Bible in 90 Days

Live Wisely

¹³ Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his noble conduct that his actions are done humbly and wisely. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and rivalry in your hearts, stop boasting and slandering the truth. ¹⁵ That kind of wisdom does not come from above. No, it is worldly, self-centered, and demonic. ¹⁶ For wherever jealousy and rivalry exist, there is disorder and every kind of evil.

¹⁷ However, the wisdom that comes from above is first of all pure, then peace-loving, gentle, willing to yield, full of compassion and good deeds,^[a] and without a trace of partiality or hypocrisy. ¹⁸ And a harvest of righteousness is grown from the seed of peace^[b] planted by peacemakers.

Stop Fighting with Each Other

4 Where do those fights and quarrels among you come from? They come from your selfish desires that are at war in your bodies, don’t they? ² You want something but do not get it, so you commit murder. You covet something but cannot obtain it, so you quarrel and fight. You do not get things because you do not ask for them! ³ You ask for something but do not get it because you ask for it for the wrong reason—for your own pleasure.

⁴ You adulterers! Don’t you know that friendship with the world means hostility with God? So whoever wants to be a friend of this world is an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think the Scripture means nothing when it says that the Spirit that God^[c] caused to live in us jealously yearns for us?^{[d] 6} But he gives all the more grace. And so he says,

⁷ Therefore, submit yourselves to God. Resist the Devil, and he will run away from you. ⁸ Come close to God, and he will come close to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Be miserable, mourn, and cry. Let your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy into gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the Lord’s presence, and he will exalt you.

Do Not Criticize Each Other

¹¹ Do not criticize each other, brothers. Whoever makes it his habit to criticize his brother or to judge his brother is judging the Law and condemning the Law. But if you condemn the Law, you are not a practicer of the Law but its judge. ¹² There is only one Lawgiver and Judge—the one who can save and destroy. So who are you to judge your neighbor?

Do Not Boast about Future Plans

¹³ Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a town, stay there a year, conduct business, and make money.” ¹⁴ You do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. ¹⁵ Instead you should say, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live—and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But you boast about your proud intentions. All such boasting is evil.

¹⁷ Therefore, anyone who knows what is right but fails to do it is guilty of sin.

Advice for Rich People

5 Now listen, you rich people! Cry and moan over the miseries that are overtaking you. ² Your riches are rotten, your clothes have been eaten by moths, ³ your gold and silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be used as evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasures in these last days. ⁴ Look! The wages that you kept back from the workers who harvested your fields are shouting out against you, and the cries of the reapers have reached the ears of the Lord of the Heavenly Armies. ⁵ You have lived in luxury and pleasure on earth. You have fattened yourselves^[f] for the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and murdered the one who is righteous, even though he did not rebel against you.

Be Patient

⁷ So be patient, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious crop from his land, being patient with it until it receives the fall and the spring rains. ⁸ You, too, must be patient. Strengthen your hearts, because the coming of the Lord is near. ⁹ Do not complain about each other, brothers, or you will be condemned. Look! The Judge is standing at the door! ¹⁰ As an example of suffering and patience, brothers, take the prophets, who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ We consider those who endured to be blessed. You have heard about Job’s endurance and have seen the purpose of the Lord—that the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Do Not Swear Oaths

¹² Above all, brothers, do not swear oaths by heaven, by earth, or by any other object.^[g] Instead, let your “Yes” mean yes and your “No” mean no! Otherwise,^[h] you may fall under condemnation.

The Power of Prayer

¹³ Is anyone among you suffering? He should keep on praying. Is anyone cheerful? He should keep reciting psalms. ¹⁴ Is anyone among you sick? He should call for the elders of the church, and they should pray for him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵ And the prayer offered in faith^[i] will save the person who is sick. The Lord will raise him up, and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven.

¹⁶ Therefore, make it your habit to confess your sins to one another and to pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective. ¹⁷ Elijah was a person just like us, and he prayed earnestly for it not to rain, and rain never came to the land for three years and six months. ¹⁸ Then he prayed again, and the skies poured out rain, and the ground produced its crops.

