1 ¶ Behold, what charity the Father has given us, that we should be called the sons of God; therefore the world does not know us, because it does not know him.

See what great love the Father has for us that He would call us His children. And that is what we are. For this reason the people of the world do not know who we are because they did not know Him.

2 B eloved, now we are the sons of God, and it is not yet made manifest what we shall be; but we know that if he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

Dear friends, we are God’s children now. But it has not yet been shown to us what we are going to be. We know that when He comes again, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is.

3 A nd every one that has this hope in him purifies himself, even as he is pure.

The person who is looking for this to happen will keep himself pure because Christ is pure.

4 ¶ Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law.

The person who keeps on sinning is guilty of not obeying the Law of God. For sin is breaking the Law of God.

5 A nd ye know that he appeared to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.

You know that Christ came to take away our sins. There is no sin in Him.

6 W hosoever abides in him does not sin: whosoever sins has not seen him or known him.

The person who lives by the help of Christ does not keep on sinning. The person who keeps on sinning has not seen Him or has not known Him.

7 L ittle children, let no one deceive you; he that does righteousness is righteous, even as he also is righteous.

My children, let no one lead you in the wrong way. The man who does what is right, is right with God in the same way as Christ is right with God.

8 H e that commits sin is of the devil; for the devil sins from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God appeared, that he might undo the works of the devil.

The person who keeps on sinning belongs to the devil. The devil has sinned from the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil.

9 W hosoever is born of God does not commit sin; for his seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

No person who has become a child of God keeps on sinning. This is because the Holy Spirit is in him. He cannot keep on sinning because God is his Father.

10 I n this the sons of God are manifest, and the sons of the devil: whosoever does not righteousness and that loves not his brother is not of God.

This is the way you can know who are the children of God and who are the children of the devil. The person who does not keep on doing what is right and does not love his brother does not belong to God.

11 ¶ For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, That we should love one another.

This is what you have heard from the beginning, that we should love each other.

12 N ot as Cain, who was of the wicked one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

Do not be like Cain. He was a child of the devil and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? It was because he did what was sinful and his brother did what was right.

13 M arvel not, my brethren, if the world hates you.

Do not be surprised if the world hates you, Christian brothers.

14 ¶ We know that we are passed from death unto life, in that we love the brethren. He that does not love his brother abides in death.

We know we have passed from death into life. We know this because we love the Christians. The person who does not love has not passed from death into life.

15 W hosoever hates his brother is a murderer and ye know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

A man who hates his brother is a killer in his heart. You know that life which lasts forever is not in one who kills.

16 I n this we have known the charity of God because he laid down his life for us; we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

We know what love is because Christ gave His life for us. We should give our lives for our brothers.

17 B ut whosoever has this world’s goods and sees his brother have need and shuts up his bowels of compassion from him, how does the charity of God abide in him?

What if a person has enough money to live on and sees his brother in need of food and clothing? If he does not help him, how can the love of God be in him?

18 M y little children, let us not love in word neither in tongue, but in deed and in truth.

My children, let us not love with words or in talk only. Let us love by what we do and in truth.

19 A nd in this we know that we are of the truth and have our hearts certified before him.

This is how we know we are Christians. It will give our heart comfort for sure when we stand before Him.

20 ¶ And if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

Our heart may say that we have done wrong. But remember, God is greater than our heart. He knows everything.

21 B eloved, if our heart does not condemn us, then we have confidence in God;

Dear friends, if our heart does not say that we are wrong, we will have no fear as we stand before Him.

22 a nd whatsoever we ask, we receive of him because we keep his commandments and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.

We will receive from Him whatever we ask if we obey Him and do what He wants.

23 ¶ And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he has commanded us.

This is what He said we must do: Put your trust in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love each other. Christ told us to do this.

24 A nd he that keeps his commandments dwells in him, and he in him. And in this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit which he has given us.

The person who obeys Christ lives by the help of God and God lives in him. We know He lives in us by the Holy Spirit He has given us.