1 S ee 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.

See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.

2 D ear 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.

Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.

3 T he person who is looking for this to happen will keep himself pure because Christ is pure.

And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.

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

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness.

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

You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin.

6 T he 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.

No one who abides in Him sins; no one who sins has seen Him or knows Him.

7 M y 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.

Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;

8 T he 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.

the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil.

9 N o 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.

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is born of God.

10 T his 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.

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who does not love his brother.

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

For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another;

12 D o 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.

not as Cain, who was of the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

13 D o not be surprised if the world hates you, Christian brothers.

Do not be surprised, brethren, if the world hates you.

14 W e 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.

We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

15 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.

Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

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

We know love by this, that He laid down His life for us; and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.

17 W hat 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?

But whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?

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

Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and truth.

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

We will know by this that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him

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

in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

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

Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God;

22 W e will receive from Him whatever we ask if we obey Him and do what He wants.

and whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do the things that are pleasing in His sight.

23 T his 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.

This is His commandment, that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us.

24 T he 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.

The one who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. We know by this that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.