| King James Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world. | 1Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world. |
| 2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God: | 2This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God. |
| 3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world. | 3But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here. |
| 4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. | 4But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world. |
| 5They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them. | 5Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them. |
| 6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error. | 6But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception. Loving One Another |
| 7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. | 7Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God. |
| 8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. | 8But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. |
| 9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him. | 9God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. |
| 10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. | 10This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. |
| 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. | 11Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. |
| 12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us. | 12No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. |
| 13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit. | 13And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us. |
| 14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world. | 14Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. |
| 15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God. | 15All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. |
| 16And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. | 16We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. |
| 17Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. | 17And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world. |
| 18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. | 18Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love. |
| 19We love him, because he first loved us. | 19We love each other because he loved us first. |
| 20If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen? | 20If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see? |
| 21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also. | 21And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers. |
| King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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