1 John 2 Free Bible Version
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
FBV Free Bible Version
WEB World English Bible (Classic, with Deuterocanon)
PT1904 Patriarchal Text 1904 (accented, eBible edition)
1 My dear children, I'm writing this to you so you shouldn't sin. But if anybody should happen to sin, we have someone who defends us before the Father—Jesus Christ, who is truly good and right.
1 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous.
1 Τεκνία μου, ταῦτα γράφω ὑμῖν ἵνα μὴ ἁμάρτητε· καὶ ἐάν τις ἁμάρτῃ, παράκλητον ἔχομεν πρὸς τὸν πατέρα, Ἰησοῦν Χριστὸν δίκαιον·
2 Through him our sins are forgiven—and not only our sins, but those of the whole world.
2 And he is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world.
2 καὶ αὐτὸς ἱλασμός ἐστι περὶ τῶν ἁμαρτιῶν ἡμῶν, οὐ περὶ τῶν ἡμετέρων δὲ μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ ὅλου τοῦ κόσμου.
3 We can be sure that we do know him if we follow his commands.
3 This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments.
3 καὶ ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐγνώκαμεν αὐτόν, ἐὰν τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ τηρῶμεν.
4 Anyone who says, “I know him,” but doesn't do what he says, is a liar. They don't have the truth.
4 One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him.
4 ὁ λέγων, ἔγνωκα αὐτόν, καὶ τὰς ἐντολὰς αὐτοῦ μὴ τηρῶν, ψεύστης ἐστί, καὶ ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀλήθεια οὐκ ἔστιν·
5 But those who follow God's word have his love totally fill their minds. This is how we know that we live in him.
5 But God’s love has most certainly been perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know that we are in him:
5 ὃς δ᾽ ἂν τηρῇ αὐτοῦ τὸν λόγον, ἀληθῶς ἐν τούτῳ ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ Θεοῦ τετελείωται. ἐν τούτῳ γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ ἐσμεν.
6 Whoever claims to be living in him should behave like Jesus.
6 he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.
6 ὁ λέγων ἐν αὐτῷ μένειν ὀφείλει, καθὼς ἐκεῖνος περιεπάτησε, καὶ αὐτὸς οὕτω περιπατεῖν.
7 My friends, I'm not writing to you giving some new commandment, but an old commandment you've had from the beginning. This old commandment is one you have already heard.
7 Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning.
7 Ἀδελφοί, οὐκ ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν, ἀλλ᾽ ἐντολὴν παλαιάν, ἣν εἴχετε ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς· ἡ ἐντολὴ ἡ παλαιά ἐστιν ὁ λόγος ὃν ἠκούσατε ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς.
8 But in a sense I am giving you a new commandment. Its truth is revealed in Jesus and in you, for the darkness is coming to an end and the true light is already shining.
8 Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines.
8 πάλιν ἐντολὴν καινὴν γράφω ὑμῖν, ὅ ἐστιν ἀληθὲς ἐν αὐτῷ καὶ ἐν ὑμῖν, ὅτι ἡ σκοτία παράγεται καὶ τὸ φῶς τὸ ἀληθινὸν ἤδη φαίνει.
9 Those who say they live in the light but hate a fellow Christian still have the darkness inside them.
9 He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now.
9 ὁ λέγων ἐν τῷ φωτὶ εἶναι, καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ μισῶν, ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἐστὶν ἕως ἄρτι.
10 Those who love their fellow Christians live in the light, and don't cause others to sin.
10 He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him.
10 ὁ ἀγαπῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῷ φωτὶ μένει, καὶ σκάνδαλον ἐν αὐτῷ οὐκ ἔστιν·
11 Those who hate a fellow Christian are in darkness. They stumble around in the dark, not knowing where they're going because the darkness has blinded them.
11 But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
11 ὁ δὲ μισῶν τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ ἐστὶ καὶ ἐν τῇ σκοτίᾳ περιπατεῖ, καὶ οὐκ οἶδε ποῦ ὑπάγει, ὅτι ἡ σκοτία ἐτύφλωσε τοὺς ὀφθαλμοὺς αὐτοῦ.
12 Dear friends, I'm writing to you children, for your sins have been forgiven through the name of Jesus.
12 I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.
12 Γράφω ὑμῖν, τεκνία, ὅτι ἀφέωνται ὑμῖν αἱ ἁμαρτίαι διὰ τὸ ὄνομα αὐτοῦ.
13 I'm writing to you fathers, for you know him who has existed from the beginning. I'm writing to you young people, for you have defeated the evil one.
13 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, little children, because you know the Father.
13 γράφω ὑμῖν, πατέρες, ὅτι ἐγνώκατε τὸν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς. γράφω ὑμῖν, νεανίσκοι, ὅτι νενικήκατε τὸν πονηρόν.
14 I write to you little children, for you know the Father. I write to you fathers, for you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you young people, for you are strong. The word of God lives in you, and you have defeated the evil one.
