New International Version NIV
The Message Bible MSG
1 My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus Christ, the Righteous One.
1
I write this, dear children, to guide you out of sin. But if anyone does sin, we have a Priest-Friend in the presence of the Father: Jesus Christ, righteous Jesus.
2 He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
2
When he served as a sacrifice for our sins, he solved the sin problem for good - not only ours, but the whole world's.
3 We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands.
3
Here's how we can be sure that we know God in the right way: Keep his commandments.
4 Whoever says, “I know him,” but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person.
4
If someone claims, "I know him well!" but doesn't keep his commandments, he's obviously a liar. His life doesn't match his words.
5 But if anyone obeys his word, love for God is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him:
5
But the one who keeps God's word is the person in whom we see God's mature love. This is the only way to be sure we're in God.
6 Whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
6
Anyone who claims to be intimate with God ought to live the same kind of life Jesus lived.
7 Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard.
7
My dear friends, I'm not writing anything new here. This is the oldest commandment in the book, and you've known it from day one. It's always been implicit in the Message you've heard.
8 Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
8
On the other hand, perhaps it is new, freshly minted as it is in both Christ and you - the darkness on its way out and the True Light already blazing!
9 Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness.
9
Anyone who claims to live in God's light and hates a brother or sister is still in the dark.
10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.
10
It's the person who loves brother and sister who dwells in God's light and doesn't block the light from others.
11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
11
But whoever hates is still in the dark, stumbles around in the dark, doesn't know which end is up, blinded by the darkness.
12 I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
12
I remind you, my dear children: Your sins are forgiven in Jesus' name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.
13
You veterans were in on the ground floor, and know the One who started all this; you newcomers have won a big victory over the Evil One.
14 I write to you, dear children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God lives in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
14
You veterans know the One who started it all; and you newcomers - such vitality and strength! God's word is so steady in you. Your fellowship with God enables you to gain a victory over the Evil One.
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
15
Don't love the world's ways. Don't love the world's goods. Love of the world squeezes out love for the Father.
16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
16
Practically everything that goes on in the world - wanting your own way, wanting everything for yourself, wanting to appear important - has nothing to do with the Father. It just isolates you from him.
17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
17
The world and all its wanting, wanting, wanting is on the way out - but whoever does what God wants is set for eternity.
18 Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour.
18
Children, time is just about up. You heard that Antichrist is coming. Well, they're all over the place, antichrists everywhere you look. That's how we know that we're close to the end.
19 They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
19
They left us, but they were never really with us. If they had been, they would have stuck it out with us, loyal to the end. In leaving, they showed their true colors, showed they never did belong.
20 But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.
20
But you belong. The Holy One anointed you, and you all know it.
21 I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth.
21
I haven't been writing this to tell you something you don't know, but to confirm the truth you do know, and to remind you that the truth doesn't breed lies.
22 Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist—denying the Father and the Son.
22
So who is lying here? It's the person who denies that Jesus is the Divine Christ, that's who. This is what makes an antichrist: denying the Father, denying the Son.
23 No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
23
No one who denies the Son has any part with the Father, but affirming the Son is an embrace of the Father as well.
24 As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.
24
Stay with what you heard from the beginning, the original message. Let it sink into your life. If what you heard from the beginning lives deeply in you, you will live deeply in both Son and Father.
25 And this is what he promised us—eternal life.
25
This is exactly what Christ promised: eternal life, real life!
26 I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray.
26
I've written to warn you about those who are trying to deceive you.
27 As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.
27
But they're no match for what is embedded deeply within you - Christ's anointing, no less! You don't need any of their so-called teaching. Christ's anointing teaches you the truth on everything you need to know about yourself and him, uncontaminated by a single lie. Live deeply in what you were taught.
28 And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
28
And now, children, stay with Christ. Live deeply in Christ. Then we'll be ready for him when he appears, ready to receive him with open arms, with no cause for red-faced guilt or lame excuses when he arrives.
29 If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
29
Once you're convinced that he is right and righteous, you'll recognize that all who practice righteousness are God's true children.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.