Beginning
We Are Announcing To You What We Have Personally Witnessed Concerning The Word of Life
1 That-which[a] was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we looked-at and our hands touched, concerning the word[b] of life— 2 indeed[c] life[d] was made-known! And we have seen and are testifying and are announcing to you the eternal life[e] which was with the Father and was made-known to us!— 3 That-which[f] we have seen and heard we are announcing also to you so that you also may have fellowship[g] with us. And indeed our fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ. 4 And we are writing these things in order that our joy may be full.
The Message We Heard Is That God Is Light
5 And this is the message which we have heard from Him and are declaring to you: that God is light, and there is not any darkness in Him.
If We Walk In The Light And Confess Our Sins, Jesus Cleanses And Forgives Us
6 If we claim that we have fellowship with Him and are walking in the darkness, we are lying and not doing the truth. 7 But if we are walking in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we claim that we do not have[h] sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the truth is not in us. 9 If we are confessing[i] our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we claim that we have not sinned, we are making Him a liar and His word is not in us.
Jesus Is Our Advocate With God. We Know That We Know Him If We Keep His Commands
2 My little-children, I am writing these things to you in order that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate[j] with the Father: Jesus Christ the Righteous. 2 And He Himself is the satisfaction[k] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world’s. 3 And by this we know that we have come-to-know Him: if we are keeping His commandments. 4 The one claiming that “I have come-to-know Him” and not keeping His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this one. 5 But whoever is keeping His word, truly the love of God has been perfected[l] in this one. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 the one claiming to be abiding in Him ought just as that One walked also himself thus to be walking.
If We Are Loving One Another, We Are Abiding In The Light
7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old[m] commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard. 8 Yet-again I am writing a new[n] commandment to you, which[o] is true[p] in Him and in you, because[q] the darkness is passing-away and the true Light[r] is already shining. 9 The one claiming to be in the light and hating his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one loving his brother is abiding in the light, and there is no cause-of-falling in him. 11 But the one hating his brother is in the darkness, and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness blinded his eyes.
I Am Writing To You Because of What Has Already Happened In Your Life
12 I am writing to you, little-children[s], because your sins have been forgiven you for-the-sake-of His name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known the One from the beginning. I am writing to you, young-men, because you have overcome the evil one.
I Wrote To You Because of Who And What You Already Know
14 I wrote[t] to you, children, because you have known the Father. I wrote to you, fathers, because you have known the One from the beginning. I wrote to you, young-men, because you are strong ones, and the word of God is abiding in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
So Don’t Love The World Or Pursue Its Desires. The One Doing God’s Will Abides Forever
15 Do not be loving the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone is loving the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 Because everything in the world— the desire of [u] the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the boastful-pride of life[v]— is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing-away, and its desire. But the one doing the will of God abides forever.
Children, Antichrists Have Arisen
18 Children, it is the last[w] hour. And just as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen— from which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of [x] us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out in order that they might be made-evident that[y] they all are not of us.
You Have God’s Anointing And You Know The Truth. Let It Abide In You And You In It
20 And you have an Anointing[z] from the Holy One, and you all have-knowledge[aa]. 21 I did not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that[ab] every lie is not from[ac] the truth. 22 Who is the liar if not the one denying that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone denying the Son does also-not have the Father. The one confessing[ad] the Son also has the Father. 24 Let what you heard from the beginning be abiding in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise which He Himself promised to us: eternal life. 26 I wrote these things to you concerning the ones deceiving you. 27 And the Anointing which you received from Him is abiding in you. And you have no need that anyone should be teaching[ae] you; but as His Anointing is teaching you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it[af] taught you, be abiding[ag] in it[ah].
Abide In Christ So That If He Appears You May Have Confidence And Not Shame
28 And now little-children, be abiding[ai] in Him so that if He appears, we may have confidence and not be put-to-shame[aj] by Him at His coming.