¹⁹ My brothers, if one of you wanders away from the truth and somebody brings him back, ²⁰ you may be sure that whoever brings a sinner back from his wrong path will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.

Greetings

1 From:^[j] Peter, an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah.^[k]

To: The exiles of the Dispersion^[l] in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah,^[m] and to be sprinkled with his blood.

May grace and peace be yours in abundance!

Our Hope and Joy are in the Messiah

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah!^[n] Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah,^[o] from the dead ⁴ and to an inheritance kept in heaven for you that can’t be destroyed, corrupted, or changed. ⁵ Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era. ⁶ You greatly rejoice in this, even though you have to suffer various kinds of trials for a little while, ⁷ so that your genuine faith, which is more valuable than gold that perishes when tested by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus, the Messiah,^[p] is revealed.

⁸ Though you have not seen^[q] him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, ⁹ because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ Even the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, carefully researched and investigated this salvation. ¹¹ They tried to find out what era or specific time the Spirit of the Messiah^[r] in them kept referring to when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah^[s] and the glories that would follow. ¹² It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

Be Holy

¹³ Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep a clear head, and set your hope completely on the grace to be given you when Jesus, the Messiah,^[t] is revealed. ¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be shaped by the desires that used to influence you when you were ignorant. ¹⁵ Instead, be holy in every aspect of your life, just as the one who called you is holy. ¹⁶ For it is written, “You must be holy, because I am holy.”^[u]

¹⁷ If you call “Father” the one who judges everyone impartially according to what they have done, you must live in reverent fear as long as you are strangers in a strange land. ¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things like silver or gold that you have been ransomed from the worthless way of life handed down to you by your ancestors, ¹⁹ but with the precious blood of the Messiah,^[v] like that of a lamb without blemish or defect. ²⁰ On the one hand, he was foreknown before the creation^[w] of the world, but on the other hand, he was revealed at the end of time for your sake. ²¹ Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

Love One Another

²² Now that you have obeyed the truth^[x] and have purified your souls to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart. ²³ For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish—by the living and everlasting word of God.^{[y] 24} For

Now this word is the good news that was announced to you.

Live as God’s Chosen People

2 Therefore, rid yourselves of every kind of evil and deception, hypocrisy, jealousy, and every kind of slander. ² Like newborn babies, thirst for the pure milk of the word so that by it you may grow in your salvation. ³ Surely you have tasted that the Lord is good!

⁴ As you come to him, the living stone who was rejected by people but was chosen and precious in God’s sight, ⁵ you, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus, the Messiah.^{[ac] 6} This is why it says in Scripture:

⁷ Therefore he is precious to you who believe, but to those who do not believe,

They keep on stumbling because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

⁹ But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people to be his very own and to proclaim the wonderful deeds^[ah] of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Live as God’s Servants

¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you as aliens and exiles to keep on abstaining from the desires of the flesh that wage war against the soul. ¹² Continue to live such upright lives among the gentiles that, when they slander you as practicers of evil, they may see your good actions and glorify God when he visits them.^[ai]

¹³ For the Lord’s sake submit yourselves to every human authority: whether to the king as supreme, ¹⁴ or to governors who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. ¹⁵ For it is God’s will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk^[aj] of foolish people. ¹⁶ Live like free people, and do not use your freedom as an excuse for doing evil. Instead, be God’s servants. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Keep on loving the community of believers,^[ak] fearing God, and honoring the king.

Suffer Patiently

¹⁸ You household servants must submit yourselves to your masters out of respect, not only to those who are kind and fair, but also to those who are unjust. ¹⁹ For it is a fine thing if, when moved by your conscience to please God, you suffer patiently when wronged. ²⁰ What good does it do if, when you sin, you patiently receive punishment for it? But if you suffer for doing good and receive it patiently, you have God’s approval. ²¹ This is, in fact, what you were called to do, because:

Wives and Husbands

3 In a similar way, you wives must submit yourselves to your husbands so that, even if some of them refuse to obey the word, they may be won over without a word through your conduct as wives ² when they see your pure and reverent lives.

