Study Desk

My dear children,^(a) I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate^(b) with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.

He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins,^(c) and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.^(d)

Love and Hatred for Fellow Believers

We know^(e) that we have come to know him^(f) if we keep his commands.^(g)

Whoever says, "I know him,"^(h) but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.⁽ⁱ⁾

But if anyone obeys his word,^(j) love for God^[a] is truly made complete in them.^(k) This is how we know^(l) we are in him:

Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.^(m)

Dear friends,⁽ⁿ⁾ I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning.^(o) This old command is the message you have heard.

Yet I am writing you a new command;^(p) its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing^(q) and the true light^(r) is already shining.^(s)

Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister^[b](t) is still in the darkness.^(u)

Anyone who loves their brother and sister^[c] lives in the light,^(v) and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.^(w)

But anyone who hates a brother or sister^(x) is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness.^(y) They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.^(z)

I am writing to you, dear children,^(aa) because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.^(ab)

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.^(ac) I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome^(ad) the evil one.^(ae)

I write to you, dear children,^(af) because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.^(ag) I write to you, young men, because you are strong,^(ah) and the word of God^(ai) lives in you,^(aj) and you have overcome the evil one.^(ak)

Do not love the world or anything in the world.^(al) If anyone loves the world, love for the Father^[d] is not in them.^(am)

For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^(an) the lust of the eyes,^(ao) and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.

The world and its desires pass away,^(ap) but whoever does the will of God^(aq) lives forever.

Dear children, this is the last hour;^(ar) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,^(as) even now many antichrists have come.^(at) This is how we know it is the last hour.

They went out from us,^(au) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.^(av)

But you have an anointing^(aw) from the Holy One,^(ax) and all of you know the truth.^[e](ay)

I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it^(az) and because no lie comes from the truth.

Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.^(ba)

No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.^(bb)

As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning^(bc) remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.^(bd)

And this is what he promised us—eternal life.^(be)

I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.^(bf)

As for you, the anointing^(bg) you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things^(bh) and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.^(bi)

And now, dear children,^(bj) continue in him, so that when he appears^(bk) we may be confident^(bl) and unashamed before him at his coming.^(bm)

If you know that he is righteous,^(bn) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.^(bo)