Prologue: Our Declaration

1 What was from the beginning,^(A) what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we have observed and have touched with our hands, concerning the word^(B) of life— ² that life was revealed,^(C) and we have seen it and we testify and declare to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us^(D)— ³ what we have seen and heard we also declare to you, so that you may also have fellowship^(E) with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father^(F) and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ We are writing these things^[a] so that our^[b] joy^(G) may be complete.

Fellowship with God

⁵ This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light,^(H) and there is absolutely no darkness in him.^{(I) 6} If we say, “We have fellowship^(J) with him,” and yet we walk in darkness,^(K) we are lying and are not practicing the truth.^{(L) 7} If we walk in the light^(M) as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus^(N) his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say, “We have no sin,”^(O) we are deceiving ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive^(P) us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word^(Q) is not in us.^(R)

2 My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate^(S) with the Father—Jesus Christ the righteous one. ² He himself is the atoning sacrifice^[c](T) for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.^(U)

God’s Commands

³ This is how we know^(V) that we know him: if we keep his commands.^{(W) 4} The one who says, “I have come to know him,” and yet doesn’t keep his commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. ⁵ But whoever keeps his word,^(X) truly in him the love of God is made complete. This is how we know we are in him:^{(Y) 6} The one who says he remains in him^(Z) should walk just as he walked.

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command^(AA) but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the word^(AB) you have heard. ⁸ Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in him and in you, because the darkness is passing away^(AC) and the true light^(AD) is already shining.^{(AE) 9} The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother or sister^(AF) is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰ The one who loves his brother or sister^(AG) remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him.^{[d] 11} But the one who hates his brother or sister^(AH) is in the darkness, walks in the darkness,^(AI) and doesn’t know where he’s going,^(AJ) because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

Reasons for Writing

A Warning about the World

¹⁵ Do not love the world^(AO) or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh,^(AP) the lust of the eyes,^(AQ) and the pride^(AR) in one’s possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world with its lust is passing away,^(AS) but the one who does the will of God^(AT) remains forever.^(AU)

The Last Hour

¹⁸ Children, it is the last hour.^(AV) And as you have heard that antichrist^(AW) is coming, even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us.

²⁰ But you have an anointing^(AX) from the Holy One,^(AY) and all of you know the truth.^{[e] 21} I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. ²² Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ?^(AZ) This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father;^(BA) he who confesses the Son has the Father as well.^(BB)

Remaining with God

²⁴ What you have heard from the beginning is to remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son^(BC) and in the Father.^{(BD) 25} And this is the promise that he himself made to us: eternal life.^(BE)

²⁶ I have written these things to you concerning those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need anyone to teach you. Instead, his anointing teaches you about all things^(BF) and is true and is not a lie; just as it has taught you,^[f] remain in him.^(BG)

God’s Children

²⁸ So now, little children, remain in him so that when he appears^(BH) we may have confidence and not be ashamed before him at his coming.^{(BI) 29} If you know that he is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right^(BJ) has been born of him.^(BK)

Prologue

1 The revelation of^[a] Jesus Christ that God gave him to show his servants^(A) what must soon take place.^(B) He made it known by sending his angel^(C) to his servant John,^{(D) 2} who testified to the word of God and to the testimony^[b] of Jesus Christ,^(E) whatever he saw.^{[c] 3} Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy,^(F) and blessed are those who hear the words of this prophecy and keep^[d] what is written in it, because the time is near.

⁴ John: To the seven churches in Asia. Grace and peace^(G) to you from^[e] the one who is, who was, and who is to come,^(H) and from the seven spirits^[f](I) before his throne, ⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness,^(J) the firstborn from the dead^(K) and the ruler of the kings of the earth.^(L)

To him who loves us and has set us free^[g] from our sins by his blood,^{(M) 6} and made us a kingdom,^[h] priests^[i](N) to his God and Father—to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.^(O)

⁸ “I am the Alpha and the Omega,”^(S) says the Lord God, “the one who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

John’s Vision of the Risen Lord

⁹ I, John, your brother and partner in the affliction,^(T) kingdom,^(U) and endurance^(V) that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.^{(W) 10} I was in the Spirit^[n](X) on the Lord’s day, and I heard a loud voice behind me like a trumpet^{(Y) 11} saying, “Write^(Z) on a scroll^[o] what you see and send it to the seven churches: Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.”

¹² Then I turned to see whose voice^(AA) it was that spoke to me. When I turned I saw seven golden lampstands,^{(AB) 13} and among the lampstands was one like the Son of Man,^[p](AC) dressed in a robe^(AD) and with a golden sash wrapped around his chest.^{(AE) 14} The hair of his head was white as wool—white as snow^(AF)—and his eyes like a fiery flame.^{(AG) 15} His feet were like fine bronze as it is fired in a furnace,^(AH) and his voice like the sound of cascading^[q] waters.^{(AI) 16} He had seven stars in his right hand; a sharp double-edged sword came from his mouth,^(AJ) and his face was shining like the sun at full strength.^(AK)

¹⁷ When I saw him, I fell at his feet like a dead man.^(AL) He laid his right hand on me and said, “Don’t be afraid. I am the First and the Last,^{(AM) 18} and the Living One.^(AN) I was dead, but look—I am alive forever and ever,^(AO) and I hold the keys^(AP) of death and Hades. ¹⁹ Therefore write what you have seen,^(AQ) what is, and what will take place after this. ²⁰ The mystery^(AR) of the seven stars you saw in my right hand and of the seven golden lampstands is this: The seven stars are the angels^[r] of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands^[s] are the seven churches.^(AS)