The Ruined Loincloth

13 Thus says the Lord to me, “Go and buy a linen loincloth and ^(A)put it around your waist, and do not dip it in water.” ² So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the Lord, and put it around my waist. ³ And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, ⁴ “Take the loincloth that you have bought, which is around your waist, and arise, ^(B)go to the Euphrates and hide it there in ^(C)a cleft of the rock.” ⁵ So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. ⁶ And after many days the Lord said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take from there ^(D)the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷ Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took ^(E)the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. And behold, the loincloth was ^(F)spoiled; it was ^(G)good for nothing.

⁸ Then the word of the Lord came to me: ⁹ “Thus says the Lord: ^(H)Even so will I spoil the pride of Judah and the great ^(I)pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰ This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, ^(J)who stubbornly follow their own heart and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is ^(K)good for nothing. ¹¹ For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, ^(L)that they might be for me a people, ^(M)a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.

The Jars Filled with Wine

¹² “You shall speak to them this word: ‘Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, “Every jar shall be filled with wine.”’ And they will say to you, ‘Do we not indeed know that ^(N)every jar will be filled with wine?’ ¹³ Then you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: ^(O)Behold, I will fill with drunkenness all the inhabitants of this land: ^(P)the kings who sit on David's throne, ^(Q)the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. ¹⁴ And I will ^(R)dash them one against another, fathers and sons together, declares the Lord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion, that I should not destroy them.’”

Exile Threatened

The Word of Life

1 ^(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^[a] of life— ^2 (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— ^3 (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. ⁴ And we are writing these things so ^(N)that our^[b] joy may be complete.

Walking in the Light

^5 (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. ^6 (Q)If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and ^(R)do not practice the truth. ⁷ 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. ^8 (V)If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and ^(W)the truth is not in us. ^9 (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.

Christ Our Advocate

2 My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, ^(AC)we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. ^2 (AD)He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but ^(AE)also for the sins of the whole world. ³ And by this we know that we have come to know him, if we ^(AF)keep his commandments. ⁴ Whoever says “I know him” but does not keep his commandments ^(AG)is a liar, and ^(AH)the truth is not in him, ⁵ but whoever ^(AI)keeps his word, in him truly ^(AJ)the love of God is perfected. ^(AK)By this we may know that we are in him: ⁶ whoever says he ^(AL)abides in him ^(AM)ought to walk in the same way in which he walked.

The New Commandment

⁷ Beloved, I am writing you ^(AN)no new commandment, but ^(AO)an old commandment ^(AP)that you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word that you have heard. ⁸ At the same time, it is ^(AQ)a new commandment that I am writing to you, which is true in him and in you, because^{[c] (AR)}the darkness is passing away and ^(AS)the true light is already shining. ⁹ Whoever says he is in the light and ^(AT)hates his brother is still in darkness. ¹⁰ Whoever loves his brother abides in the light, and in him^[d] there is no ^(AU)cause for stumbling. ¹¹ But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and ^(AV)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Do Not Love the World

^15 (BC)Do not love the world or the things in the world. ^(BD)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world—^(BE)the desires of the flesh and ^(BF)the desires of the eyes and pride of life^[e]—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And ^(BG)the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.

Warning Concerning Antichrists

¹⁸ Children, ^(BH)it is the last hour, and as you have heard that ^(BI)antichrist is coming, so now ^(BJ)many antichrists have come. ^(BK)Therefore we know that it is the last hour. ^19 (BL)They went out from us, but they were not of us; for ^(BM)if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, ^(BN)that it might become plain that they all are not of us. ²⁰ But you have been ^(BO)anointed by ^(BP)the Holy One, and ^(BQ)you all have knowledge.^{[f] 21} I write to you, not because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but ^(BR)he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is ^(BS)the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. ^23 (BT)No one who denies the Son has the Father. Whoever confesses the Son has the Father also. ²⁴ Let ^(BU)what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, then ^(BV)you too will abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ And this is the promise that he made to us^[g]—^(BW)eternal life.

²⁶ I write these things to you about ^(BX)those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ But ^(BY)the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and ^(BZ)you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about everything, and ^(CA)is true, and is no lie—just as it has taught you, abide in him.

Children of God

²⁸ And now, little children, abide in him, so that ^(CB)when he appears ^(CC)we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his ^(CD)coming. ²⁹ If you know that ^(CE)he is righteous, you may be sure that ^(CF)everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

3 See ^(CG)what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called ^(CH)children of God; and so we are. The reason why ^(CI)the world does not know us is that ^(CJ)it did not know him. ² Beloved, we are ^(CK)God's children ^(CL)now, and what we will be ^(CM)has not yet appeared; but we know that ^(CN)when he appears^{[h] (CO)}we shall be like him, because ^(CP)we shall see him as he is. ³ And everyone who ^(CQ)thus hopes in him ^(CR)purifies himself as he is pure.

⁴ Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; ^(CS)sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that ^(CT)he appeared in order to ^(CU)take away sins, and ^(CV)in him there is no sin. ⁶ No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; ^(CW)no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. ⁷ Little children, ^(CX)let no one deceive you. ^(CY)Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. ^8 (CZ)Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was ^(DA)to destroy the works of the devil. ^9 (DB)No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's^[i] seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. ¹⁰ By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, ^(DC)nor is the one who ^(DD)does not love his brother.

Love One Another

¹¹ For ^(DE)this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, ^(DF)that we should love one another. ¹² We should not be like ^(DG)Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? ^(DH)Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous. ¹³ Do not be surprised, brothers,^{[j] (DI)}that the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that ^(DJ)we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. ^15 (DK)Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that ^(DL)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

¹⁶ By this we know love, that ^(DM)he laid down his life for us, and ^(DN)we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But ^(DO)if anyone has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, yet ^(DP)closes his heart against him, ^(DQ)how does God's love abide in him? ¹⁸ Little children, let us not ^(DR)love in word or talk but in deed and ^(DS)in truth.

¹⁹ By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; ²⁰ for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. ²¹ Beloved, ^(DT)if our heart does not condemn us, ^(DU)we have confidence before God; ²² and ^(DV)whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and ^(DW)do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment, ^(DX)that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and ^(DY)love one another, ^(DZ)just as he has commanded us. ^24 (EA)Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God,^[k] and God^[l] in him. And ^(EB)by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.