1 S ee ye what love the Father hath given to us, that children of God we may be called; because of this the world doth not know us, because it 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 b eloved, now, children of God are we, and it was not yet manifested what we shall be, and we have known that if he may be manifested, like him we shall be, because we shall 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 a nd every one who is having this hope on him, doth purify himself, even as he is pure.

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

4 E very one who is doing the sin, the lawlessness also he doth do, and the sin is the lawlessness,

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

5 a nd ye have known that he was manifested that our sins he may take away, and sin is not in him;

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

6 e very one who is remaining in him doth not sin; every one who is sinning, hath not seen him, nor known him.

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

7 L ittle children, let no one lead you astray; he who is doing the righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous,

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

8 h e who is doing the sin, of the devil he is, because from the beginning the devil doth sin; for this was the Son of God manifested, that he may break up 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 e very one who hath been begotten of God, sin he doth not, because his seed in him doth remain, and he is not able to sin, because of God he hath been begotten.

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 I n this manifest are the children of God, and the children of the devil; every one who is not doing righteousness, is not of God, and he who is not loving his brother,

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 b ecause this is the message that ye did hear from the beginning, that we may love one another,

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

12 n ot as Cain -- of the evil one he was, and he did slay his brother, and wherefore did he slay him? because his works were evil, and those of his brother righteous.

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 wonder, my brethren, if the world doth hate you;

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

14 w e -- we have known that we have passed out of the death to the life, because we love the brethren; he who is not loving the brother doth remain in the death.

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 E very one who is hating his brother -- a man-killer he is, and ye have known that no man-killer hath life age-during in him remaining,

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

16 i n this we have known the love, because he for us his life did lay down, and we ought for the brethren the lives to lay down;

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 a nd whoever may have the goods of the world, and may view his brother having need, and may shut up his bowels from him -- how doth the love of God remain 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 little children, may we not love in word nor in tongue, but in word and in truth!

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

19 a nd in this we know that of the truth we are, and before Him we shall assure our hearts,

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

20 b ecause if our heart may condemn -- because greater is God than our heart, and He doth know all things.

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

21 B eloved, if our heart may not condemn us, we have boldness toward God,

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

22 a nd whatever we may ask, we receive from Him, because His commands we keep, and the things pleasing before Him we do,

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

23 a nd this is His command, that we may believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and may love one another, even as He did give command to us,

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 a nd he who is keeping His commands, in Him he doth remain, and He in him; and in this we know that He doth remain in us, from the Spirit that He gave 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.