Chronological

¹ From the church leader.^[a]

To a very special woman and her children.^[b] I truly love all of you, and so does everyone else who knows the truth. ² We love you because the truth is now in our hearts, and it will be there forever.

³ I pray that God the Father and Jesus Christ his Son will be kind and merciful to us! May they give us peace and truth and love.

Truth and Love

⁴ I was very glad to learn that some of your children are obeying the truth, as the Father told us to do. ^5 (A) Dear friend, I am not writing to tell you and your children to do something you have not done before. I am writing to tell you to love each other, which is the first thing you were told to do. ⁶ Love means we do what God tells us. And from the beginning, he told you to love him.

⁷ Many liars have gone out into the world. These deceitful liars are saying Jesus Christ did not have a truly human body. But they are liars and the enemies of Christ. ⁸ So be sure not to lose what we^[c] have worked for. If you do, you won't be given your full reward. ⁹ Don't keep changing what you were taught about Christ, or else God will no longer be with you. But if you hold firmly to what you were taught, both the Father and the Son will be with you. ^10 (B) If people won't agree to this teaching, don't welcome them into your home or even greet them. ¹¹ Greeting them is the same as taking part in their evil deeds.

Final Greetings

¹² I have much more to tell you, but I don't want to write it with pen and ink. I want to come and talk to you in person, because this will make us^[d] really happy.

¹³ Greetings from the children of your very special sister.^[e]

^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.