14 I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
14 ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, παιδία, ὅτι ἐγνώκατε τὸν πατέρα. ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, πατέρες, ὅτι ἐγνώκατε τὸν ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς. ἔγραψα ὑμῖν, νεανίσκοι, ὅτι ἰσχυροί ἐστε καὶ ὁ λόγος τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐν ὑμῖν μένει καὶ νενικήκατε τὸν πονηρόν.
15 Don't be in love with the world, and don't long for the things of this world. If you love the world, you won't have the Father's love in you.
15 Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him.
15 μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ·
16 For all the things of this world—our sinful desires, wanting everything we see, boasting about what we've accomplished in life— these things don't come from the Father but from the world.
16 For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s.
16 ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ πατρός, ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστί.
17 The world and its evil desires are coming to an end, but those who do the will of God will live forever.
17 The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.
17 καὶ ὁ κόσμος παράγεται καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ Θεοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.
18 Dear friends, this is the last hour. As you've heard, the antichrist is coming. Many antichrists have already come. This is how we know this is the last hour.
18 Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour.
18 Παιδία, ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστί, καὶ καθὼς ἠκούσατε ὅτι ὁ ἀντίχριστος ἔρχεται, καὶ νῦν ἀντίχριστοι πολλοὶ γεγόνασιν· ὅθεν γινώσκομεν ὅτι ἐσχάτη ὥρα ἐστὶν.
19 They left us, but they didn't belong with us, for if they did, they would have remained with us. When they left they showed that none of them belonged with us.
19 They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us.
19 ἐξ ἡμῶν ἐξῆλθον, ἀλλ᾽ οὐκ ἦσαν ἐξ ἡμῶν· εἰ γὰρ ἦσαν ἐξ ἡμῶν, μεμενήκεισαν ἂν μεθ᾽ ἡμῶν· ἀλλ᾽ ἵνα φανερωθῶσιν ὅτι οὐκ εἰσὶ πάντες ἐξ ἡμῶν.
20 But you have been anointed with the Holy Spirit's blessing, and all of you know what's true.
20 You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.
20 καὶ ὑμεῖς χρῖσμα ἔχετε ἀπὸ τοῦ ἁγίου, καὶ οἴδατε πάντα.
21 I'm not writing because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
21 I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth.
21 οὐκ ἔγραψα ὑμῖν ὅτι οὐκ οἴδατε τὴν ἀλήθειαν, ἀλλ᾽ ὅτι οἴδατε αὐτήν, καὶ ὅτι πᾶν ψεῦδος ἐκ τῆς ἀληθείας οὐκ ἔστι.
22 Who is the liar?—anyone who denies that Jesus is the Christ. The antichrist is anyone who denies the Father and the Son.
22 Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son.
22 τίς ἐστιν ὁ ψεύστης εἰ μὴ ὁ ἀρνούμενος ὅτι Ἰησοῦς οὐκ ἔστιν ὁ Χριστός; οὗτός ἐστιν ὁ ἀντίχριστος, ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν πατέρα καὶ τὸν υἱόν.
23 Anyone that denies the Son does not have the Father; anyone who acknowledges the Son has the Father too.
23 Whoever denies the Son doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.
23 πᾶς ὁ ἀρνούμενος τὸν υἱὸν οὐδὲ τὸν πατέρα ἔχει.
24 As for you, make sure what you heard from the beginning continues to live in you. If what you heard from the beginning lives in you, you will also live in the Son and in the Father.
24 Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father.
24 Ὑμεῖς οὖν ὃ ἠκούσατε ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς, ἐν ὑμῖν μενέτω. ἐὰν ἐν ὑμῖν μείνῃ ὃ ἀπ᾽ ἀρχῆς ἠκούσατε, καὶ ὑμεῖς ἐν τῷ υἱῷ καὶ ἐν τῷ πατρὶ μενεῖτε.
25 Eternal life—this is what he has promised us!
25 This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life.
25 καὶ αὕτη ἐστὶν ἡ ἐπαγγελία ἣν αὐτὸς ἐπηγγείλατο ἡμῖν, τὴν ζωὴν τὴν αἰώνιον.
26 I'm writing this to warn you against those who want to lead you astray.
26 These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray.
26 Ταῦτα ἔγραψα ὑμῖν περὶ τῶν πλανώντων ὑμᾶς.
27 But the anointing you received from him means the Spirit lives in you, and you don't need to be taught by anyone. The Spirit's anointing teaches you about everything. It is the truth and not a lie. So live in Christ, just as you've been taught!
27 As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him.
27 καὶ ὑμεῖς, τὸ χρῖσμα ὃ ἐλάβετε ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ, ἐν ὑμῖν μένει, καὶ οὐ χρείαν ἔχετε ἵνα τις διδάσκῃ ὑμᾶς, ἀλλ᾽ ὡς τὸ αὐτὸ χρῖσμα διδάσκει ὑμᾶς περὶ πάντων, καὶ ἀληθές ἐστι καὶ οὐκ ἔστι ψεῦδος, καὶ καθὼς ἐδίδαξεν ὑμᾶς μενεῖτε ἐν αὐτῷ.
28 Now, my dear friends, continue to live in Christ, so that when he appears, we can be confident and not feel ashamed before him at his coming.