³ Your beauty should not be an external one, consisting of braided hair or the wearing of gold ornaments and dresses. ⁴ Instead, it should be the inner disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which God values greatly.^{[aq] 5} After all, this is how holy women who set their hope on God used to make themselves beautiful in the past. They submitted themselves to their husbands, ⁶ just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters by doing good and by not letting anything terrify you.

⁷ In a similar way, you husbands must live with your wives in an understanding manner, as with a most delicate partner.^[ar] Honor them as heirs with you of the gracious gift of life, so that nothing may interfere with your prayers.

When You are Wronged

⁸ Finally, all of you must live in harmony, be sympathetic, love as brothers, and be compassionate and humble. ⁹ Do not pay others back evil for evil or insult for insult. Instead, keep blessing them, because you were called to inherit a blessing.

¹³ Who will harm you if you are devoted to doing what is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. “Never be afraid of their threats, and never get upset. ¹⁵ Instead, exalt^[ay] the Messiah”^[az] as Lord in your lives.^[ba] Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you to explain the hope you have. ¹⁶ But do this^[bb] gently and respectfully, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak evil of your good conduct in the Messiah^[bc] will be ashamed of slandering you. ¹⁷ After all, if it is the will of God, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong.

¹⁹ in which he went and made a proclamation to those imprisoned spirits ²⁰ who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah, when God waited patiently while the ark was being built. In it a few, that is, eight persons, were saved by water. ²¹ Baptism, which is symbolized by that water, now saves you also, not by removing dirt from the body, but by asking God for a clear^[bg] conscience based on the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah,^{[bh] 22} who has gone to heaven and is at the right hand of God, where angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to him.

Good Managers of God’s Grace

4 Therefore, since the Messiah^[bi] suffered in a mortal body,^[bj] you, too, must arm yourselves with the same determination, because the person who has suffered in a mortal body has stopped sinning, ² so that he can live the rest of his mortal life^[bk] guided, not by human desires, but by the will of God. ³ For you spent enough time in the past doing what the gentiles like to do, living in sensuality, sinful desires, drunkenness, wild celebrations, drinking parties, and detestable idolatry. ⁴ They insult you now because they are surprised that you are no longer joining them in the same excesses of wild living. ⁵ They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ Indeed, this is why the gospel was proclaimed even to those who have died, so that they could be judged in their mortal flesh like all humans and live in the spiritual realm like God.

⁷ Because everything will soon come to an end, be sensible and clear-headed, so you can pray. ⁸ Above all, continue to love each other deeply, because love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Show hospitality to one another without complaining. ¹⁰ As good servant managers of God’s grace in its various forms, serve one another with the gift each of you has received. ¹¹ Whoever speaks must speak God’s words.^[bl] Whoever serves must serve with the strength^[bm] that God supplies, so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus, the Messiah.^[bn] Glory and power belong to him forever and ever! Amen.

Suffering as a Christian

¹² Dear friends, do not be surprised by the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. ¹³ Instead, because you are participating in the sufferings of the Messiah,^[bo] keep on rejoicing, so that you may be glad and shout for joy when his glory is revealed. ¹⁴ If you are insulted because of the name of the Messiah,^[bp] you are blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God is resting on you.^[bq]

¹⁵ Of course, none of you should suffer for being a murderer, thief, criminal, or troublemaker. ¹⁶ But if you suffer for being a Christian, do not feel ashamed, but glorify God with that name. ¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who refuse to obey the gospel of God?

¹⁹ So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do what is good.

Be Shepherds of God’s Flock

5 Therefore, as a fellow elder, a witness of the Messiah’s^[bs] sufferings, and one who shares in the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you: ² Be shepherds of God’s flock that is among you, watching over it, not because you must but because you want to, and not greedily but eagerly, as God desires. ³ Do not lord it over the people entrusted to you, but be examples to the flock. ⁴ Then, when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the victor’s crown of glory that will never fade away.

