| Holman Christian Standard Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1Look at how great a love the Father has given us that we should be called God's children. And we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it didn't know Him. | 1See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. |
| 2Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him because we will see Him as He is. | 2Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. |
| 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. | 3And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. |
| 4Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law. | 4Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness; sin is lawlessness. |
| 5You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. | 5You know that he appeared in order to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. |
| 6Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him. | 6No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him. |
| 7Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. | 7Little children, let no one deceive you. Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous. |
| 8The one who commits sin is of the Devil, for the Devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God was revealed for this purpose: to destroy the Devil's works. | 8Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil. |
| 9Everyone who has been born of God does not sin, because His seed remains in him; he is not able to sin, because he has been born of God. | 9No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him; and he cannot keep on sinning, because he has been born of God. |
| 10This is how God's children--and the Devil's children--are made evident. Whoever does not do what is right is not of God, especially the one who does not love his brother. | 10By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is the one who does not love his brother. |
| 11For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, | 11For this is the message that you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another. |
| 12unlike Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his works were evil, and his brother's were righteous. | 12We should not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil and his brother’s righteous. |
| 13Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. | 13Do not be surprised, brothers, that the world hates you. |
| 14We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. | 14We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. Whoever does not love abides in death. |
| 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. | 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him. |
| 16This is how we have come to know love: He laid down His life for us. We should also lay down our lives for our brothers. | 16By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. |
| 17If anyone has this world's goods and sees his brother in need but closes his eyes to his need--how can God's love reside in him? | 17But if anyone has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, yet closes his heart against him, how does God’s love abide in him? |
| 18Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action. | 18Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth. |
| 19This is how we will know we belong to the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence, | 19By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; |
| 20even if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience, and He knows all things. | 20for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything. |
| 21Dear friends, if our conscience doesn't condemn us, we have confidence before God | 21Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God; |
| 22and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight. | 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. |
| 23Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. | 23And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. |
| 24The one who keeps His commands remains in Him, and He in him. And the way we know that He remains in us is from the Spirit He has given us. | 24Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. |
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