| 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 how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t 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. | Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. |
| Everyone who commits sin is guilty of lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. | Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. |
| 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. | But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. |
| For this is the message you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. | This is the message you have heard from the beginning: 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. | We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. |
| 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 someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? |
| Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action. | Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. |
| 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. | Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please 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. | Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in us. |
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