Be Humble and Alert

⁵ In a similar way, you young people must submit to the elders.^[bt] All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because:

⁶ Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you. ⁷ Throw all your worry on him, because he cares for you. ⁸ Be clear-minded and alert. Your opponent, the Devil, is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour. ⁹ Resist him and be firm in the faith, because you know that your brothers throughout the world are undergoing the same kinds of suffering. ¹⁰ After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah^[bv] Jesus^[bw] to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you. ¹¹ Power belongs^[bx] to him forever and ever! Amen.

Final Greeting

¹² Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is to be the true grace of God in which you are to stand firm! ¹³ Your sister church^[by] in Babylon, chosen along with you, sends you greetings, as does Mark, whom I regard as a son. ¹⁴ Greet one another with a loving kiss. Peace be to all of you who are in the Messiah!^[bz]

Greetings

1 From:^[ca] Simeon^[cb] Peter, a servant^[cc] and apostle of Jesus, the Messiah.^[cd]

To: Those who have received faith that is as valuable as ours through the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus the Messiah.^[ce]

² May grace and peace be yours in abundance through full knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord!

We are Called to Holy Living

³ His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the full knowledge of the one who called us by his own glory and excellence. ⁴ Through these he has given us his precious and wonderful promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, seeing that you have escaped the corruption that is in the world caused by evil desires. ⁵ For this very reason, you must make every effort to supplement your faith with moral character, your moral character with knowledge, ⁶ your knowledge with self-control, your self-control with endurance, your endurance with godliness, ⁷ your godliness with brotherly kindness, and your brotherly kindness with love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities, and if they continue to increase among you, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in attaining a full knowledge of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah.^{[cf] 9} For the person who lacks these qualities is blind and shortsighted, and has forgotten the cleansing that he has received from his past sins.

¹⁰ So then, my brothers, be all the more eager to make your calling and election certain, for if you keep on doing this you will never fail. ¹¹ For in this way you will be generously granted entry into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah.^[cg]

¹² Therefore, I intend to keep on reminding you about these things, even though you already know them and are firmly established in the truth that you now have. ¹³ Yet I think it is right to refresh your memory as long as I am living in this bodily tent, ¹⁴ because I know that the removal of my bodily tent will come soon, as indeed our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,^[ch] has shown me. ¹⁵ And I will make every effort to see that you will always remember these things after I am gone.

Pay Attention to God’s Word

¹⁶ When we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah,^[ci] we did not follow any clever myths. Rather, we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For he received honor and glory from God the Father when these words from the Majestic Glory were spoken about him: “This is my Son, whom I love. I am pleased with him.” ¹⁸ We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain. ¹⁹ Therefore we regard the message of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp that is shining in a gloomy place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts. ²⁰ First of all, you must understand this: No prophecy in Scripture is a matter of one’s own interpretation, ²¹ because no prophecy ever originated through a human decision. Instead, men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

Warning against False Teachers

2 Now there were false prophets among the people, just as there also will be false teachers among you, who will secretly introduce destructive heresies and even deny the Master who bought them, bringing swift destruction on themselves. ² Many people will follow their immoral ways, and because of them the way of truth will be maligned.^{[cj] 3} In their greed they will exploit you with deceptive words. The ancient verdict against them is still in force, and their destruction is not delayed.^[ck]

⁴ For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but threw them into the lowest hell^[cl] and imprisoned them in chains^[cm] of deepest darkness, holding them for judgment; ⁵ and if he did not spare the ancient world but protected Noah, a righteous preacher, along with seven others when he brought the flood on the world of ungodly people; ⁶ and if he condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes, making them an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them; ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man who was greatly distressed by the immoral conduct of lawless people— ⁸ for as long as that righteous man lived among them, day after day he was being tortured in his righteous soul by what he saw and heard in their lawless actions— ⁹ then the Lord knows how to rescue godly people from their trials and to hold unrighteous people for punishment on the day of judgment, ¹⁰ especially those who satisfy their flesh by indulging in its passions and who despise authority.

