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1 John 3:12-15
J.B. Phillips New Testament
1 John 3:12-15
J.B. Phillips New Testament
11-13 For the original command, as you know, is that we should love one another. We are none of us to have the spirit of Cain, who was a son of the devil and murdered his brother. Have you realised his motive? It was just because he realised the goodness of his brother’s life and the rottenness of his own. Don’t be surprised, therefore, if the world hates you.
Love and life are inter-connected
14-15 We know that we have crossed the frontier from death to life because we do love our brothers. The man without love for his brothers is living in death already. The man who actively hates his brother is a potential murderer, and you will readily see that the eternal life of God cannot live in the heart of a murderer.
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1 John 3:12-14
New International Version
1 John 3:12-14
New International Version
12 Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one(A) and murdered his brother.(B) And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother’s were righteous.(C) 13 Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters,[a] if the world hates you.(D) 14 We know that we have passed from death to life,(E) because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death.(F)
Footnotes
- 1 John 3:13 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in verse 16.
J.B. Phillips New Testament (PHILLIPS)
The New Testament in Modern English by J.B Phillips copyright © 1960, 1972 J. B. Phillips. Administered by The Archbishops’ Council of the Church of England. Used by Permission.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.