1 Whosoever believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him. 2 By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments. 3 For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments: and his commandments are not grievous. 4 For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, [even] our faith. 5 Who is he that overcometh the world, but he that believeth that Jesus is the Son of God? 6 This is he that came by water and blood, [even] Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. 7◆ For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. 8◆ And there are three that bear witness in earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. 9 If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son. 10 He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself: he that believeth not God hath made him a liar; because he believeth not the record that God gave of his Son. 11 And this is the record, that God hath given to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 He that hath the Son hath life; [and] he that hath not the Son of God hath not life. 13 These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. 14 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: 15 And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him. 16 If any man see his brother sin a sin [which is] not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it. 17 All unrighteousness is sin: and there is a sin not unto death. 18 We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not. 19 [And] we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness. 20 And we know that the Son of God is come, and hath given us an understanding, that we may know him that is true, and we are in him that is true, [even] in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life. 21 Little children, keep yourselves from idols. Amen.
1 John · King James Version (with Apocrypha)
1 John 5 King James Version (with Apocrypha)
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
Cross references (21)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 John 1:12–13; 1 John 2:29; John 8:42; 1 John 4:7; 1 Peter 1:22–23
- 2 John 13:34–35; 1 John 2:5; 1 John 3:22–24; John 15:17; 1 John 4:21
- 3 John 14:15; John 15:10; Deuteronomy 7:9; John 14:21–24; 2 John 6
- 4 1 Corinthians 15:57; 1 John 4:4; John 16:33; 1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:5
- 5 1 John 4:15; 1 John 5:1
- 6 John 15:26; Hebrews 9:14; John 16:13; Mark 14:24; John 14:17
- 7 Matthew 28:19; 2 Corinthians 13:14; Acts 5:32; Matthew 3:16–17; John 1:1
- 8 1 John 5:6–7; John 15:26; 1 Peter 3:21; Acts 2:2–4; Romans 8:16
- 9 Matthew 3:16–17; Matthew 17:5; Acts 17:31; John 8:17–19; Acts 5:32
- 10 Romans 8:16; Galatians 4:6; John 3:33; John 5:38; Hebrews 3:12
- 11 Romans 6:23; 1 John 2:25; John 3:36; 1 John 5:20; 1 John 4:9
- 12 John 3:36; John 5:24; John 1:12; 1 Corinthians 1:30; John 3:15
- 13 John 20:31; John 1:12; 1 John 3:23; 2 Peter 1:10–11; John 3:18
- 14 John 14:13; Jeremiah 29:12–13; Jeremiah 33:3; 1 John 3:21–22; John 15:7
- 15 Luke 11:9–10; Mark 11:24; Proverbs 15:29; 1 John 5:18–20
- 16 Hebrews 6:4–6; 1 Samuel 2:25; Jeremiah 11:14; Hebrews 10:26–31; Mark 3:28–30
- 17 1 John 3:4; James 1:15; Ezekiel 18:26–32; 1 John 5:16; James 4:7–10
- 18 1 John 3:9; 1 John 5:4; Jude 21; Jude 24; 1 John 5:1
- 19 2 Corinthians 4:4; Ephesians 2:2; 1 John 4:4–6; Galatians 1:4; Revelation 12:9
- 20 John 17:3; Luke 24:45; John 14:9; 1 Timothy 3:16; Isaiah 44:6
- 21 1 Corinthians 10:14; 1 Corinthians 10:7; Exodus 20:3–4; 2 Corinthians 6:16–17; 1 Thessalonians 1:9
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
Why does my Bible say something different?
- 1 John 5:7–8: the “three heavenly witnesses”
Older English and Spanish Bibles read: “there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one.” These words, called the Johannine Comma, are absent from virtually every Greek manuscript before the late Middle Ages and from the Greek Fathers. The Patriarchal Text prints them in small type, kept at the wish of the Holy Synod. The Trinity does not depend on them.
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 Suppose ye remember, those of you who were present yesterday, to what place in the course of this epistle our exposition has reached: namely, "He that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
… but is of antichrist." These words agree with what was said in the Gospel, that "the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us." Wherefore he again exclaims in his Epistle, "Every one that believeth that Jesus is the Christ, has been born of God;" knowing Jesus Christ to be one and the same, to whom the gates of heaven …
There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it." For he manifestly shows that there are certain brethren for whom we are not commanded to pray, although the Lord bids us pray even for our persecutors.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)
And he that loveth Him that begat, loveth Him also that is begotten of Him; but he that despiseth Him that is begotten casts back the insult upon Him who begat.
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)
What about John then, when in his Catholic Epistle he says that there are Three that bear witness, the Spirit and the Water and the Blood?
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 2, vol. 7 (1894)