Bible in 90 Days

¹³ Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by his good conduct that his deeds are done in gentleness of wisdom. ¹⁴ But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your heart, don’t boast and don’t lie against the truth. ¹⁵ This wisdom is not that which comes down from above, but is earthly, sensual, and demonic. ¹⁶ For where jealousy and selfish ambition are, there is confusion and every evil deed. ¹⁷ But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceful, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without hypocrisy. ¹⁸ Now the fruit of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.

4 Where do wars and fightings among you come from? Don’t they come from your pleasures that war in your members? ² You lust, and don’t have. You murder and covet, and can’t obtain. You fight and make war. You don’t have, because you don’t ask. ³ You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it on your pleasures. ⁴ You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God. ⁵ Or do you think that the Scripture says in vain, “The Spirit who lives in us yearns jealously”? ⁶ But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”Proverbs 3:34 ⁷ Be subject therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. ⁸ Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. ⁹ Lament, mourn, and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to gloom. ¹⁰ Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he will exalt you.

¹¹ Don’t speak against one another, brothers. He who speaks against a brother and judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge. ¹² Only one is the lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge another?

¹³ Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow let’s go into this city, and spend a year there, trade, and make a profit.” ¹⁴ Whereas you don’t know what your life will be like tomorrow. For what is your life? For you are a vapor that appears for a little time, and then vanishes away. ¹⁵ For you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will both live, and do this or that.” ¹⁶ But now you glory in your boasting. All such boasting is evil. ¹⁷ To him therefore who knows to do good, and doesn’t do it, to him it is sin.

5 Come now, you rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming on you. ² Your riches are corrupted and your garments are moth-eaten. ³ Your gold and your silver are corroded, and their corrosion will be for a testimony against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up your treasure in the last days. ⁴ Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you have kept back by fraud, cry out, and the cries of those who reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Armies.^{[a] 5} You have lived in luxury on the earth, and taken your pleasure. You have nourished your hearts as in a day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and you have murdered the righteous one. He doesn’t resist you.

⁷ Be patient therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. Behold, the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient over it, until it receives the early and late rain. ⁸ You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand.

⁹ Don’t grumble, brothers, against one another, so that you won’t be judged. Behold, the judge stands at the door. ¹⁰ Take, brothers, for an example of suffering and of perseverance, the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹ Behold, we call them blessed who endured. You have heard of the perseverance of Job, and have seen the Lord in the outcome, and how the Lord is full of compassion and mercy.

¹² But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear— not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”, so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy.^[b]

¹³ Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praises. ¹⁴ Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the assembly, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord, ¹⁵ and the prayer of faith will heal him who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. If he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. ¹⁶ Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective. ¹⁷ Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain, and it didn’t rain on the earth for three years and six months. ¹⁸ He prayed again, and the sky gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit.

¹⁹ Brothers, if any among you wanders from the truth and someone turns him back, ²⁰ let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the chosen ones who are living as foreigners in the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ² according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved in Heaven for you, ⁵ who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. ⁶ Wherein you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved in various trials, ⁷ that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ— ⁸ whom, not having known, you love. In him, though now you don’t see him, yet believing, you rejoice greatly with joy that is unspeakable and full of glory, ⁹ receiving the result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. ¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets sought and searched diligently. They prophesied of the grace that would come to you, ¹¹ searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them. ¹² To them it was revealed, that they served not themselves, but you, in these things, which now have been announced to you through those who preached the Good News to you by the Holy Spirit sent out from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.

¹³ Therefore prepare your minds for action.^[c] Be sober, and set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ— ¹⁴ as children of obedience, not conforming yourselves according to your former lusts as in your ignorance, ¹⁵ but just as he who called you is holy, you yourselves also be holy in all of your behavior; ¹⁶ because it is written, “You shall be holy; for I am holy.”Leviticus 11:44-45 ¹⁷ If you call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judges according to each man’s work, pass the time of your living as foreigners here in reverent fear, ¹⁸ knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, ¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, ²⁰ who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age for your sake, ²¹ who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

²² Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently, ²³ having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever. ²⁴ For,

This is the word of Good News which was preached to you.

