Douay-Rheims Catholic Bible RHE
New Living Translation NLT
1 Dearly beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits if they be of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.
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Dear friends, do not believe everyone who claims to speak by the Spirit. You must test them to see if the spirit they have comes from God. For there are many false prophets in the world.
2 By this is the spirit of God known. Every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:
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This is how we know if they have the Spirit of God: If a person claiming to be a prophet acknowledges that Jesus Christ came in a real body, that person has the Spirit of God.
3 And every spirit that dissolveth Jesus is not of God. And this is Antichrist, of whom you have heard that he cometh: and he is now already in the world.
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But if someone claims to be a prophet and does not acknowledge the truth about Jesus, that person is not from God. Such a person has the spirit of the Antichrist, which you heard is coming into the world and indeed is already here.
4 You are of God, little children, and have overcome him. Because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.
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But you belong to God, my dear children. You have already won a victory over those people, because the Spirit who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world.
5 They are of the world. Therefore of the world they speak: and the world heareth them.
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Those people belong to this world, so they speak from the world’s viewpoint, and the world listens to them.
6 We are of God. He that knoweth God heareth us. He that is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth and the spirit of error.
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But we belong to God, and those who know God listen to us. If they do not belong to God, they do not listen to us. That is how we know if someone has the Spirit of truth or the spirit of deception.
7 Dearly beloved, let us love one another: for charity is of God. And every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God.
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Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
8 He that loveth not knoweth not God: for God is charity.
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But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love.
9 By this hath the charity of God appeared towards us, because God hath sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we may live by him.
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God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him.
10 In this is charity: not as though we had loved God, but because he hath first loved us, and sent his Son to be a propitiation for our sins.
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This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.
11 My dearest, if God hath so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
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Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.
12 No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abideth in us: and his charity is perfected in us.
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No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us.
13 In this we know that we abide in him, and he in us: because he hath given us of his spirit.
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And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.
14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father hath sent his Son to be the Saviour of the world.
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Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.
15 Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God abideth in him, and he in God.
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All who declare that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God.
16 And we have known and have believed the charity which God hath to us. God is charity: and he that abideth in charity abideth in God, and God in him.
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We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in his love. God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them.
17 In this is the charity of God perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment: because as he is, we also are in this world.
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And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we live like Jesus here in this world.
18 Fear is not in charity: but perfect charity casteth out fear, because fear hath sin. And he that feareth is not perfected in charity.
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Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
19 Let us therefore love God: because God first hath loved us.
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We love each other because he loved us first.
20 If any man say: I love God, and hateth his brother; he is a liar. For he that loveth not his brother whom he seeth, how can he love God whom he seeth not?
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If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a fellow believer, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we cannot see?
21 And this commandment we have from God, that he who loveth God love also his brother.
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And he has given us this command: Those who love God must also love their fellow believers.
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