See what love the Father has given us, that we should be called children of God; and that is what we are. The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. | See what love the Father has bestowed on us, enabling us to be called the children of God, and that is what we are. If the world does not recognize us, that is because it did not know him. |
Beloved, we are God's children now; what we will be has not yet been revealed. What we do know is this: when he is revealed, we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. And all who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. | Beloved, we are God’s children now. What we shall be has not yet been revealed. However, we do know that when he appears we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he really is. Everyone who has this hope in him keeps himself pure, just as he is pure. |
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Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. | Everyone who sins breaks the law, for sin is lawlessness. |
Everyone who commits sin is a child of the devil; for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil. | Everyone who sins comes from the devil, for the devil has been a sinner from the very beginning. The Son of God appeared for this very purpose: to destroy the work of the devil. |
For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. | For from the beginning you have heard the message that we should love one another. |
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. | This is how we know what love is: he laid down his life for us, and we in turn must be prepared to lay down our lives for our brethren. |
How does God's love abide in anyone who has the world's goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? | If anyone is rich in worldly possessions and sees a brother in need but refuses to open his heart, how can the love of God abide in him? |
Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. | Dear children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. |
Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have boldness before God; and we receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do what pleases him. | Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we can approach God with confidence and receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do whatever is pleasing to him. |
All who obey his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit that he has given us. | All those who keep his commandments abide in him, and he abides in them. And the proof that he abides in us is the Spirit that he has given us. |