2 Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking, ² as newborn babies, long for the pure milk of the Word, that with it you may grow, ³ if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious: ⁴ coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious. ⁵ You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ Because it is contained in Scripture,

⁷ For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient,

⁸ and,

For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed. ⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

¹¹ Beloved, I beg you as foreigners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul; ¹² having good behavior among the nations, so in that of which they speak against you as evildoers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation.

¹³ Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether to the king, as supreme; ¹⁴ or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evildoers and for praise to those who do well. ¹⁵ For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: ¹⁶ as free, and not using your freedom for a cloak of wickedness, but as bondservants of God.

¹⁷ Honor all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the king.

¹⁸ Servants, be in subjection to your masters with all respect: not only to the good and gentle, but also to the wicked. ¹⁹ For it is commendable if someone endures pain, suffering unjustly, because of conscience toward God. ²⁰ For what glory is it if, when you sin, you patiently endure beating? But if, when you do well, you patiently endure suffering, this is commendable with God. ²¹ For you were called to this, because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you^[e] an example, that you should follow his steps, ²² who didn’t sin, “neither was deceit found in his mouth.”Isaiah 53:9 ²³ When he was cursed, he didn’t curse back. When he suffered, he didn’t threaten, but committed himself to him who judges righteously. ²⁴ He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live to righteousness. You were healed by his wounds.^{[f] 25} For you were going astray like sheep; but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer^[g] of your souls.

3 In the same way, wives, be in subjection to your own husbands; so that, even if any don’t obey the Word, they may be won by the behavior of their wives without a word, ² seeing your pure behavior in fear. ³ Let your beauty be not just the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on fine clothing; ⁴ but in the hidden person of the heart, in the incorruptible adornment of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God. ⁵ For this is how in the past, the holy women who hoped in God also adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands. ⁶ So Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord, whose children you now are, if you do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.

⁷ You husbands, in the same way, live with your wives according to knowledge, giving honor to the woman, as to the weaker vessel, as also being joint heirs of the grace of life, that your prayers may not be hindered.

⁸ Finally, all of you be like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous, ⁹ not rendering evil for evil, or insult for insult; but instead blessing, knowing that you were called to this, that you may inherit a blessing. ¹⁰ For,

¹³ Now who will harm you if you become imitators of that which is good? ¹⁴ But even if you should suffer for righteousness’ sake, you are blessed. “Don’t fear what they fear, neither be troubled.”Isaiah 8:12 ¹⁵ But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts. Always be ready to give an answer to everyone who asks you a reason concerning the hope that is in you, with humility and fear, ¹⁶ having a good conscience. Thus, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ. ¹⁷ For it is better, if it is God’s will, that you suffer for doing well than for doing evil. ¹⁸ Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit, ¹⁹ in whom he also went and preached to the spirits in prison, ²⁰ who before were disobedient, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, while the ship was being built. In it, few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. ²¹ This is a symbol of baptism, which now saves you—not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, ²² who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers being made subject to him.

4 Therefore, since Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same mind; for he who has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, ² that you no longer should live the rest of your time in the flesh for the lusts of men, but for the will of God. ³ For we have spent enough of our past time doing the desire of the Gentiles, and having walked in lewdness, lusts, drunken binges, orgies, carousings, and abominable idolatries. ⁴ They think it is strange that you don’t run with them into the same excess of riot, blaspheming. ⁵ They will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶ For to this end the Good News was preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed as men in the flesh, but live as to God in the spirit.

