Jesus Our Advocate 1 UDB You who are as dear to me as my own children, I am writing this to you to keep you from sinning. But if any of you believers does sin, remember that Jesus Christ, the Righteous One, pleads with the Father for him to forgive us. BSB BSB: My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate before the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
2 UDB Jesus Christ voluntarily sacrificed his own life for us so that as a result God forgives our sins. Yes, God is able to forgive our sins, but not only ours. He is also able to forgive the sins of people everywhere! BSB BSB: He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
3 UDB I will tell you how we can be sure that we know God. If we obey what he commands us to do, that shows us that we are joined together with him. BSB BSB: By this we can be sure that we have come to know Him: if we keep His commandments.
4 UDB Those who say "We know God" and do not obey what God commands us to do are liars. They are not conducting their lives according to God's true message. BSB BSB: If anyone says, “I know Him,” but does not keep His commandments, he is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 UDB But those who obey what God commands experience all the love that God has for them to experience. This is how we can be sure that we are joined with God. BSB BSB: But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:
6 UDB If we say that we are in union with God, we should conduct our lives as Christ did. BSB BSB: Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.
A New Commandment 7 UDB Dear friends, I am not writing that you must do something new. Instead, I am writing something that you have known to do since you first believed in Christ. This is part of the message that you have always heard. BSB BSB: Beloved, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old one, which you have had from the beginning. This commandment is the message you have heard.
8 UDB But I will say something again to you on this same topic: I can say that I am telling you to do something new. It is new because what Christ did was new, and what you are doing is new. This is because you are ceasing to do evil and you are doing more and more good. It is like when night passes away and day dawns, the true day of Christ. BSB BSB: Then again, I am also writing to you a new commandment, which is true in Him and also in you. For the darkness is fading and the true light is already shining.
9 UDB Those who claim that they are like people who live in the light but hate any of their fellow believers are still like people who live in darkness. BSB BSB: If anyone claims to be in the light but hates his brother, he is still in the darkness.
10 UDB But those who love their fellow believers behave like people who are living in the light; they have no reason to sin. BSB BSB: Whoever loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause of stumbling in him.
11 UDB Those who hate any of their fellow believers are still like people who are living in darkness, unaware of what is true about God. BSB BSB: But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 UDB I am writing this to you whom I love as though you were my own children. God has forgiven your sins because of what Christ has done for you. BSB BSB: I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven through His name.
13 UDB I am writing to you believers who are older than the others. You have known Christ, who has always lived. I am also writing to you young men; you have defeated Satan, the evil one. And I am writing to you, little children, because you know God the Father. BSB BSB: I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children, because you know the Father.
14 UDB I will say it again: I am writing this to you older men because you have come to know Christ who has existed from the beginning. And I am writing to you young men because you are strong and you are living by the commands of the word of God, and because you have defeated the evil one, whose name is Satan. BSB BSB: I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
Do Not Love the World 15 UDB Do not behave like the people in the world who do not honor God. Do not desire the things they want to have. If anyone lives like they live, they are proving that they do not love God our Father. BSB BSB: Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
16 UDB I am writing this because all the wrong things that people do, all the things that people see and try to obtain for themselves, and all the things that they boast about—all these things have nothing to do with our Father in heaven. They belong to the world. BSB BSB: For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.
17 UDB The people in the world who do not honor God, along with everything that they desire, will disappear. But those who do what God wants them to do will live forever! BSB BSB: The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.
Beware of Antichrists 18 UDB You who are very dear to me, it is now just before Jesus returns to earth. You have already heard that the person who will pretend to be Christ is coming; actually, many such persons have already arrived—but they are all against Christ. Because of this, we know that Christ will return very soon. BSB BSB: Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.
20 UDB But as for you, Christ—the one who is holy—has given you his Spirit; it is his Spirit who teaches you all the truth. BSB BSB: You, however, have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
21 UDB I am writing this letter to you, not because you do not know the truth about God, but because you do know what it is. You also know that God teaches us nothing that is false; instead, he teaches us only what is true. BSB BSB: I have not written to you because you lack knowledge of the truth, but because you have it, and because no lie comes from the truth.
23 UDB Those who refuse to acknowledge that Jesus is God's Son are in no way joined with the Father, but those who acknowledge that Christ is the Son of God are also joined with Father. BSB BSB: Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
Remain in Christ 24 UDB So, as for you, you must continue to believe the truth about Jesus Christ that you first heard and to live according to it. If you do that, you will stay joined to the Son and the Father. BSB BSB: As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father.
25 UDB And what God told us is that he will cause us to live forever! BSB BSB: And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life.
26 UDB I have written this to you to warn you about those who want to deceive you concerning the truth about Christ. BSB BSB: I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27 UDB As for you, God's Spirit—whom you received from Christ—remains in you. So you do not need anyone else to be your teacher. God's Spirit is teaching you everything that you need to know. He always teaches the truth and never says anything that is false. So continue to live in the way that he has taught you, and remain joined with him. BSB BSB: And as for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But just as His true and genuine anointing teaches you about all things, so remain in Him as you have been taught.
28 UDB Now, my dear ones, I urge you to continue to remain joined with Christ. We need to do that so that we may be confident that he will accept us when he comes back again. If we do that, we will not be ashamed when we stand before him when he comes. BSB BSB: And now, little children, remain in Christ, so that when He appears, we may be confident and unashamed before Him at His coming.
29 UDB Since you know that Christ always does what is right, you know that all those who continue doing what is right are the ones who have become God's children. BSB BSB: If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.