| New Living Translation | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1See how very much our Father loves us, for he calls us his children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know him. | 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. |
| 2Dear friends, we are already God’s children, but he has not yet shown us what we will be like when Christ appears. But we do know that we will be like him, for we will see him as he really is. | 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. |
| 3And all who have this eager expectation will keep themselves pure, just as he is pure. | 3And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself just as He is pure. |
| 4Everyone who sins is breaking God’s law, for all sin is contrary to the law of God. | 4Everyone who commits sin also breaks the law; sin is the breaking of law. |
| 5And you know that Jesus came to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him. | 5You know that He was revealed so that He might take away sins, and there is no sin in Him. |
| 6Anyone who continues to live in him will not sin. But anyone who keeps on sinning does not know him or understand who he is. | 6Everyone who remains in Him does not sin; everyone who sins has not seen Him or known Him. |
| 7Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you about this: When people do what is right, it shows that they are righteous, even as Christ is righteous. | 7Little children, let no one deceive you! The one who does what is right is righteous, just as He is righteous. |
| 8But when people keep on sinning, it shows that they belong to the devil, who has been sinning since the beginning. But the Son of God came to destroy the works of the devil. | 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. |
| 9Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning, because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God. | 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. |
| 10So now we can tell who are children of God and who are children of the devil. Anyone who does not live righteously and does not love other believers does not belong to God. Love One Another | 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. |
| 11This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. | 11For this is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another, |
| 12We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and killed his brother. And why did he kill him? Because Cain had been doing what was evil, and his brother had been doing what was righteous. | 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. |
| 13So don’t be surprised, dear brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. | 13Do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you. |
| 14If we love our brothers and sisters who are believers, it proves that we have passed from death to life. But a person who has no love is still dead. | 14We know that we have passed from death to life because we love our brothers. The one who does not love remains in death. |
| 15Anyone who hates another brother or sister is really a murderer at heart. And you know that murderers don’t have eternal life within them. | 15Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. |
| 16We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters. | 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. |
| 17If someone has enough money to live well and sees a brother or sister in need but shows no compassion—how can God’s love be in that person? | 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? |
| 18Dear children, let’s not merely say that we love each other; let us show the truth by our actions. | 18Little children, we must not love with word or speech, but with truth and action. |
| 19Our actions will show that we belong to the truth, so we will be confident when we stand before God. | 19This is how we will know we belong to the truth and will convince our conscience in His presence, |
| 20Even if we feel guilty, God is greater than our feelings, and he knows everything. | 20even if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience, and He knows all things. |
| 21Dear friends, if we don’t feel guilty, we can come to God with bold confidence. | 21Dear friends, if our conscience doesn't condemn us, we have confidence before God |
| 22And we will receive from him whatever we ask because we obey him and do the things that please him. | 22and can receive whatever we ask from Him because we keep His commands and do what is pleasing in His sight. |
| 23And this is his commandment: We must believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as he commanded us. | 23Now this is His command: that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another as He commanded us. |
| 24Those who obey God’s commandments remain in fellowship with him, and he with them. And we know he lives in us because the Spirit he gave us lives in 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. |
| 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. | Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. |
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