¹⁷ “Do not nurse hatred in your heart for any of your relatives.^[a] Confront people directly so you will not be held guilty for their sin.

¹¹ But anyone who hates a fellow believer is still living and walking in darkness. Such a person does not know the way to go, having been blinded by the darkness.

⁹ If anyone claims, “I am living in the light,” but hates a fellow believer,^[a] that person is still living in darkness.

³ So watch yourselves!

“If another believer^[a] sins, rebuke that person; then if there is repentance, forgive.

¹² We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. ¹³ So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] if the world hates you.

¹⁴ If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers,^[b] it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. ¹⁵ Anyone who hates another brother or sister^[c] is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them.

We Harvest What We Plant

6 Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer^[a] is overcome by some sin, you who are godly^[b] should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

¹¹ Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.

² You are so proud of yourselves, but you should be mourning in sorrow and shame. And you should remove this man from your fellowship.