Chapter text
World English Bible
Verse-by-verse text with stable anchors, canonical chapter URLs, and copyable verse links.
- 1 See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him.
- 2 Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him just as he is.
- 3 Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure.
- 4 Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness.
- 5 You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and no sin is in him.
- 6 Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him.
- 7 Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.
- 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil.
- 9 Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him, and he can’t sin, because he is born of God.
- 10 In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother.
- 11 For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another—
- 12 unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
- 13 Don’t be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.
- 14 We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death.
- 15 Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.
- 16 By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
- 17 But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him?
- 18 My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.
- 19 And by this we know that we are of the truth and persuade our hearts before him,
- 20 because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things.
- 21 Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God;
- 22 so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight.
- 23 This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded.
- 24 He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.