28 Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
28 Καὶ νῦν, τεκνία, μένετε ἐν αὐτῷ, ἵνα ὅταν φανερωθῇ ἔχωμεν παρρησίαν καὶ μὴ αἰσχυνθῶμεν ἀπ᾽ αὐτοῦ ἐν τῇ παρουσίᾳ αὐτοῦ.
29 If you know he is good and right, then you also know that everyone who does what is right has been born of God.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.
29 ἐὰν εἰδῆτε ὅτι δίκαιός ἐστι, γινώσκετε ὅτι πᾶς ὁ ποιῶν τὴν δικαιοσύνην ἐξ αὐτοῦ γεγέννηται.
Cross references (29)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 1 Timothy 2:5; Romans 8:34; John 14:6; 1 John 1:8–10; Hebrews 7:24–26
- 2 1 John 4:14; 1 Peter 3:18; John 1:29; 1 John 4:10; 1 Peter 2:24
- 3 John 14:15; John 15:10; 1 John 5:3; Luke 6:46; 1 John 4:13
- 4 1 John 1:6; Titus 1:16; James 2:14–16; 1 John 1:8; 1 John 4:20
- 5 John 14:23; John 14:21; 1 John 4:12–13; Luke 11:28; 1 John 3:24
- 6 1 Peter 2:21; John 13:15; 1 Corinthians 11:1; 1 John 3:6; John 15:4–6
- 7 1 John 3:11; Leviticus 19:18; Mark 12:29–34; 2 John 5–6; Romans 13:8–10
- 8 Ephesians 5:8; Romans 13:12; John 13:34; John 8:12; 2 Corinthians 4:4–6
- 9 1 John 4:20; 1 John 2:11; 1 John 3:13–17; Psalm 82:5; 1 Corinthians 13:1–3
- 10 1 John 3:14; Romans 9:32–33; Romans 14:13; Hosea 6:3; Matthew 18:7
- 11 John 12:35; Titus 3:3; Revelation 3:17; 1 John 1:6; 1 John 2:9
- 12 Acts 10:43; Acts 13:38; Ephesians 1:7; Psalm 106:8; Acts 4:12
- 13 John 14:7; 1 John 2:14; Luke 10:22; 1 John 4:4; 1 John 1:1
- 14 Psalm 119:11; 1 John 2:13; Colossians 3:16; John 15:7; Ephesians 6:10
- 15 James 4:4; Romans 12:2; Matthew 6:24; Colossians 3:1–2; Luke 16:13
- 16 Romans 13:14; Galatians 5:17; Psalm 119:36–37; Genesis 3:6; Proverbs 27:20
- 17 Matthew 24:35; 1 Corinthians 7:31; Romans 12:2; 1 Peter 4:2; Hebrews 10:36
- 18 1 John 4:3; 2 John 7; 1 John 2:22; Matthew 24:24; Matthew 24:5
- 19 Acts 20:30; 1 Corinthians 11:19; Jude 19; Luke 8:13; 2 Peter 2:20–21
- 20 1 John 2:27; John 14:26; 2 Corinthians 1:21–22; Isaiah 61:1; Psalm 23:5
- 21 2 Peter 1:12; Jude 5; Proverbs 1:5; Proverbs 9:8–9; Romans 15:14–15
- 22 2 John 7; 1 John 4:3; 1 John 2:18; Jude 4; 1 John 2:23
- 23 1 John 4:15; John 8:19; John 5:23; John 10:30; John 15:23–24
- 24 John 14:23; John 15:9–10; 1 John 4:13; 1 John 4:16; 2 John 5–6
- 25 John 10:28; Titus 3:7; Jude 21; John 17:2–3; Titus 1:2
- 26 2 Peter 2:1–3; 2 John 7; 1 John 3:7; Acts 20:29–30; Mark 13:22
- 27 John 14:26; 1 John 2:20–21; 1 Corinthians 2:13; John 16:13; Jeremiah 31:33–34
- 28 1 John 4:17; Mark 8:38; 1 Thessalonians 3:13; 1 John 3:2; 1 John 3:21
- 29 John 3:3–5; 1 John 3:7; John 1:13; 1 John 5:1; 1 John 4:7
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
"I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven through His name. I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known Him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, children, because ye have known the Father.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
Verily, Thou commandest that I should be continent from the "lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life." Thou hast commanded me to abstain from concubinage; and as to marriage itself, Thou hast advised something better than Thou hast allowed.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)
… Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and God of all consolation: and, We bow our knees unto the Father from whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named: glorifying Him with the Only-begotten: for he that denieth the Father, denieth the Son also: and again, He that confesseth the Son, hath the Father also; knowing that Jesus …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
… wear the Body which He assumed, until He make me God by the power of His Incarnation; although He is no longer known after the flesh --I mean, the passions of the flesh, the same, except sin, as ours. Thus too, we have an Advocate, Jesus Christ, not indeed prostrating Himself for us before the Father, and falling down before …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
There remain the delights of these eyes of my flesh, concerning which to make my confessions in the hearing of the ears of Thy temple, those fraternal and devout ears; and so to conclude the temptations of "the lust of the flesh" which still assail me, groaning and desiring to be clothed upon with my house from heaven.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 1 (1886)