the Week of Proper 22 / Ordinary 27
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New Living Translation
3 John 1:11
Bible Study Resources
Parallel Translations
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
I don't think I have to say this, but don't act like that. Be better than that. Those who do good belong to God and those who act like Diotrephes, don't. Simple as that.
My loved one, do not be copying what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God: he who does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He that does good is of God. He that does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, don't imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn't seen God.
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that is a doer of good is of God, but he that is a doer of evil, hath not seen God.
My dear friend, do not follow wrong examples, but right ones. He who habitually does what is right is a child of God: he who habitually does what is wrong has not seen God.
Beloued, follow not that which is euill, but that which is good. He that doth good, is of God: but hee that doth euill, hath not seene God.
Beloved, do not imitate the bad, but the good. The one doing good is of God; but the one doing bad has not seen God.
My beloued, folowe not yt which is euell, but that which is good. He that doeth well, is of God: but he that doeth euell, seyth not God.
my beloved, don't imitate vice, but virtue. he that does good, is a child of God: he that does evil, is not acquainted with God.
Friend, don't go along with evil. Model the good. The person who does good does God's work. The person who does evil falsifies God, doesn't know the first thing about God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but [imitate] what is good. The one who practices good [exhibiting godly character, moral courage and personal integrity] is of God; the one who practices [or permits or tolerates] evil has not seen God [he has no personal experience with Him and does not know Him at all].
Beloved, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen God.
folowe not that which is evyll but that which is good. He that doeth well is of God: but he yt doeth evyll seith not God.
Beloved, don't imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He that does good is of God: he that does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Beloved, be not thou following that which is evil, but that which is good; he who is doing good, of God he is, and he who is doing evil hath not seen God;
My dear friend, do not follow what is bad; follow what is good. The one who does good belongs to God. But the one who does evil has never known God.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is bad but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does what is bad has not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Dear friend, don't copy the evil deeds of others! 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.
Dear friend, don't imitate the bad, but the good. Those who do what is good are from God; those who do what is bad are not from God.
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Beloued, followe not that which is euill, but that which is good: he that doeth well, is of God: but he that doeth euill, hath not seene God.
Our beloved, do not follow that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God: but he who does evil has not seen God.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, don't imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn't seen God.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The person who does what is good is from God. The person who does what is evil has never seen God.[xr]
Our beloved, be not imitative of the evil, but of the good. He who doeth good is of Aloha, and he who doeth evil hath not seen Aloha.
Our beloved, be not a follower of what is evil, but of what is good. He that doeth good, is of God; but he that doeth evil, hath not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but [fn] he who does evil has not seen God.
Dear friend, do not follow what is sinful, but follow what is good. The person who does what is good belongs to God. The person who does what is sinful has not seen God.
Beloved, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Beloved! be not thou imitating what is bad, but what is good. He that doeth good, is, of God: he that doeth what is bad, hath not seen God.
Dearly beloved, follow not that which is evil: but that which is good. He that doth good is of God: he that doth evil hath not seen God.
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Beloued, folow not that which is euyl, but that which is good. He that doth well, is of God: but he that doth euyll, seeth not God.
My dear friend, don't follow what is bad; follow what is good. Whoever does what is good is from God. But whoever does evil has never known God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God.
My dear friend, do not imitate what is bad, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good belongs to God; whoever does what is bad has not seen God.
Moost dere brothir, nyle thou sue yuel thing, but that that is good thing. He that doith wel, is of God; he that doith yuel, seeth not God.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Beloved: Beloved, בדבנחפו [Strong's G27], is in the vocative singular, and therefore refers to Gaius.
follow: Rather, imitate לילןץ. Exodus 23:2, Psalms 37:27, Proverbs 12:11, Isaiah 1:16, Isaiah 1:17, John 10:27, John 12:26, 1 Corinthians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 5:1, Philippians 3:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 1 Thessalonians 2:14, 2 Timothy 3:10, *marg. Hebrews 6:12, 1 Peter 3:13
He that doeth good: 1 Peter 3:11, 1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:6-9
he that doeth evil: John 3:20
Reciprocal: Ezra 1:5 - whose spirit Psalms 15:3 - doeth Psalms 26:3 - For Psalms 34:14 - do Psalms 53:3 - none Proverbs 2:20 - General Proverbs 12:28 - General Amos 5:15 - Hate Luke 6:27 - do Luke 8:21 - which John 3:21 - they are John 8:47 - General 1 Corinthians 14:1 - Follow 1 Corinthians 16:18 - therefore Galatians 6:10 - do good Ephesians 5:9 - goodness 1 Thessalonians 5:15 - ever 2 Thessalonians 2:12 - but 2 Thessalonians 3:6 - that ye 1 Timothy 6:18 - they do 2 Timothy 2:22 - follow Hebrews 12:14 - and holiness Hebrews 13:16 - to do James 1:22 - be 1 John 3:10 - is
Cross-References
Then God said, "Let the waters beneath the sky flow together into one place, so dry ground may appear." And that is what happened.
