1 John 2
1 My children, I am writing to you to keep you from sinning. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the righteous.
Dear children, I write thus to you in order that you may not sin. If any one sins, we have an Advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the righteous;
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but the sins of the whole world.
and He is an atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 It is by keeping God’s commands that we can be sure we know him.
And by this we may know that we know Him--if we obey His commands.
4 Whoever says “I know him,” but does not keep his commands, is a liar. The truth has no place in them.
He who professes to know Him, and yet does not obey His commands, is a liar, and the truth has no place in his heart.
5 But the person who keeps God’s word, in them the love of God has indeed reached its perfection. This is how we can be sure we are in him:
But whoever obeys His Message, in him love for God has in very deed reached perfection. By this we can know that we are in Him.
6 whoever claims to live in him should live just as Jesus did.
The man who professes to be continuing in Him is himself also bound to live as He lived.
7 Dear friends, it is no new command that I am writing to you, but an old command, which you have had from the beginning. That old command is the message you have already heard.
My dearly-loved friends, it is no new command that I am now giving you, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning. By the old command I mean the teaching which you have already received.
8 Yet, in a way, it is a new command that I am writing to you – which is shown true in Christ’s life and in yours – for the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.
And yet I am giving you a new command, for such it really is, so far as both He and you are concerned: because the darkness is now passing away and the light, the true light, is already beginning to shine.
9 The person who says that they are in the light, and yet hates others, is still in the darkness.
Any one who professes to be in the light and yet hates his brother man is still in darkness.
10 The person who loves others is always in the light, and there is nothing within them to cause them to stumble.
He who loves his brother man continues in the light, and his life puts no stumbling-block in the way of others.
11 The person who hates is in the dark. They stumble along in the darkness; they do not know where they are going because the darkness blinds them.
But he who hates his brother man is in darkness and is walking in darkness; and he does not know where he is going--because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 Little children, I am writing to you because your sins have been forgiven for Christ’s sake.
I am writing to you, dear children, because for His sake your sins are forgiven you.
13 Parents, I am writing to you because you have come to know him who has been from the beginning. Young people, I am writing to you because you have conquered the evil one. Children, I write to you because you have come to know the Father.
I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the very beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the Evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
14 Parents, I write to you because you have learned to know him who has been from the beginning. Young people, I write to you because you are strong, and God’s message is always in your hearts, and you have conquered the evil one.
I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the very beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and God's Message still has a place in your hearts, and you have overcome the Evil one.
15 Do not love the world or what the world can offer. When anyone loves the world, there is no love for the Father in them.
Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If any one loves the world, there is no love in his heart for the Father.
16 For all that the world can offer – the desires for physical pleasure, the enticements to the eye, the arrogance of wealth – belongs, not to the Father, but to the world.
For the things in the world--the cravings of the earthly nature, the cravings of the eyes, the show and pride of life--they all come, not from the Father, but from the world.
17 And the world, and all that it gratifies, is passing away, but they who do God’s will remain for ever. (aiōn g165)
And the world, with its cravings, is passing away, but he who does God's will continues for ever. (aiōn g165)
18 My children, it is the last hour. You were told that an antichrist was coming; and many antichrists have already arisen. This is why we know that this is the last hour.
Dear children, the last hour has come; and as you once heard that there was to be an anti-Christ, so even now many anti-Christs have appeared. By this we may know that the last hour has come.
19 These people come from our ranks, but they were never truly part of us – if they had been then they would have stayed with us. They left so it would be clear that none of them really belonged to us.
They have gone forth from our midst, but they did not really belong to us; for had they belonged to us, they would have remained with us. But they left us that it might be manifest that professed believers do not all belong to us.
20 You, however, have been annointed by the Holy One. You all know the truth.
As for you, you have an anointing from the holy One and have perfect knowledge.
21 I am not writing to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie can come from the truth.
I have written to you, not because you are ignorant of the truth, but because you know it, and you know that nothing false comes from the truth.
22 Who is a liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? That person is the antichrist – one who rejects the Father and the Son.
Who is a liar compared with him who denies that Jesus is the Christ? He who disowns the Father and the Son is the anti-Christ.
23 No one who rejects the Son has the Father; to acknowledge the Son is to have the Father also.
No one who disowns the Son has the Father. He who acknowledges the Son has also the Father.
24 As for you, you must let what you have heard from the beginning continue to live in you. If what you heard from the beginning dwells in you, you will remain both in the Son and the Father.
As for you, let the teaching which you have received from the very beginning continue in your hearts. If that teaching does continue in your hearts, you also will continue to be in union with the Son and with the Father.
And this is the promise which He Himself has given us--the Life of the Ages. (aiōnios g166)
26 In writing this to you, I have in mind those who are trying to mislead you.
I have thus written to you concerning those who are leading you astray.
27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains with you. You do not need anyone to teach you. His anointing teaches you about everything. What it teaches you is true, it is not a lie. Do what it has taught you: abide in him.
And as for you, the anointing which you received from Him remains within you, and there is no need for any one to teach you. But since His anointing gives you instruction in all things--and is true and is no falsehood--you are continuing in union with Him even as it has taught you to do.
28 Yes, my children, remain in him, so that when he appears our confidence doesn’t fail us, and we are not ashamed to meet him at his coming.
And now, dear children, continue in union with Him; so that, if He re-appears, we may have perfect confidence, and may not shrink away in shame from His presence at His Coming.
29 Since you know he is righteous, you realize that everyone who does what is right is his child.
Since you know that He is righteous, be assured also that the man who habitually acts righteously is a child of His.