Abiding Means Doing Righteousness, Which Characterizes All Those Born From God
29 If you know[ak] that He[al] is righteous, you know that everyone also doing righteousness has been born[am] from Him. 3 1 See what-kind-of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called children of God! And we are! For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. 2 Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet appeared[an]. We know that if He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is. 3 And everyone having this hope in[ao] Him is purifying himself, just as that One is pure. 4 Everyone doing sin also is doing lawlessness. Indeed sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that that One appeared in order that He might take-away sins. And there is no sin in Him. 6 Everyone abiding in Him is not sinning[ap]. Everyone sinning has not seen Him nor known Him. 7 Little-children, let no one be deceiving you— the one doing righteousness is righteous, just as that One is righteous. 8 The one doing sin is of the devil, because the devil is sinning[aq] from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this: that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Everyone having been born[ar] from God is not doing sin— because His seed[as] is abiding in him, and he is not able to be sinning[at] because he has been born from God. 10 By this, the children of God and the children of the devil are evident.
Abiding Means Loving In Deed And Truth, As Jesus Commanded Us
Everyone not doing[au] righteousness is not from God— and the one not loving his brother! 11 Because this is the message which you heard from the beginning: that we should be loving one another. 12 Not as Cain. He was of the evil one, and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his works were evil, but the ones of his brother were righteous. 13 And do not be marveling, brothers, if the world hates you! 14 We know that we have passed from death into life because we are loving the brothers. The one not loving is abiding[av] in death. 15 Everyone hating his brother is a murderer, and you know that every murderer does not have eternal life abiding in him. 16 By this we have come-to-know love: because that One laid-down His life for us. And we ought to lay-down our lives for the brothers. 17 But whoever has the goods of the world and sees his brother having a need and shuts his deep-feelings from him, how is the love of God abiding in him? 18 Little children, let us not be loving with word nor tongue, but in deed and truth. 19 And by this, we will know that we are of [aw] the truth, and we will persuade[ax] our heart before Him. 20 Because[ay] if our heart is condemning[az] us, we know that God is greater[ba] than our hearts, and He knows all things. 21 Beloved, if our heart is not condemning us, we have confidence[bb] before God. 22 And whatever we are asking, we are receiving from Him, because we are keeping His commandments and doing the pleasing things in His sight. 23 And this is His commandment: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and that we be loving one another, just as He gave us the commandment. 24 And the one keeping His commandments is abiding in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He is abiding in us: from the Spirit Whom He gave to us.
Test The Spirits. The Spirit From God Confesses Christ
4 Beloved, do not be believing every spirit, but be testing the spirits[bc] to see if they are from God, because many false-prophets have gone out into the world. 2 By this you know[bd] the Spirit[be] of God: every spirit that is confessing Jesus Christ as having come in the flesh is from God. 3 And every spirit that is not confessing Jesus is not from God. And this is the spirit of the Antichrist— which, you have heard that it is coming, and now it is already in the world. 4 You are from[bf] God, little children, and you have overcome them, because greater is the One in you than the one in the world. 5 They are from[bg] the world. For this reason they are speaking from the world, and the world is listening-to them. 6 We are from God. The one knowing God is listening-to us. He who is not from God is not listening-to us. From this, we know the Spirit[bh] of truth and the spirit of error[bi].
Be Loving One Another, Because The Love Is From God
7 Beloved, let us be loving one another. Because the love[bj] is from God! And everyone loving has been born[bk] from God, and knows God. 8 The one not loving did not know God, because God is love.
God Made His Love Known To Us By Sending His Son
9 By this God’s love was made-known among[bl] us: that God has sent-forth His only-born[bm] Son into the world in order that we might live through Him. 10 In this is love— not that we have loved God, but that He loved us, and sent-forth His Son to be the satisfaction[bn] for our sins.
We Ought To Be Loving As He Loved Us
11 Beloved, if God loved us in-this-manner[bo], we also ought to be loving one another.
Love Makes the Unseen God Visible In Us, Together With Our Confession of Christ
12 No one has ever seen God; if we are loving[bp] one another, God is abiding in us, and His love[bq] has been perfected[br] in us. 13 By this[bs] we know that we are abiding in Him and He in us: because He has given to us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen, and are testifying that the Father has sent-forth the Son to be Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God is abiding in him and he in God. 16 And we have come-to-know and have believed the love which God has in us.