⁷ But the end of all things is near. Therefore be of sound mind, self-controlled, and sober in prayer. ⁸ And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins. ⁹ Be hospitable to one another without grumbling. ¹⁰ As each has received a gift, employ it in serving one another, as good managers of the grace of God in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, let it be as it were the very words of God. If anyone serves, let it be as of the strength which God supplies, that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

¹² Beloved, don’t be astonished at the fiery trial which has come upon you to test you, as though a strange thing happened to you. ¹³ But because you are partakers of Christ’s sufferings, rejoice, that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy. ¹⁴ If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed; because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. On their part he is blasphemed, but on your part he is glorified. ¹⁵ For let none of you suffer as a murderer, or a thief, or an evil doer, or a meddler in other men’s matters. ¹⁶ But if one of you suffers for being a Christian, let him not be ashamed; but let him glorify God in this matter. ¹⁷ For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. If it begins first with us, what will happen to those who don’t obey the Good News of God? ¹⁸ “If it is hard for the righteous to be saved, what will happen to the ungodly and the sinner?”Proverbs 11:31 ¹⁹ Therefore let them also who suffer according to the will of God in doing good entrust their souls to him, as to a faithful Creator.

5 Therefore I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder, and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and who will also share in the glory that will be revealed: ² Shepherd the flock of God which is among you, exercising the oversight, not under compulsion, but voluntarily, not for dishonest gain, but willingly; ³ not as lording it over those entrusted to you, but making yourselves examples to the flock. ⁴ When the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the crown of glory that doesn’t fade away.

⁵ Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”Proverbs 3:34 ⁶ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

⁸ Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. ¹⁰ But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. ¹¹ To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹² Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. ¹³ She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you. So does Mark, my son. ¹⁴ Greet one another with a kiss of love.

Peace be to all of you who are in Christ Jesus. Amen.

1 Simon Peter, a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who have obtained a like precious faith with us in the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ: ² Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, ³ seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust. ⁵ Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge; ⁶ and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control perseverance; and in perseverance godliness; ⁷ and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. ⁸ For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to not be idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For he who lacks these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having forgotten the cleansing from his old sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers,^[h] be more diligent to make your calling and election sure. For if you do these things, you will never stumble. ¹¹ For thus you will be richly supplied with the entrance into the eternal Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

¹² Therefore I will not be negligent to remind you of these things, though you know them, and are established in the present truth. ¹³ I think it right, as long as I am in this tent, to stir you up by reminding you, ¹⁴ knowing that the putting off of my tent comes swiftly, even as our Lord Jesus Christ made clear to me. ¹⁵ Yes, I will make every effort that you may always be able to remember these things even after my departure. ¹⁶ For we didn’t follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. ¹⁷ For he received from God the Father honor and glory when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”Matthew 17:5; Mark 9:7; Luke 9:35 ¹⁸ We heard this voice come out of heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

¹⁹ We have the more sure word of prophecy; and you do well that you heed it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the morning star arises in your hearts: ²⁰ knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of private interpretation. ²¹ For no prophecy ever came by the will of man: but holy men of God spoke, being moved by the Holy Spirit.

