| This is the message that we have heard from him and that we declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him. | This is the message we heard from Jesus and now declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all. |
| If we claim that we have fellowship with him while we continue to live in darkness, we are lying and do not live in the truth. | So we are lying if we say we have fellowship with God but go on living in spiritual darkness; we are not practicing the truth. |
| However, if we live in the light as he himself is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son purifies us from all sin. | But if we are living in the light, as God is in the light, then we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. |
| However, if we confess our sins, he who is faithful and just will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all wrongdoing. | But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. |
| He is himself the sacrifice for our sins— and not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world. | He himself is the sacrifice that atones for our sins—and not only our sins but the sins of all the world. |
| Do not love the world or what is in the world. If anyone does love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. | Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you. |
| For everything that is in the world— the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life— comes not from the Father but from the world. | For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. |
| And the world with all its enticements is passing away, but whoever does the will of God abides forever. | And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever. |
| Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also. | Anyone who denies the Son doesn’t have the Father, either. But anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father also. |
| Let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. | So you must remain faithful to what you have been taught from the beginning. If you do, you will remain in fellowship with the Son and with the Father. |
| But as for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and therefore you do not need anyone to teach you. This same anointing teaches you everything and is true and not false, so abide in him just as he taught you. | But you have received the Holy Spirit, and he lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true. For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what he teaches is true—it is not a lie. So just as he has taught you, remain in fellowship with Christ. |
| And now, dear children, abide in him, so that when he appears we may have confidence and not be put to shame by him at his coming. | And now, dear children, remain in fellowship with Christ so that when he returns, you will be full of courage and not shrink back from him in shame. |
| 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. | 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 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. | 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 sins breaks the law, for sin is lawlessness. | Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. |
| 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. | 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 from the beginning you have heard the message that we should love one another. | This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love 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. | 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. |
| 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? | 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? |
| Dear children, let us love not in word or speech but in deed and truth. | 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 can approach God with confidence and receive from him whatever we ask, because we obey his commandments and do whatever is pleasing to 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 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. | 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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