⁴ but God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us^{(A) 5} even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ^[a]—by grace you have been saved— ⁶ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places^[b] in Christ Jesus,

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her ²⁶ in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, ²⁷ so as to present the church to himself in splendor, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind, so that she may be holy and without blemish.^{(A) 28} In the same way, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. ²⁹ For no one ever hates his own flesh, but he nourishes and tenderly cares for it, just as Christ does for the church, ³⁰ because we are members of his body.^{[a](B) 31} “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.”^{(C) 32} This is a great mystery, but I am speaking about Christ and the church. ³³ Each of you, however, should love his wife as himself, and a wife should respect^[b] her husband.

Love One Another

¹¹ For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.^{(A) 12} We must not be like Cain, who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. ¹³ Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you.^{(B) 14} We know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers and sisters. Whoever does not love abides in death.^{(C) 15} All who hate a brother or sister are murderers, and you know that murderers do not have eternal life abiding in them.^{(D) 16} We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers and sisters.^{(E) 17} How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?^(F)

¹³ By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God.^{(A) 16} So we have known and believe the love that God has for us.

God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. ¹⁷ Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world.^{(B) 18} There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. ¹⁹ We love^[a] because he first loved us. ²⁰ Those who say, “I love God,” and hate a brother or sister are liars, for those who do not love a brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.^{(C) 21} The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also.

Vision of the New Jerusalem

⁹ Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”^{(A) 10} And in the spirit^[a] he carried me away to a great, high mountain and showed me the holy city Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God.^(B)