2 But false prophets also arose among the people, as false teachers will also be among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, denying even the Master who bought them, bringing on themselves swift destruction. ² Many will follow their immoral^[i] ways, and as a result, the way of the truth will be maligned. ³ In covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words: whose sentence now from of old doesn’t linger, and their destruction will not slumber. ⁴ For if God didn’t spare angels when they sinned, but cast them down to Tartarus,^[j] and committed them to pits of darkness to be reserved for judgment; ⁵ and didn’t spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah with seven others, a preacher of righteousness, when he brought a flood on the world of the ungodly; ⁶ and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, having made them an example to those who would live in an ungodly way; ⁷ and delivered righteous Lot, who was very distressed by the lustful life of the wicked ⁸ (for that righteous man dwelling among them was tormented in his righteous soul from day to day with seeing and hearing lawless deeds): ⁹ the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptation and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, ¹⁰ but chiefly those who walk after the flesh in the lust of defilement and despise authority. Daring, self-willed, they are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries; ¹¹ whereas angels, though greater in might and power, don’t bring a railing judgment against them before the Lord. ¹² But these, as unreasoning creatures, born natural animals to be taken and destroyed, speaking evil in matters about which they are ignorant, will in their destroying surely be destroyed, ¹³ receiving the wages of unrighteousness; people who count it pleasure to revel in the daytime, spots and defects, reveling in their deceit while they feast with you; ¹⁴ having eyes full of adultery, and who can’t cease from sin; enticing unsettled souls; having a heart trained in greed; children of cursing; ¹⁵ forsaking the right way, they went astray, having followed the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of wrongdoing; ¹⁶ but he was rebuked for his own disobedience. A mute donkey spoke with a man’s voice and stopped the madness of the prophet. ¹⁷ These are wells without water, clouds driven by a storm; for whom the blackness of darkness has been reserved forever. ¹⁸ For, uttering great swelling words of emptiness, they entice in the lusts of the flesh, by licentiousness, those who are indeed escaping from those who live in error; ¹⁹ promising them liberty, while they themselves are bondservants of corruption; for a man is brought into bondage by whoever overcomes him.

²⁰ For if, after they have escaped the defilement of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in it and overcome, the last state has become worse for them than the first. ²¹ For it would be better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than after knowing it, to turn back from the holy commandment delivered to them. ²² But it has happened to them according to the true proverb, “The dog turns to his own vomit again,”Proverbs 26:11 and “the sow that has washed to wallowing in the mire.”

3 This is now, beloved, the second letter that I have written to you; and in both of them I stir up your sincere mind by reminding you ² that you should remember the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets and the commandment of us, the apostles of the Lord and Savior: ³ knowing this first, that in the last days mockers will come, walking after their own lusts ⁴ and saying, “Where is the promise of his coming? For, from the day that the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” ⁵ For this they willfully forget that there were heavens from of old, and an earth formed out of water and amid water by the word of God, ⁶ by which means the world that existed then, being overflowed with water, perished. ⁷ But the heavens that exist now and the earth, by the same word have been stored up for fire, being reserved against the day of judgment and destruction of ungodly men.

⁸ But don’t forget this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. ⁹ The Lord is not slow concerning his promise, as some count slowness; but he is patient with us, not wishing that anyone should perish, but that all should come to repentance. ¹⁰ But the day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night; in which the heavens will pass away with a great noise, and the elements will be dissolved with fervent heat, and the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up. ¹¹ Therefore since all these things will be destroyed like this, what kind of people ought you to be in holy living and godliness, ¹² looking for and earnestly desiring the coming of the day of God, which will cause the burning heavens to be dissolved, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? ¹³ But, according to his promise, we look for new heavens and a new earth, in which righteousness dwells.

¹⁴ Therefore, beloved, seeing that you look for these things, be diligent to be found in peace, without defect and blameless in his sight. ¹⁵ Regard the patience of our Lord as salvation; even as our beloved brother Paul also, according to the wisdom given to him, wrote to you, ¹⁶ as also in all of his letters, speaking in them of these things. In those, there are some things that are hard to understand, which the ignorant and unsettled twist, as they also do to the other Scriptures, to their own destruction. ¹⁷ You therefore, beloved, knowing these things beforehand, beware, lest being carried away with the error of the wicked, you fall from your own steadfastness. ¹⁸ But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

1 That which was from the beginning, that which we have heard, that which we have seen with our eyes, that which we saw, and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life ² (and the life was revealed, and we have seen, and testify, and declare to you the life, the eternal life, which was with the Father, and was revealed to us); ³ that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us. Yes, and our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ. ⁴ And we write these things to you, that our joy may be fulfilled.

