The First Letter From John

1* What from the first there was, what we have heard, what we have seen with our own eyes, what we have gazed upon and our hands have handled, about the Word of life— 2 and the life made its appearance, and we have seen and are testifying and reporting to you the eternal life which was where the Father is and made its appearance to us— 3 what we have seen and heard we are reporting to you too in order that you too may have solidarity with us. And, too, our solidarity is with the Father and with his son Jesus Christ. 4* And these things we are writing to you in order that our happiness may be made full.

5 And this is the message we have heard from him and are announcing to you, that God is light and there is in him no darkness whatever. 6* If we say we have solidarity with him and are walking in the darkness, we are lying and not living up to the truth. 7 But if we are walking in the light, as he is in the light, we have solidarity with each other, and the blood of his son Jesus cleanses us from every sin. 8 If we say we do not have a sin, we are deluding ourselves and the truth is not in us; 9 if we acknowledge our sins, he is loyal and fair to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from every wrongness. 10 If we say we have not sinned we are making him a liar and his word is not in us.

2 My children, I am writing you these things in order that you may not sin; and if one sins, we have a spokesman to the Father, Jesus Christ, a righteous one; 2 and he is a propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the whole world’s. 3 It is by this we know that we know him, if we keep his commandments. 4* He who says “I know him” and does not keep his commandments is a liar; in that man the truth is not; 5 but whoever keeps his word, in him God’s love does really come to its completion. It is by this we know that we are in him: 6 he who says he is dwelling in him ought himself to be walking in the same way as he walked.

7 Dear friends, it is not a new commandment I am writing you, but an old commandment that you had from the first: the old commandment is the word you did hear. 8* Again, it is a new commandment I am writing you; this is true as to him and as to you, because the darkness is passing and now the true light is shining. 9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness up to now; 10* he who loves his brother is dwelling in the light, and there is nothing in him to bring him to a downfall, 11 but he who hates his brother is in the darkness and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 I am writing to you, children, because your sins are forgiven you on account of his name. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know the one that has been from the first. I am writing to you, youths, because you have won victories over the Evil One. I have written to you, boys, because you know the Father. 14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know the one that has been from the first. I have written to you, youths, because you are strong and God’s word dwells in you and you have won victories over the Evil One.

15 Do not love the world nor what is in the world. If one loves the world the love of the Father is not in him, 16** because all that is in the world, the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the pretentiousness of our life, does not come from the Father but comes from the world; 17 and the world passes, and so does the desire of it, but he who does God’s will remains forever.

18 It is the last moment, boys; and as you have heard that there is an antichrist coming, so there have now come to be many antichrists, from which we know that it is the last moment. 19* They went out from us, but they were not part of us; for if they had been part of us, they would have remained with us, but it was in order that it might be made apparent that they are not any of them part of us. 20** And you have an anointment from the Holy One, and you all know; 21 I have not been writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it and any lie does not belong to the truth. 22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? this is the antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Anyone who denies the Son does not have the Father either; he who acknowledges the Son has the Father too. 24 For your part, let what you heard from the first dwell in you; if what you heard from the first dwells in you, so will you dwell in the Son and in the Father. 25 And the promise he made to us is this: eternal life.

26 These things I have written to you about those who are misleading you. 27 And for your part, the anointment you received from him dwells in you, and you have no need that one should teach you; but as his anointment teaches you about everything, and is true and is not a lie, and as he did teach you, dwell in him.

28 And now, children, dwell in him, in order that if he makes his appearance we may have confidence and not be shamed away from him at his coming. 29* If you know that he is righteous, you take knowledge that everyone who does right is born out of him.

3 See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God’s, and are such! This is why the world does not know us because it did not know him.

