| Holman Christian Standard Bible | English Standard Version |
| 1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to determine if they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. | 1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. |
| 2This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. | 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, |
| 3But every spirit who does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that he is coming, and he is already in the world now. | 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. |
| 4You are from God, little children, and you have conquered them, because the One who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. | 4Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. |
| 5They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. | 5They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. |
| 6We are from God. Anyone who knows God listens to us; anyone who is not from God does not listen to us. From this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deception. | 6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. |
| 7Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. | 7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. |
| 8The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. | 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. |
| 9God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent His One and Only Son into the world so that we might live through Him. | 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. |
| 10Love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. | 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. |
| 11Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. | 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. |
| 12No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us. | 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. |
| 13This is how we know that we remain in Him and He in us: He has given assurance to us from His Spirit. | 13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. |
| 14And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent His Son as the world's Savior. | 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. |
| 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God--God remains in him and he in God. | 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. |
| 16And we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and the one who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. | 16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. |
| 17In this, love is perfected with us so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, for we are as He is in this world. | 17By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. |
| 18There is no fear in love; instead, perfect love drives out fear, because fear involves punishment. So the one who fears has not reached perfection in love. | 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. |
| 19We love because He first loved us. | 19We love because he first loved us. |
| 20If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For the person who does not love his brother he has seen cannot love the God he has not seen. | 20If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. |
| 21And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother. | 21And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. |
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