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1 John 2:18-3:6
Contemporary English Version
1 John 2:18-3:6
Contemporary English Version
The Enemy of Christ
18 Children, this is the last hour. You heard that the enemy of Christ would appear at this time, and many of Christ's enemies have already appeared. So we know the last hour is here. 19 These people came from our own group, yet they were not really part of us. If they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. But they left, which proves they did not belong to our group.
20 Christ, the Holy One,[a] has blessed[b] you, and now all of you understand.[c] 21 I did not need to write you about the truth, since you already know it. You also know that liars do not belong to the truth. 22 And a liar is anyone who says Jesus isn't truly Christ. Anyone who says this is an enemy of Christ and rejects both the Father and the Son. 23 If we reject the Son, we reject the Father. But if we say we accept the Son, we have the Father. 24 Keep thinking about the message you first heard, and you will always be one in your heart with the Son and with the Father. 25 The Son[d] has promised us[e] eternal life.
26 I am writing to warn you about those people who are misleading you. 27 But Christ has blessed you with the Holy Spirit.[f] Now the Spirit stays in you, and you don't need any teachers. The Spirit is truthful and teaches you everything. So stay one in your heart with Christ, just as the Spirit has taught you to do.
Children of God
28 Children, stay one in your hearts with Christ. Then when he returns, we will have confidence and won't have to hide in shame. 29 You know Christ always does right and everyone who does right is a child of God.
3 (A) Think how much the Father loves us. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children, as we truly are. But since the people of this world did not know who Christ[g] is, they don't know who we are. 2 My dear friends, we are already God's children, though what we will be hasn't yet been seen. But we do know when Christ returns, we will be like him, because we will see him as he truly is. 3 This hope makes us keep ourselves holy, just as Christ[h] is holy.
4 Everyone who sins breaks God's law, because sin is the same as breaking God's law. 5 (B) You know Christ came to take away our sins. He isn't sinful, 6 and people who stay one in their hearts with him won't keep on sinning. If they do keep on sinning, they don't know Christ, and they have never seen him.
Footnotes
- 2.20 Christ, the Holy One: The Greek text has “the Holy One” which may refer either to Christ or to God the Father.
- 2.20 blessed: This translates a word which means “to pour olive oil on (someone's head).” In Old Testament times it was the custom to pour olive oil on a person's head when that person was chosen to be a priest or a king. Here the meaning is not clear. It may refer to the ceremony of pouring olive oil on the followers of the Lord right before they were baptized or it may refer to the gift of the Holy Spirit which they were given at baptism (see verse 27).
- 2.20 now all of you understand: Some manuscripts have “you understand all things.”
- 2.25 The Son: The Greek text has “he” and may refer to God the Father.
- 2.25 us: Some manuscripts have “you.”
- 2.27 Christ has blessed you with the Holy Spirit: The Greek text has “You received a pouring on of olive oil from him” (see verse 20). The “pouring on of olive oil” is here taken to refer to the gift of the Holy Spirit, and “he” may refer either to Christ or to the Father.
- 3.1 Christ: The Greek text has “he” and may refer to God.
- 3.3 Christ: The Greek text has “that one” and may refer to God.
1 John 2:18-3:6
New International Version
1 John 2:18-3:6
New International Version
Warnings Against Denying the Son
18 Dear children, this is the last hour;(A) and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming,(B) even now many antichrists have come.(C) This is how we know it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us,(D) but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.(E)
20 But you have an anointing(F) from the Holy One,(G) and all of you know the truth.[a](H) 21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it(I) and because no lie comes from the truth. 22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.(J) 23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.(K)
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning(L) remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.(M) 25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.(N)
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.(O) 27 As for you, the anointing(P) you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things(Q) and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.(R)
God’s Children and Sin
28 And now, dear children,(S) continue in him, so that when he appears(T) we may be confident(U) and unashamed before him at his coming.(V)
29 If you know that he is righteous,(W) you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.(X)
3 See what great love(Y) the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!(Z) And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.(AA) 2 Dear friends,(AB) now we are children of God,(AC) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,[b](AD) we shall be like him,(AE) for we shall see him as he is.(AF) 3 All who have this hope in him purify themselves,(AG) just as he is pure.(AH)
4 Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness.(AI) 5 But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins.(AJ) And in him is no sin.(AK) 6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning.(AL) No one who continues to sin has either seen him(AM) or known him.(AN)
Footnotes
- 1 John 2:20 Some manuscripts and you know all things
- 1 John 3:2 Or when it is made known
Contemporary English Version (CEV) 
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New International Version (NIV) 
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