2 Dear friends, we are children of God’s now, and it is not yet made apparent what we shall be. We know that if he makes his appearance we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is; 3 and everyone who has this hope rested on him purifies himself as he is pure. 4 Everyone who commits sin is committing immorality too; and sin is immorality. 5 And you know that he made his appearance to take sins away, and there is no sin in him. 6 Anyone who dwells in him does not sin; anyone who sins has not seen him nor known him. 7 Children, let nobody delude you. He who does right is righteous as He is righteous; 8* he who commits sin comes of the Devil, because the Devil has been sinning from the first. It was for this the Son of God made his appearance, that he might break up the Devil’s work. 9* Anyone who is born out of God does not commit sin, because seed of his dwells in him and he cannot sin because he is born out of God. 10 It is by this that God’s children and the Devil’s children are evident: anyone who does not do right does not come of God, nor the one who does not love his brother, 11 because this is the message you heard from the first, that we are to love each other— 12 not as Cain came of the Evil One and cut his brother’s throat; and cut his brother’s throat on what account? because his doings were wicked, but his brother’s right.

13 Do not wonder, brothers, that the world should hate you; 14 we know that we have passed from death to life because we love the brothers. He who does not love dwells in death. 15 Anyone who hates his brother is a killer, and you know that any man-killer does not have eternal life dwelling in him. 16 We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us; and we are in duty bound to lay down our lives for the brothers. 17* But one who has earthly resources and sees his brother to be in need and shuts his sympathies against him—how is the love of God dwelling in him? 18 Children, let us not love with words nor with the tongue, but in action and in truth. 19 By this we shall know that we belong to the truth; and we shall persuade our heart before him 20 that if our heart finds against us, God is greater than our heart and knows everything.

21* Dear friends, if our heart does not find against us we have confidence to come to God, 22 and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we are keeping his commandments and doing what is pleasing before him. 23 And this is his commandment, that we should believe the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love each other as he gave us a commandment. 24 And he who keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him; and by this we know that he is dwelling in us, from the Spirit that he gave us.

4 Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but put the spirits to the test, whether they come from God, because there have many pretended prophets gone out into the world. 2 You know God’s Spirit by this: any spirit that acknowledges Jesus Christ to have come in flesh comes from God, 3 and any spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus does not come from God; and this is that of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming, and it is already in the world now. 4 You come of God, children, and have won the victory over them because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 5* They come of the world; that is why they speak words of the world and the world hears them. 6 We come of God; he who knows God hears us, he who does not come of God does not hear us. It is from this that we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of delusion.

7 Dear friends, let us love each other, because love is from God and everyone who loves is born out of God and knows God. 8 He who does not love never got to know God, because God is love. 9 God’s love was displayed in our case by this, that God has sent his only Son into the world in order that we may live through him. 10* This is where love comes in, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins. 11 Dear friends, if God loved us like that, we are in duty bound to love each other too.

5* Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born out of God, and everyone who loves the sire loves him who is born from him. 2 It is by this we know that we love God’s children, when we love God and live up to his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we should keep his commandments; and his commandments are not burdensome, 4 because everything that is born out of God comes off victorious over the world; and this is the victory that has come off victorious over the world, our faith. 5 And who is it that is victorious over the world but he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is the one that came by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not in the water only but in the water and in the blood; and the Spirit is what testifies, because the Spirit is the truth— 7 because it is three who testify, 8* the Spirit and the water and the blood, and the three concur. 9* If we receive men’s testimony, God’s testimony is superior; because this is God’s testimony, that he has testified about his Son. 10 He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in him. He who does not believe God has made a liar of him because he has not believed in the testimony God has borne about his Son. 11 And this is the testimony, that God has given us eternal life and this life is in his Son. 12 He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

13 I have written these things to you in order that you may know that you have eternal life, to you who believe in the name of the Son of God. 14* And this is the confidence we have for coming to him, that if we ask anything in accordance with his will he hears us; 15* and if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the things we have asked him for. 16* If one sees his brother sinning, a sin not for death, he shall ask and give life to him, to those who are sinning not for death. There is such a thing as a sin for death; it is not as to that that I say he is to solicit. 17 Every wrong act is a sin, and there is such a thing as a sin not for death.

18 We know that anyone who has been born out of God does not sin, but he who was born out of God keeps him and the Evil One does not touch him. 19 We know that we belong with God; and the world is all lying in the Evil One; 20 but we know that the Son of God has come and has given us a mind to know the True One; and we are in the True One, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 21 Children, guard yourselves against the idols.

MARGINAL NOTES TO FIRST JOHN