⁷ Dear children,^(A) do not let anyone lead you astray.^(B) The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous.^{(C) 8} The one who does what is sinful is of the devil,^(D) because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God^(E) appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.^{(F) 9} No one who is born of God^(G) will continue to sin,^(H) because God’s seed^(I) remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. ¹⁰ This is how we know who the children of God^(J) are and who the children of the devil^(K) are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God’s child, nor is anyone who does not love^(L) their brother and sister.^(M)

⁴⁸ Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.^(A)

³⁶ Be merciful,^(A) just as your Father^(B) is merciful.

² Dear friends,^(A) now we are children of God,^(B) and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears,^[a](C) we shall be like him,^(D) for we shall see him as he is.^{(E) 3} All who have this hope in him purify themselves,^(F) just as he is pure.^(G)

¹⁵ But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;^{(A) 16} for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”^[a](B)