Being bold and arrogant, they are not afraid to slander glorious beings. ¹¹ Yet even angels, although they are greater in strength and power, do not bring a slanderous accusation against them from the Lord. ¹² These people, like irrational animals, are mere creatures of instinct that are born to be caught and killed. They insult what they don’t understand, and like animals they, too, will be destroyed, ¹³ suffering harm as punishment for their wrongdoing. They take pleasure in wild parties in broad daylight. They are stains and blemishes, reveling in their deceitful pleasures^[cn] while they eat with you. ¹⁴ With eyes full of adultery, they cannot get enough of sin. They seduce unsteady souls and have had their hearts expertly trained in greed. They are doomed to a curse.^{[co] 15} They have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Bosor’s^[cp] son Balaam, who loved the reward he got for doing wrong. ¹⁶ But he was rebuked for his offense. A donkey that normally cannot talk spoke with a human voice and restrained the prophet’s insanity.

¹⁷ These men are dried-up springs, mere clouds driven by a storm. Gloomy darkness is reserved for them. ¹⁸ By talking high-sounding nonsense and using sinful cravings of the flesh, they entice people who have just escaped from those who live in error. ¹⁹ Promising them freedom, they themselves are slaves to depravity, for a person is a slave to whatever conquers him.

²⁰ For if, after escaping the world’s corruptions through a full knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah,^[cq] they are again entangled and conquered by those corruptions,^[cr] then their last condition is worse than their former one. ²¹ It would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness than to know it and turn their backs on the holy commandment that was committed to them. ²² The proverb is true that describes what has happened to them: “A dog returns to its vomit,”^[cs] and “A pig that is washed goes back to wallow in the mud.”^[ct]

Be Ready for the Day of the Lord

3 Dear friends, this is now the second of two letters^[cu] I am writing to you, in which I have been trying to stimulate your pure minds by reminding you ² to recall the words spoken in the past by the holy prophets and the commandment of our Lord and Savior spoken^[cv] through your apostles.

³ First of all you must understand this: In the last days mockers will come and, following their own desires, will ridicule us^{[cw] 4} by saying, “What happened to the Messiah’s^[cx] promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died,^[cy] everything continues as it did from the beginning of creation.” ⁵ But they deliberately ignore the fact that long ago the heavens existed and the earth was formed by God’s word out of water and with water, ⁶ by which the world at that time was deluged with water and destroyed. ⁷ Now by that same word, the present heavens and earth have been reserved for fire and are being kept for the day when ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

⁸ Don’t forget this fact, dear friends: With the Lord a single day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a single day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow about his promise, as some people understand slowness, but is being patient with you. He does not want anyone to perish, but everyone to find room for repentence. ¹⁰ But the Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day^[cz] the heavens will disappear with a roaring sound, the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done on it will be exposed.

¹¹ Since everything will be destroyed in this way, think of the kind of holy and godly people you ought to be ¹² as you look forward to and hasten the coming of the day of God, when the heavens will be set ablaze and dissolved and the elements will melt with fire. ¹³ But in keeping with his promise, we are looking forward to new heavens and a new earth, where righteousness is at home.

¹⁴ So then, dear friends, since you are looking forward to this, make every effort to have the Lord^[da] find you at peace and without spot or fault. ¹⁵ Think of our Lord’s patience as facilitating salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote to you according to the wisdom given him. ¹⁶ He speaks about this subject in all his letters. Some things in them are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort, leading to their own destruction, as they do the rest of the Scriptures.