⁵ This is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. ⁶ If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie, and don’t tell the truth. ⁷ But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin. ⁸ If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹ If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰ If we say that we haven’t sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

2 My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not sin. If anyone sins, we have a Counselor^[k] with the Father, Jesus Christ, the righteous. ² And he is the atoning sacrifice^[l] for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. ³ This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his commandments. ⁴ One who says, “I know him,” and doesn’t keep his commandments, is a liar, and the truth isn’t in him. ⁵ But God’s love has most certainly been perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know that we are in him: ⁶ he who says he remains in him ought himself also to walk just like he walked.

⁷ Brothers, I write no new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard from the beginning. ⁸ Again, I write a new commandment to you, which is true in him and in you; because the darkness is passing away and the true light already shines. ⁹ He who says he is in the light and hates his brother is in the darkness even until now. ¹⁰ He who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no occasion for stumbling in him. ¹¹ But he who hates his brother is in the darkness, and walks in the darkness, and doesn’t know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

¹² I write to you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.

¹³ I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning.

I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.

I write to you, little children, because you know the Father.

¹⁴ 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 remains in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

¹⁵ Don’t love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the Father’s love isn’t in him. ¹⁶ For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, isn’t the Father’s, but is the world’s. ¹⁷ The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does God’s will remains forever.

¹⁸ Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they didn’t belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be revealed that none of them belong to us. ²⁰ You have an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge.^{[m] 21} I have not written to you because you don’t know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. ²² Who is the liar but he who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies the Father and the Son. ²³ Whoever denies the Son doesn’t have the Father. He who confesses the Son has the Father also.

²⁴ Therefore, as for you, let that remain in you which you heard from the beginning. If that which you heard from the beginning remains in you, you also will remain in the Son, and in the Father. ²⁵ This is the promise which he promised us, the eternal life. ²⁶ These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray. ²⁷ As for you, the anointing which you received from him remains in you, and you don’t need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will remain in him. ²⁸ Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. ²⁹ If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of him.

3 See how great a love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God! For this cause the world doesn’t know us, because it didn’t know him. ² Beloved, now we are children of God. It is not yet revealed what we will be; but we know that when he is revealed, we will be like him; for we will see him just as he is. ³ Everyone who has this hope set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. ⁴ Everyone who sins also commits lawlessness. Sin is lawlessness. ⁵ You know that he was revealed to take away our sins, and no sin is in him. ⁶ Whoever remains in him doesn’t sin. Whoever sins hasn’t seen him and doesn’t know him.

⁷ Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous. ⁸ He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. To this end the Son of God was revealed: that he might destroy the works of the devil. ⁹ Whoever is born of God doesn’t commit sin, because his seed remains in him, and he can’t sin, because he is born of God. ¹⁰ In this the children of God are revealed, and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn’t do righteousness is not of God, neither is he who doesn’t love his brother. ¹¹ For this is the message which you heard from the beginning, that we should love one another; ¹² unlike Cain, who was of the evil one, and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother’s righteous.

¹³ Don’t be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. ¹⁴ We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn’t love his brother remains in death. ¹⁵ Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life remaining in him.

¹⁶ By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. ¹⁷ But whoever has the world’s goods and sees his brother in need, then closes his heart of compassion against him, how does God’s love remain in him? ¹⁸ My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth. ¹⁹ And by this we know that we are of the truth, and persuade our hearts before him, ²⁰ because if our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and knows all things. ²¹ Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God; ²² so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. ²³ This is his commandment, that we should believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, even as he commanded. ²⁴ He who keeps his commandments remains in him, and he in him. By this we know that he remains in us, by the Spirit which he gave us.

4 Beloved, don’t believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. ² By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit who confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God, ³ and every spirit who doesn’t confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is not of God, and this is the spirit of the Antichrist, of whom you have heard that it comes. Now it is in the world already. ⁴ You are of God, little children, and have overcome them; because greater is he who is in you than he who is in the world. ⁵ They are of the world. Therefore they speak of the world, and the world hears them. ⁶ We are of God. He who knows God listens to us. He who is not of God doesn’t listen to us. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

⁷ Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God. ⁸ He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love. ⁹ By this God’s love was revealed in us, that God has sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. ¹⁰ In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice^[n] for our sins. ¹¹ Beloved, if God loved us in this way, we also ought to love one another. ¹² No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.

