Revised Common Lectionary (Semicontinuous)

¹² Children, I am writing to you because God has forgiven the wrong things you have done. Your wrong ways have been forgiven because of what Christ did.

¹³ Fathers, I am writing to you because you know the One who has lived from the beginning. Young men, I am writing to you because you have won the victory over the devil. Children, I write to you because you know Father God.

¹⁴ Fathers, I write to you because you know him, the one who has lived from the beginning. Young men, I write to you because you are strong. You believe God's word. You have won the victory over the devil.

¹⁵ Do not love the world, or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, he does not love the Father.

¹⁶ Nothing in the world comes from the Father. I mean the wrong things people like to do with their bodies. I mean the things people see and want to have. I mean all the things people are proud of in this life. These things come from the world, not the Father.

¹⁷ And the world will go away and all the things in it that people like to do. But the person who does what God wants him to do will live for ever.