¹⁷ And so, dear friends, since you already know these things, continuously be on your guard not to be carried away by the deception of lawless people. Otherwise, you may^[db] fall from your secure position. ¹⁸ Instead, continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus, the Messiah.^[dc] Glory belongs to him both now and on that eternal day! Amen.^[dd]

Jesus, the Word of Life

1 What existed from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we observed and touched with our own hands—this is the^[de] Word of life! ² This life was revealed to us, and we have seen it and testify about it. We declare to you this eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us. ³ What we have seen and heard we declare to you so that you, too, can have fellowship with us. Now this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus, the Messiah.^{[df] 4} We are writing these things^[dg] so that our^[dh] joy may be full.

Living in the Light

⁵ This is the message that we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness—none at all! ⁶ If we claim that we have fellowship with him but keep living in darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. ⁷ But if we keep living in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we do not have any sin, we are deceiving ourselves and we’re not being truthful to ourselves. ⁹ If we make it our habit to confess our sins, in his faithful righteousness he forgives us for those sins and cleanses us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we have never sinned, we make him a liar and his word has no place in us.

The Messiah is Our Advocate

2 My little children, I’m writing these things to you so that you might not sin. Yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus, the Messiah,^[di] one who is righteous. ² It is he who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world’s.

³ This is how we can be sure that we have come to know him: if we continually keep his commandments. ⁴ The person who says, “I have come to know him,” but does not continually keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth has no place in that person. ⁵ But whoever continually keeps his commandments is the kind of person in whom God’s love has truly been perfected. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God:^{[dj] 6} The one who says that he abides in him must live the same way he himself lived.

We Must Obey God’s Commandments

⁷ Dear friends, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard. ⁸ On the other hand, I am writing to you a new commandment that is truly in him and in you. For the darkness is fading away, and the true light is already shining.

⁹ The person who says that he is in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. ¹⁰ The person who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no reason for him to stumble. ¹¹ But the person who hates his brother is in the darkness and lives in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹⁵ Stop loving^[dk] the world and the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, the Father’s love is not in him. ¹⁶ For everything that is in the world—the desire for fleshly gratification,^[dl] the desire for possessions,^[dm] and worldly arrogance—is not from the Father but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God’s will remains forever.

Live in the Messiah

¹⁸ Little children, it is the last hour. Just as you heard that an antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They left us, but they were not part of us, for if they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. Their leaving made it clear that none of them was really part of us.

²⁰ You have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things.^{[dn] 21} I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because lies don’t come from truth. ²² Who is a liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Messiah?^[do] The person who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. ²³ No one who denies the Son has the Father. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father.

²⁴ What you have heard from the beginning must abide in you. If what you have heard from the beginning abides in you, you will also abide in the Son and in the Father. ²⁵ The message that the Son^[dp] himself declared to us is eternal life. ²⁶ I have written^[dq] to you about those who are trying to deceive you. ²⁷ The anointing you received from God^[dr] abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this.^[ds] Instead, because God’s^[dt] anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do.^[du]

Abide in Him

²⁸ Even now, little children, abide in him. Then, when he appears, we will have confidence and will not turn away from him in shame when he comes. ²⁹ Since you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by God.^[dv]

We are God’s Children

3 See what kind of love the Father has given us: We are called God’s children—and that is what we are!^[dw] For this reason the world does not recognize us, because it did not recognize him, either.

² Dear friends, we are now God’s children, but what we will be like has not been revealed yet. We know that when the Messiah^[dx] is revealed, we will be like him, because we will see him as he is. ³ And everyone who has this hope based on him keeps himself pure, just as the Messiah^[dy] is pure. ⁴ Everyone who keeps living in sin also practices disobedience. In fact, sin is disobedience. ⁵ You know that the Messiah^[dz] was revealed to take away sins,^[ea] and there is not any sin in him. ⁶ No one who remains in union with him keeps on sinning. The one who keeps on sinning hasn’t seen him or known him.

⁷ Little children, don’t let anyone deceive you. The person who practices righteousness is righteous, just as the Messiah^[eb] is righteous. ⁸ The person who practices sin belongs to the evil one, because the Devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason that the Son of God was revealed was to destroy what the Devil has been doing. ⁹ No one who has been born from God practices sin, because God’s^[ec] seed abides in him. Indeed, he cannot go on sinning, because he has been born from God. ¹⁰ This is how God’s children and the Devil’s children are distinguished.^[ed] No person who fails to practice righteousness and to love his brother is from God.

