tu agis fidèlement dans ce que tu fais pour les frères, et même pour des frères étrangers, 6 lesquels ont rendu témoignage de ton amour, en présence de l’Eglise. Tu feras bien de pourvoir à leur voyage d’une manière digne de Dieu. 7 Car c’est pour le nom de Jésus-Christ qu’ils sont partis, sans rien recevoir des païens. 8 Nous devons donc accueillir de tels hommes, afin d’être ouvriers avec eux pour la vérité.
Diotrèphe et Démétrius; salutations
9 J’ai écrit quelques mots à l’Eglise; mais Diotrèphe, qui aime à être le premier parmi eux, ne nous reçoit point. 10 C’est pourquoi, si je vais, je rappellerai les actes qu’il commet, en tenant contre nous de méchants propos; non content de cela, il ne reçoit pas les frères, et ceux qui voudraient le faire, il les en empêche et les chasse de l’Eglise.
11 Bien-aimé, n’imite pas le mal, mais le bien. Celui qui pratique le bien est de Dieu; celui qui fait le mal n’a point vu Dieu.
12 Tous, et la vérité elle-même, rendent un bon témoignage à Démétrius; nous aussi, nous lui rendons témoignage, et tu sais que notre témoignage est vrai.
13 J’aurais beaucoup de choses à t’écrire, mais je ne veux pas le faire avec l’encre et la plume. 14 J’espère te voir bientôt, et nous parlerons de vive voix. 15 Que la paix soit avec toi!
Les amis te saluent. Salue les amis, chacun en particulier.
Footnotes
- 3 Jean 1:1 L’ancien, ou le pasteur, titre que prend ici l’apôtre Jean
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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Nouvelle Edition de Genève Copyright © 1979 by Société Biblique de Genève