1 John 3:9-19

9 No * one who is ¹born of God ²practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot * sin, because he is born of God.

10 By this the ³children of God and the ⁴children of the devil are obvious: anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who ⁵does not love his ⁶brother.

11 ⁷For this is the message ⁸which you have heard from the beginning, ⁹that we should love one another;

12 not as ¹⁰Cain, who was of ¹¹the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because ¹²his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.

13 Do not be surprised, brethren, if ¹³the world hates you.

14 We know that we have ¹⁴passed out of death into life, ¹⁵because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

15 Everyone who ¹⁶hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that ¹⁷no * murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

16 We know love by this, that ¹⁸He laid down His life for us; and ¹⁹we ought to lay down our lives for the ²⁰brethren.

17 But ²¹whoever * has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and ²²closes his heart against him, ²³how does the love of God abide in him?

18 ²⁴Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ²⁵truth.

19 We will know by this that we are ²⁶of the truth, and will assure our heart before Him

Cross References

• 1. John 1:13; John 3:3; 1 John 2:29; 1 John 4:7; 1 John 5:1, 4, 18; 3 John 11
• 2. 1 Peter 1:23; 1 John 3:6; 1 John 5:18
• 3. John 1:12; John 11:52; Romans 8:16; 1 John 3:1, 2
• 4. Matthew 13:38; John 8:44; 1 John 3:8
• 5. Romans 13:8f; Colossians 3:14; 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 John 4:8
• 6. 1 John 2:9
• 7. 1 John 1:5
• 8. 1 John 2:7
• 9. John 13:4; John 15:12; 1 John 4:7, 11f, 21; 2 John 5
• 10. Genesis 4:8
• 11. Matthew 5:37; 1 John 2:13
• 12. Psalms 38:20; Proverbs 29:10; John 8:40, 41
• 13. John 15:18; John 17:14
• 14. John 5:24
• 15. John 13:35; 1 John 2:10
• 16. Matthew 5:21; John 8:44
• 17. Galatians 5:20; Revelation 21:8
• 18. John 10:11; John 15:13
• 19. Philippians 2:17; 1 Thessalonians 2:8
• 20. 1 John 2:9
• 21. James 2:15
• 22. Deuteronomy 15:7
• 23. 1 John 4:20
• 24. 1 John 2:1; 1 John 3:7
• 25. 2 John 1; 3 John 1
• 26. 1 John 2:21

Footnotes

• [a] Or "begotten"
• [b] Or "begotten"
• [c] Lit "everyone"
• [d] Lit "inward parts"
• [e] Lit "from"
• [f] Lit "persuade"