Love One Another

¹¹ This is the message that you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another. ¹² Do not be like Cain,^[ee] who was from the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because what he was doing was evil and his brother’s actions^[ef] were righteous. ¹³ So do not be surprised, brothers, if the world hates you.

¹⁴ We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love one another. The person who does not love^[eg] remains spiritually^[eh] dead. ¹⁵ Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life present in him. ¹⁶ This is how we have come to know love: the Messiah^[ei] gave his life for us. We, too, ought to give our lives for our brothers. ¹⁷ Whoever has earthly possessions and notices a brother in need and yet withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God be present in him? ¹⁸ Little children, we must stop expressing love merely by our words and manner of speech; we must love^[ej] also in action^[ek] and in truth. ¹⁹ This is how we will know that we belong to the truth and how we will be able to keep ourselves^[el] strong in his presence.

²⁰ If our hearts condemn us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything. ²¹ Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God. ²² Whatever we request we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do what pleases him. ²³ And this is his commandment: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus the Messiah,^[em] and to love one another as he commanded us. ²⁴ The person who keeps his commandments abides in God,^[en] and God abides in him.^[eo] This is how we can be sure that he remains in us: he has given us his Spirit.

Test What People Say

4 Dear friends, stop believing^[ep] every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

² This is how you can recognize God’s Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus the Messiah^[eq] has become human—and remains so—is from God. ³ But every spirit who does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. You have heard that he is coming, and now he is already in the world. ⁴ Little children, you belong to God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. ⁵ These people belong to the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective,^[er] and the world listens to them. ⁶ We belong to God. The person who knows God listens to us. Whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit.

God’s Love Lives in Us

⁷ Dear friends, let us continuously love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. ⁸ The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love. ⁹ This is how God’s love was revealed among us: God sent his uniquely existing Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: not that we have loved^[es] God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. ¹¹ Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love one another. ¹² No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. ¹³ This is how we know that we abide in him and he in us: he has given us his Spirit.

¹⁴ We have seen for ourselves and can testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ God abides in the one who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and he abides in God. ¹⁶ We have come to know and rely on^[et] the love that God has for us. God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. ¹⁷ This is how love has been perfected among us: we will have confidence on the day of judgment because, during our time in this world, we are just like him. ¹⁸ There is no fear where love exists.^[eu] Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love.

¹⁹ We love^[ev] because God^[ew] first loved us. ²⁰ Whoever says, “I love God,” but hates his brother is a liar. The one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love the God whom he has not seen. ²¹ And this is the commandment that we have from him: the person who loves God must also love his brother.

Faith Overcomes the World

5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Messiah^[ex] has been born from God, and everyone who loves the parent also loves the child. ² This is how we know that we love God’s children: we love God and keep his commandments. ³ For this demonstrates our love for God: We keep his commandments, and his commandments are not difficult, ⁴ because everyone who is born from God has overcome the world. Our faith is the victory that overcomes the world. ⁵ Who overcomes the world? Is it not the person who believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

⁶ This man, Jesus the Messiah,^[ey] is the one who came by water and blood—not with water only, but with water and with blood. The Spirit is the one who verifies this, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three witnesses in heaven—the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one.^{[ez] 8} And there are three witness on earth—the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and these three are one.

⁹ If we accept human testimony, God’s testimony is greater, because it is the testimony of God and because he has testified about his Son. ¹⁰ The person who believes in the Son of God believes this testimony personally.^[fa] The person who does not believe God^[fb] has made him a liar by not believing the testimony that he^[fc] has given about his Son.

¹¹ This is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is found in his Son. ¹² The person who has the Son has this life. The person who does not have the Son of God does not have this life.