¹³ By this we know that we remain in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. ¹⁴ We have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God remains in him, and he in God. ¹⁶ We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him. ¹⁷ In this, love has been made perfect among us, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment, because as he is, even so we are in this world. ¹⁸ There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear has punishment. He who fears is not made perfect in love. ¹⁹ We love him, because he first loved us. ²⁰ If a man says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who doesn’t love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? ²¹ This commandment we have from him, that he who loves God should also love his brother.

5 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God. Whoever loves the Father also loves the child who is born of him. ² By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and keep his commandments. ³ For this is loving God, that we keep his commandments. His commandments are not grievous. ⁴ For whatever is born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world: your faith. ⁵ Who is he 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 the water only, but with the water and the blood. It is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. ⁷ For there are three who testify:^{[o] 8} the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and the three agree as one. ⁹ If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater; for this is God’s testimony which he has testified concerning his Son. ¹⁰ He who believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. He who doesn’t believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning his Son. ¹¹ The testimony is this, that God gave to us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. ¹² He who has the Son has the life. He who doesn’t have God’s Son doesn’t have the life.

¹³ These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life, and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God.

¹⁴ This is the boldness which we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us. ¹⁵ And if we know that he listens to us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions which we have asked of him.

¹⁶ If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life for those who sin not leading to death. There is a sin leading to death. I don’t say that he should make a request concerning this. ¹⁷ All unrighteousness is sin, and there is a sin not leading to death.

¹⁸ We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him. ¹⁹ We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. ²⁰ We know that the Son of God has come, and has given us an understanding, that we know him who is true, and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.

²¹ Little children, keep yourselves from idols.

¹ The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all those who know the truth, ² for the truth’s sake, which remains in us, and it will be with us forever: ³ Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴ I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, even as we have been commanded by the Father. ⁵ Now I beg you, dear lady, not as though I wrote to you a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another. ⁶ This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it. ⁷ For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist. ⁸ Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward. ⁹ Whoever transgresses and doesn’t remain in the teaching of Christ, doesn’t have God. He who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son. ¹⁰ If anyone comes to you, and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him, ¹¹ for he who welcomes him participates in his evil deeds.

¹² Having many things to write to you, I don’t want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you, and to speak face to face, that our joy may be made full. ¹³ The children of your chosen sister greet you. Amen.

¹ The elder to Gaius the beloved, whom I love in truth.

² Beloved, I pray that you may prosper in all things and be healthy, even as your soul prospers. ³ For I rejoiced greatly when brothers came and testified about your truth, even as you walk in truth. ⁴ I have no greater joy than this: to hear about my children walking in truth.

⁵ Beloved, you do a faithful work in whatever you accomplish for those who are brothers and strangers. ⁶ They have testified about your love before the assembly. You will do well to send them forward on their journey in a way worthy of God, ⁷ because for the sake of the Name they went out, taking nothing from the Gentiles. ⁸ We therefore ought to receive such, that we may be fellow workers for the truth.

⁹ I wrote to the assembly, but Diotrephes, who loves to be first among them, doesn’t accept what we say. ¹⁰ Therefore if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words. Not content with this, neither does he himself receive the brothers, and those who would, he forbids and throws out of the assembly. ¹¹ Beloved, don’t imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn’t seen God. ¹² Demetrius has the testimony of all, and of the truth itself; yes, we also testify, and you know that our testimony is true.

¹³ I had many things to write to you, but I am unwilling to write to you with ink and pen; ¹⁴ but I hope to see you soon. Then we will speak face to face. Peace be to you. The friends greet you. Greet the friends by name.