And evening passed and morning came, marking the third day.
Then God said, "Let lights appear in the sky to separate the day from the night. Let them be signs to mark the seasons, days, and years.
God made two great lights—the larger one to govern the day, and the smaller one to govern the night. He also made the stars.
God set these lights in the sky to light the earth,
Then God said, "Let the waters swarm with fish and other life. Let the skies be filled with birds of every kind."
Then God said, "Look! I have given you every seed-bearing plant throughout the earth and all the fruit trees for your food.
neither wild plants nor grains were growing on the earth. For the Lord God had not yet sent rain to water the earth, and there were no people to cultivate the soil.
The Lord God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and that produced delicious fruit. In the middle of the garden he placed the tree of life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
But the Lord God warned him, "You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Beloved, follow not that which is evil,.... Follow not evil in general, it being hateful to God, contrary to his nature and will, and bad in itself, as well as pernicious in its consequences; and particularly follow not, or do not imitate the particular evil or evils in Diotrephes; as his pride, ambition, love of preeminence, and tyrannical government in the church, and especially his hard heartedness, cruelty, and inhospitality to the poor saints; and so the Arabic version reads, "do not imitate him in evil"; the examples of persons in office and authority have great influence, especially in cases of charity, when men can be excused thereby, and save their money, or be freed from an expense:
but that which is good; follow and imitate that, be a follower of God, imitate him in acts of kindness and beneficence, be merciful as he is; copy the deeds of Jesus Christ, who went about doing good, and declared it to be more blessed to give than to receive; and tread in the steps of those good men, who have shown love to the name of Christ, by ministering to his saints; for though the apostle may mean everything that is good, which is to be followed and imitated in any, yet he chiefly designs acts of kindness and beneficence to poor saints and ministers: to which he encourages by the following,
he that doeth good is of God; he is a child of God, he appears to be so, in that he is like to his heavenly Father, who is kind and merciful; he is born of God, he is passed from death to life, which his love to the brethren shows; he has the grace of God, and strength from Christ, and the assistance of the Spirit, without either of which he could not do that which is good:
but he that doeth evil hath not seen God; has had no spiritual saving sight of God in Christ; for if he had, he would abhor that which is evil, and, with Job, abhor himself for it, and reckon himself, with Isaiah, as undone, Job 42:6, for such effects has the sight of God on the souls of men; such an one knows not God, nor what it is to have communion with him: for those who live in sin, in whom it is a governing principle, cannot have fellowship with God; nor has such an one ever felt the love of God in his soul, or been made a partaker of his grace, which would teach and constrain him to act otherwise. Compare this text with 1 John 3:10, which shows the Apostle John to be the writer of this epistle. The Ethiopic version reads, "shall not see God"; that is, hereafter, in the world to come.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good - There can be no doubt that in this exhortation the writer had Diotrephes particularly in his eye, and that he means to exhort Gaius not to imitate his example. He was a man of influence in the church, and though Gaius had shown that he was disposed to act in an independent manner, yet it was not improper to exhort him not to be influenced by the example of any one who did wrong. John wished to excite him to acts of liberal and generous hospitality.
He that doeth good is of God - He shows that he resembles God, for God continually does good. See the sentiment explained in the notes at 1 John 3:7.
He that doeth evil hath not seen God - See the notes at 1 John 3:8-10.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 3 John 1:11. Follow not that which is evil — Μμ μιμου το κακον· Do not imitate that wicked man, i.e., the conduct of Diotrephes; be merciful, loving, and kind. For whatever profession any man may make, it will ever appear that he who doeth good is of God - he alone is the person who uses rightly the grace received from God, and he alone shall enjoy the Divine approbation;
While he that doeth evil — He who is unfeeling, unmerciful, unkind, hath not seen God - has no proper knowledge of that God whose NAME is mercy, and whose NATURE is love.