Conclusion

¹³ I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. ¹⁴ And this is the confidence that we have in him: if we ask for anything according to his will, he listens to us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he listens to our requests, we can be sure that we have what we ask him for.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother committing a sin that does not lead to death, he should pray that God^[fd] would give him life. This applies to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not telling you to pray about that. ¹⁷ Every kind of wrongdoing is sin, yet there are sins that do not lead to death.

¹⁸ We know that the person who has been born from God does not go on sinning. Rather, the Son^[fe] of God protects them, and the evil one cannot harm them. ¹⁹ We know that we are from God and that the whole world lies under the control of the evil one. ²⁰ We also know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know the true God.^[ff] We are in union with the one who is true, his Son Jesus the Messiah,^[fg] who is the true God and eternal life.

²¹ Little children, keep yourselves away from idols.^[fh]

Greetings from John

¹ From:^[fi] The Elder

To: The chosen lady and her children, whom I genuinely love, and not only I but also all who know the truth, ² that is present in us and will be with us forever.

³ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus^[fj] the Messiah,^[fk] the Father’s Son, in truth and love.

Living in the Truth

⁴ I was overjoyed to find some of your^[fl] children living truthfully, just as the Father has commanded us. ⁵ Dear lady, I am now requesting of you^[fm] that we all continue to love one another. It is not as though I am writing to give you^[fn] a new commandment, but one that we have had from the beginning. ⁶ And this is what demonstrates^[fo] love: that we live according to God’s^[fp] commandments. Just as you^[fq] have heard from the beginning what he commanded, you^[fr] must live by it.

Reject False Teachers

⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world. They refuse to acknowledge Jesus the Messiah^[fs] as having become human. Any such person is a deceiver and an antichrist. ⁸ See^[ft] to it that you^[fu] don’t destroy what we have^[fv] worked for, but that you^[fw] receive your^[fx] full reward. ⁹ Everyone who does not remain true to the teaching of the Messiah,^[fy] but goes beyond it, does not have God. The person who remains true to the teaching of the Messiah^[fz] has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you^[ga] but does not present his teachings,^[gb] do not receive^[gc] him into your house or even welcome^[gd] him, ¹¹ because the one who welcomes him shares in his evil deeds.

Final Greeting

¹² Although I have a great deal to write to you,^[ge] I would prefer not to use paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come to you and talk face to face, so that our joy may be complete. ¹³ The children of your^[gf] chosen sister greet you.^[gg]

Greetings from John

¹ From:^[gh] The Elder

To: My dear friend Gaius, whom I genuinely love.

Encouragement for Gaius

² Dear friend, I pray that you are doing well in every way and that you are healthy, just as your soul is healthy. ³ I was overjoyed when some brothers arrived and testified about your truthfulness and how you live according to the truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are living according to the truth.

⁵ Dear friend, you are faithful in whatever you do for the brothers, especially when they are strangers. ⁶ They have testified before the church about your love. You will do well to send them on their way in a manner worthy of God. ⁷ After all, they went on their trip for the sake of the Name,^[gi] accepting no support from gentiles. ⁸ Therefore, we ought to support such people so that we can become genuine helpers with them.

Criticism of Diotrephes

⁹ I wrote a letter^[gj] to the church, but Diotrephes, who loves to be in charge, will not recognize our authority.^{[gk] 10} For this reason, when I come I will call attention to what he is doing in spreading false charges against us. And not content with that, he refuses to receive the brothers. He even tries to stop those who want to accept them^[gl] and throws them out of the church.

Praise for Demetrius

¹¹ Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The person who does what is good is from God. The person who does what is evil has never seen God. ¹² Demetrius has received a good report from everyone, including the truth itself. We, too, can testify to this report, and you know that our testimony is true.

Final Greeting

¹³ Although I have a great deal to write to you,^[gm] I would rather not write with pen and ink. ¹⁴ Instead, I hope to see you^[gn] soon and speak face to face.

¹⁵ May peace be with you!^[go] Your friends greet you.^[gp] Greet^[gq] each of our friends by name.