| New International Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. | 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. |
| 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, | 2This is how you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God. |
| 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. | 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. |
| 4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. | 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. |
| 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. | 5They are from the world. Therefore what they say is from the world, and the world listens to them. |
| 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. | 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. |
| 7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. | 7Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. |
| 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. | 8The one who does not love does not know God, because God is love. |
| 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. | 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. |
| 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. | 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. |
| 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. | 11Dear friends, if God loved us in this way, we also must love one another. |
| 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. | 12No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God remains in us and His love is perfected in us. |
| 13This is how we know that we live in him and he in us: He has given us of his Spirit. | 13This is how we know that we remain in Him and He in us: He has given assurance to us from His Spirit. |
| 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. | 14And we have seen and we testify that the Father has sent His Son as the world's Savior. |
| 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in them and they in God. | 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God--God remains in him and he in God. |
| 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them. | 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. |
| 17This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. | 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. |
| 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. | 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. |
| 19We love because he first loved us. | 19We love because He first loved us. |
| 20Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen. | 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. |
| 21And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. | 21And we have this command from Him: The one who loves God must also love his brother. |
| New International Version (NIV) Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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