3 John 1:1-14

You Walk in the Truth

1 ¹The elder to the beloved ²Gaius, whom I ³love in truth.

2 Beloved, I pray that in all respects you may prosper and be in good health, just as your soul prospers.

3 For I ⁴was very glad when ⁵brethren came and testified to your truth, that is, how you ⁶are walking in truth.

4 I have no greater joy than ^[a]this, to hear of ⁷my children ⁸walking in the truth.

5 Beloved, you are acting faithfully in whatever * you accomplish for the ⁹brethren, and ^[b]especially when they are ¹⁰strangers;

6 and they have testified to your love before the church. You will do well to ¹¹send them on their way in a manner ¹²worthy of God.

7 For they went out for the sake of ¹³the Name, ¹⁴accepting nothing from the Gentiles.

8 Therefore we ought to ^[c]support such men, so that we may ^[d]be fellow workers ^[e]with the truth.

9 I wrote something to the church; but Diotrephes, who loves to ¹⁵be first among them, does not accept ^[f]what we say.

10 For this reason, ¹⁶if I come, I will call attention to his deeds which he does, unjustly accusing us with wicked words; and not satisfied with this, he himself does not ¹⁷receive the ¹⁸brethren, either, and he forbids those who desire to do so and ¹⁹puts them out of the church.

11 Beloved, ²⁰do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. ²¹The one who does good is of God; ²²the one who does evil has not seen God.

12 Demetrius ²³has received a good testimony from everyone, and from the truth itself; and we add our testimony, and ²⁴you know that our testimony is true.

13 ²⁵I had many things to write to you, but I am not willing to write them to you with pen and ink;

14 but I hope to see you shortly, and we will speak face to face.

Cross References

• 1. 2 John 1
• 2. Acts 19:29; Acts 20:4; Romans 16:23; 1 Corinthians 1:14
• 3. 1 John 3:18; 2 John 1
• 4. 2 John 4
• 5. Acts 1:15; Galatians 6:10; 3 John 5, 10
• 6. 2 John 4
• 7. 1 Corinthians 4:14; 2 Corinthians 6:13; Galatians 4:19; 1 Thessalonians 2:11; 1 Timothy 1:2; 2 Timothy 1:2; Philemon 10; 1 John 2:1
• 8. 2 John 4
• 9. Acts 1:15; Galatians 6:10; 3 John 3, 10
• 10. Romans 12:13; Hebrews 13:2
• 11. Acts 15:3; Titus 3:13
• 12. Colossians 1:10; 1 Thessalonians 2:12
• 13. John 15:21; Acts 5:41; Philippians 2:9
• 14. Acts 20:33, 35
• 15. 2 John 9
• 16. 2 John 12
• 17. 2 John 10; 3 John 5
• 18. Acts 1:15; Galatians 6:10; 3 John 3, 5
• 19. John 9:34
• 20. Psalms 34:14; Psalms 37:27
• 21. 1 John 2:29; 1 John 3:10
• 22. 1 John 3:6
• 23. Acts 6:3; 1 Timothy 3:7
• 24. John 19:35; John 21:24
• 25. 2 John 12

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "these things, that I hear"
• [b]. Lit "this"
• [c]. Or "receive such men as guests"
• [d]. Or "prove ourselves to be"
• [e]. Or "for"
• [f]. Lit "us"