2
Beloved, we are
1God's children
2now, and what we will be
3has not yet appeared; but we know that
4when he appears
5 we shall be like him, because
6we shall see him as he is.
3
And everyone who
7thus hopes in him
8purifies himself as he is pure.
4
Everyone who makes a practice of sinning also practices lawlessness;
9sin is lawlessness.
5
You know that
10he appeared to
11take away sins, and
12in him there is no sin.
6
No one who abides in him keeps on sinning;
13no one who keeps on sinning has either seen him or known him.
7
Little children,
14let no one deceive you.
15Whoever practices righteousness is righteous, as he is righteous.
8
16Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was
17to destroy the works of the devil.
9
18No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God's seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God.
10
By this it is evident who are the children of God, and who are the children of the devil: whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God,
19nor is the one who
20does not love his brother.
Love One Another
11 For
21this is the message that you have heard from the beginning,
22that we should love one another.
12
We should not be like
23Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him?
24Because his own deeds were evil and his brother's righteous.