1

1 That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we beheld and which our hands felt, concerning the word of life

2 – and the life was made manifest, and we have seen and we testify and proclaim age-abiding life to you, which was with the father and was made manifest to us –

3 that which we have seen and heard we proclaim to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the father and with his son Jesus Christ.

4 And we write these things to you in order that our joy may be complete.

5 And this is the message which we have heard from him and report back to you, that God is light and in him is no darkness at all.

6 If we say that we have fellowship with him but we walk in darkness, we are lying and not reflecting the truth.

7 But if we walk in the light, as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with each other, and the blood of Jesus Christ his son cleanses us from all sin.

8 If we say that we do not have sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.

9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just in forgiving us our sins and in cleansing us from all unrighteousness.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar and his word is not in us.

2

1 My little children, I write these things to you so that you do not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the father, Jesus Christ the righteous.

2 And he is a propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world.

3 And by this we know that we have come to know him: if we keep his commandments.

4 He who says, “I have come to know him,” but does not keep his commandments is a liar and the truth is not in him.

5 But as for whoever keeps his word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this means we know that we are in him.

6 He who says that he remains in him has a debt, as he walked, so to walk himself too.

7 Brothers, it is not a new commandment which I am writing to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard from the beginning.

8 There again, I am writing a new commandment to you – that which is true in him and in you – that darkness is passing away and that the true light is already shining.

9 He who says that he is in the light but hates his brother is still in darkness.

10 He who loves his brother remains in the light and there is no offensiveness in him.

11 He who hates his brother is in darkness, and walks in darkness, and he does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

12 Little children, I am writing to you because your sins have been forgiven for his name's sake.

13 Fathers, I am writing to you because you have come to know him who is from the beginning. Young men, I am writing to you because you have overcome the evil one. Children, I am writing to you because you have come to know the father.

14 Fathers, I have written to you because you have come to know him who is from the beginning. Young men, I have written to you because you are strong and the word of God remains in you and you have overcome the evil one.

15 Do not love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the father is not in him,

16 because everything that is in the world – carnal appetite and the longing of the eyes and the pretention of life – is not from the father, but is from the world.

17 And the world is passing away as is desire for it. But he who does the will of God remains throughout the Age.

18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come – by which we know that it is the last hour.

19 They came out of us, but they did not stem from us, for if they did stem from us, they would have remained with us, but this happened so that they should be made manifest: that not all stem from us.

20 But you have an anointing from the holy one, and you know all things.

21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and that no lie stems from the truth.

22 Who is a liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is an antichrist: one who denies the father and the son.

23 No-one who denies the son has the father either.

24 As for you, therefore, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If that which you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the son and in the father.

25 And this is the promise which he made to you: age-abiding life.

26 I have written these things to you concerning those who mislead you.

27 And as for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you, but as the same anointing teaches you about all things, and is true, and is not a lie, so just as it has taught you, you will remain in him.

28 And now, little children, remain in him, so that when he is made manifest we may have confidence and not shrink from him in shame at his coming.

29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been begotten by him.

3

1 See what great love the father has given us in that we should be called children of God. This is why the world does not know you: because it did not know him.

2 Beloved, we are now children of God, but it has not yet been made apparent what we shall be. But we do know that when he is made manifest, we shall be like him, because we will see him as he is.

3 And everyone who puts this hope in him purifies himself, as he (the aforementioned) is pure.

4 Everyone who commits sin also commits lawlessness – indeed sin is lawlessness.

5 And you know that he was made manifest in order to take away our sins, and there is no sin in him.

6 No-one who remains in him sins. No-one who sins has seen him or has come to know him.

7 Little children, let no-one lead you astray. He who does what is right is righteous, as he is righteous.

8 He who commits sin stems from the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The son of God was made manifest for this reason: to undo the works of the devil.

9 No-one who has been begotten by God commits sin, because his seed remains in him. And he cannot sin, because he has been begotten by God.

10 By this criterion the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest: everyone who does not do what is right does not stem from God, including him who does not love his brother.

11 For this is the message which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another,

12 not as Cain, stemming from the wicked one, was, who killed his brother. And for what reason did he kill him? Because his works were evil, but those of his brother were good.

13 Do not be astonished, my brothers, if the world hates you.

14 We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love the brothers. He who does not love his brother remains in death.