Love Demonstrates Our Mutual Relationship With God, And Gives Us Confidence
God is love; and the one abiding in the love is abiding in God, and God is abiding in him. 17 By this[bt], the love has been perfected with[bu] us in order that we may have confidence on the day of judgment. Because just as that One is[bv], we also are, in this world. 18 Fear[bw] is not in love— rather, perfect love throws fear out, because fear has punishment. And the one fearing has not been perfected in love. 19 We are loving because[bx] He first loved us.
Not Loving One Another As He Commanded Proves That We Do Not Love God
20 If someone claims that “I love God” and is hating his brother, he is a liar. For the one not loving his brother whom he has seen cannot be loving God Whom he has not seen. 21 And we have this commandment from Him: that the one loving God should be loving his brother also.
Everyone Born of God Believes Jesus Is His Son, Loves His People, Keeps His Commands
5 Everyone believing that Jesus is the Christ has been born[by] from God. And everyone loving the One[bz] having fathered is loving also the one having been born[ca] from Him. 2 By this we know that we are loving[cb] the children of God: when we are loving God and doing His commandments. 3 For this is the love of God: that we be keeping His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome.
Because The One Born of God Is Victorious Over The World By Faith In Jesus
4 Because everything having been born from God is being-victorious-over the world. And this is the victory having been-victorious-over the world: our faith!
Who Indeed Is Victorious If Not The One Believing Jesus Is The Son of God!
5 And who is the one being-victorious-over the world if not the one believing[cc] that Jesus is the Son of God!
Because Jesus Christ Has The Three-Fold Witness of God
6 This One is the One having come by water and blood[cd]: Jesus Christ (not in[ce] the water only, but[cf] in the water and in the blood). And the Spirit is the One testifying, because[cg] the Spirit is the truth. 7 Because[ch] the ones testifying are three[ci]: 8 the Spirit and the water and the blood. And the three are for the[cj] one thing. 9 If we receive the testimony of humans, the testimony of God is greater!
Because God Himself Has Testified That He Has Given Us Eternal Life In His Son
Because[ck] this is the testimony of God: that[cl] He has testified about His Son! 10 The one believing in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. The one not believing God has made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony which God has testified about His Son. 11 And this is the testimony[cm]: that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. 12 The one having the Son has the life. The one not having the Son of God does not have the life.
I Wrote These Things That You May Know You Have Eternal Life
13 I wrote these[cn] things to you, the ones believing in the name of the Son of God, in order that you may know that you have eternal life.
And This We Know With Confidence:
14 And this is the confidence which we have before Him:
That God Hears Our Prayers
... that if we request anything according to His will, He hears us. 15 And if we know that He hears us— whatever we request— we know that we have the requests which we have requested from Him.
But I Am Not Implying You Should Pray About a Sin Leading To Death
16 If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he shall request, and He will give him life— for the ones sinning a sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death[co]. I am not saying that he should pray about that. 17 All unrighteousness is sin, and there is sin not leading to death.
That God’s Children Are Not Sinning, And Are Protected From Satan
18 We know that everyone having been born[cp] from God is not sinning[cq]. But the One[cr] having been fathered from God is keeping[cs] him. And the evil one is not touching[ct] him.
That We Are Born From God
19 We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in[cu] the evil one.
That We Know The True God And Have Eternal Life In Him
20 And we know that the Son of God has come, and has given us understanding in order that we might know the true[cv] One. And we are in[cw] the true One, in His Son Jesus Christ. This One[cx] is the true God and eternal life. 21 Little-children, guard yourselves from idols!
Disciples' Literal New Testament: Serving Modern Disciples by More Fully Reflecting the Writing Style of the Ancient Disciples, Copyright © 2011 Michael J. Magill. All Rights Reserved. Published by Reyma Publishing