15 Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has age-abiding life remaining in him.

16 By this we have come to know love: in that he laid down his life for our sakes. And we have a debt to lay down our lives for the sake of our brothers.

17 And as for whoever makes a living in the world and sees his brother in need, but shuts off his feelings of compassion for him – how can the love of God remain in him?

18 My little children, let us not love by mere word or speech, but by deed and truth.

19 And this is how we know that we stem from the truth, and that we will assure our hearts in his presence:

20 by the fact that if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our hearts and knows everything.

21 Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence in God,

22 and whatever we ask, we receive from him because we keep his commandments and we do things pleasing in his sight.

23 And this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his son Jesus Christ, and love each other as he gave commandment.

24 And he who keeps his commandments remains in him, and the latter remains in the former. And by this we know that he remains in us: by the spirit which he has given us.

4

1 Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits as to whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

2 This is how the spirit of God is known: every spirit which confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

3 whereas every spirit which does not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not from God. And such is the spirit of antichrist which you have heard is coming, and is already in the world now.

4 You, little children, stem from God, and have overcome them, because he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

5 They are of the world. That is why they speak from the standpoint of the world, and the world heeds them.

6 We are of God. He who knows God heeds us. He who is not of God does not heed us. That is how we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.

7 Beloved, we love each other, because the love is from God, and everyone who shows love has been begotten by God and knows God.

8 He who does not show love has not come to know God, for God is love.

9 This is how the love of God was made manifest among us: in that God has sent his only-begotten son into the world in order that we should live through him.

10 This is how love is evident: not in that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his son as a propitiation for our sins.

11 Beloved, if God loved us like this, we in turn have a debt to love each other.

12 No-one has seen God at any time. If we love each other, God remains in us and his love has been brought to completion in us.

13 This is how we know that we remain in him and he in us: in that he has given us a share of his spirit.

14 And we have seen and testify that the father has sent the son as the saviour of the world.

15 As for whoever confesses that Jesus is the son of God, God remains in him, and he in God.

16 And we have come to know and have believed the love which God has among us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.

17 This is how love has been perfected with us: that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, that as he is, so we are in this world.

18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts fear out, because fear involves punishment, and he who has fear has not been perfected in love.

19 We love him because he loved us first.

20 If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For how can he who does not love his brother whom he has seen love God whom he has not seen?

21 And we have this commandment from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.

5

1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been begotten by God, and everyone who loves him who did the begetting also loves him who was begotten by him.

2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: it is when we love God and we keep his commandments.

3 For this is the love of God: that we should keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.

4 For everything that has been begotten by God overcomes the world. And this is the victory which has overcome the world: our faith.

5 Who is it who overcomes the world but he who believes that Jesus is the son of God?

6 This is he who came by water and blood, Jesus Christ – not with water alone, but with water and blood. And the spirit is what gives witness, because the spirit is truth.

7 For there are three who testify:

8 the spirit, and the water, and the blood, and these three unite into one.

9 If we accept the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God which he has given concerning his son.

10 He who believes in the son of God has the testimony in him. He who does not believe God has made him a liar because he has not believed in the testimony which God gave concerning his son.

11 And this is the testimony: that God has given us age-abiding life, and this life is in his son.

12 He who has the son has life. He who does not have the son of God does not have life.

13 I have written these things to you who believe in the name of the son of God in order that you may know that you have age-abiding life, and that you may believe in the name of the son of God.

14 And this is the confidence which we have with him, that if we ask for anything in accordance with his will, he hears us.

15 And if we know that he hears us with respect to whatever we ask, then we know that we have the requests which we have asked for from him.

16 If anyone sees his brother committing a sin which is not mortal, he can ask, and he will give him life; this is for those who commit a sin which is not mortal. There is a mortal sin – I do not say that you should ask concerning that.

17 Every unrighteous deed is sin. And there is sin which is not mortal.

18 We know that no-one who has been begotten by God sins, but he who has been begotten by God is on his guard and the evil one does not touch him.

19 We know we stem from God, and the whole world lies in the sway of the evil one.

20 And we know that the son of God has come and has given us a mind so as to know the true one. And we are in the true one, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and age-abiding life.

21 Little children, keep yourselves from the idols. Amen.