(And the life was made clear to us, and we have seen it and are witnessing to it and giving you word of that eternal life which was with the Father and was seen by us);

We give you word of all we have seen and everything which has come to our ears, so that you may be united with us; and we are united with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ:

And these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full.

If we claim to be already free from sin, we lead ourselves astray and the truth has no place in our hearts.

If we confess our sins, God may be trusted, in his righteousness, to forgive us our sins and purify us from all wickedness.

If we say that we have not sinned [refusing to admit acts of sin], we make Him [out to be] a liar [by contradicting Him] and His word is not in us.

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may be without sin. And if any man is a sinner, we have a friend and helper with the Father, Jesus Christ, the upright one:

And this is how we know [daily, by experience] that we have come to know Him [to understand Him and be more deeply acquainted with Him]: if we habitually keep [focused on His precepts and obey] His commandments (teachings).

The person who says, "I have come to know Him," but does not obey what He commands, is lying [by such a profession], and the truth [about the matter] is not in his heart.

But whoever habitually keeps His word and obeys His precepts [and treasures His message in its entirety], in him the love of God has truly been perfected [it is completed and has reached maturity]. By this we know [for certain] that we are in Him:

The man who professes to be continuing in Him is himself also bound to live as He lived.

My dearly-loved friends, it is no new command that I am now giving you, but an old command which you have had from the very beginning. By the old command I mean the teaching which you have already received.

Yet, I am [also] writing to you about a new commandment [Note: This commandment was to love one another as Jesus loved them. See John 13:34]; its truth is [being demonstrated] by Christ [perfectly] and [also] by you people [in a lesser measure], because the darkness [of sin] is passing away, and the real light [of righteousness] is already shining [in people's lives].

Any one who professes to be in the light and yet hates his brother man is still in darkness.

he that loves his brother, abides in the light, and will be secure from stumbling.

I am writing to you, fathers [those believers who are spiritually mature], because you know Him who has existed from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men [those believers who are growing in spiritual maturity], because you have been victorious and have overcome the evil one. I have written to you, children [those who are new believers, those spiritually immature], because you have come to know the Father.

I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has existed from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong and vigorous, and the word of God remains [always] in you, and you have been victorious over the evil one [by accepting Jesus as Savior].

Be not loving the world, nor yet the things that are in the world: if anyone be loving the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

because all that is in the world (the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance produced by material possessions) is not from the Father, but is from the world.

Now the world passes away, and the lust of it; be he who does the will of God, abides forever.

Children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen, by which we know that it is the last hour.

They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

But you have an anointing from the Holy One [you have been set apart, specially gifted and prepared by the Holy Spirit], and all of you know [the truth because He teaches us, illuminates our minds, and guards us from error].

As for you, let the teaching which you have received from the very beginning continue in your hearts. If that teaching does continue in your hearts, you also will continue to be in union with the Son and with the Father.

I am writing these things to you about those whose purpose is that you may be turned out of the true way.

And, as for you, the anointing which ye have received from him, abideth in you, and ye have, no need, that anyone be teaching you; but, as, his anointing, is teaching you, and is, true, and is no falsehood, even just as it hath taught you, abide ye in him.

And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

If you know that He is absolutely righteous, you know [for certain] that everyone who practices righteousness [doing what is right and conforming to God’s will] has been born of Him.

Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not.

Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.

And every man who has this hope fixed on Him, purifies himself so as to be as pure as He is.

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and sin is lawlessness [ignoring God’s law by action or neglect or by tolerating wrongdoing—being unrestrained by His commands and His will].

Little children [i.e., dear ones], do not allow anyone to lead you astray [from the truth]; the person who continues to do what is right is [considered by God as] righteous, even as Christ is righteous.

Everyone who is fathered by God does not practice sin, because his seed resides in him, and [he is] not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God.

By this the children of God and the children of the devil are clearly identified: anyone who does not practice righteousness [who does not seek God’s will in thought, action, and purpose] is not of God, nor is the one who does not [unselfishly] love his [believing] brother.

Because, this, is the message which ye have heard from the beginning - that we should be loving one another, -

and not be like Cain, who was of the evil one and murdered his brother [Abel]. And why did he murder him? Because Cain’s deeds were evil, and his brother’s were righteous.

Do not be surprised, believers, if the world hates you.

We know that we have passed out of death into Life, because we love the brothers and sisters. He who does not love remains in [spiritual] death.

Anyone who has hate for his brother is a taker of life, and you may be certain that no taker of life has eternal life in him.

By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us]. And we ought to lay down our lives for the believers.

But if a man has this world's goods, and sees that his brother is in need, and keeps his heart shut against his brother, how is it possible for the love of God to be in him?

My little children, do not let our love be in word and in tongue, but let it be in act and in good faith.

By this we will know [without any doubt] that we are of the truth, and will assure our heart and quiet our conscience before Him

Beloved! if our heart be not condemning us, boldness, have we, towards God;

and we can be assured of receiving from God whatever we ask Him for, because we are obeying His commands [i.e., especially the one about loving others] and are practicing what is pleasing to Him.

And, this, is his commandment, - that we should believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and be loving one another - just as he gave a commandment unto us.

And he that keepeth his commandments dwelleth in him, and he in him. And hereby we know that he abideth in us, by the Spirit which he hath given us.

Loved ones, do not believe [the message of] every spirit [i.e., every person claiming to be a teacher], but test the spirits [i.e., require proof that they and their message are genuine] to see whether they represent God [or not], because many false prophets have begun circulating throughout the world.

By this you know and recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that acknowledges and confesses [the fact] that Jesus Christ has [actually] come in the flesh [as a man] is from God [God is its source];

These [false teachers] are part of the world, so [naturally] they speak [a message endorsed] by the world and the world listens to them.

We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he who is not of God heareth us not. By this we know the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Dear friends, let us love one another, because love is from God, and everyone who loves has been fathered by God and knows God.

Whoever does not love has never come to know God by experience, because God is love.

By this the love of God is revealed in us: that God sent his one and only Son into the world in order that we may live through him.

Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

By this we know [with confident assurance] that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given to us His [Holy] Spirit.

And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him.

By this love is perfected with us, so that we may have confidence in the day of judgment, because just as that one is, [so] also are we in this world.

Fear is a stranger to love; for perfect loves excludes all fear: since pain is the object of fear, he that is affected with fear, cannot be sincere in his love.

If one should say, I love God, and should be hating, his brother, false, is he; for, he that doth not love his brother, whom he hath seen, God, whom he hath not seen, he cannot love!

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been fathered by God, and everyone who loves {the father} also loves the [child] fathered by him.

By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

For, this is the love of God - that, his commandments, we be keeping, and, his commandments, are not burdensome;

because everyone who is fathered by God conquers the world.

This is he that came by water and blood, even Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.

If we take the witness of men to be true, the witness of God is greater: because this is the witness which God has given about his Son.

The one who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies confidently on Him as Savior] has the testimony within himself [because he can speak authoritatively about Christ from his own personal experience]. The one who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him [out to be] a liar, because he has not believed in the evidence that God has given regarding His Son.

Now what is testified, is this, that God has given to us eternal life: and this life is by his son.

These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God [which represents all that Jesus Christ is and does], so that you will know [with settled and absolute knowledge] that you [already] have eternal life.

And if we know that he listens to our requests, we can be sure that we have what we ask him for.

If any one sees his Brother committing some sin that is not a deadly sin, he will ask, and so be the means of giving Life to him--to any whose sin is not deadly. There is such a thing as deadly sin; about that I do not say that a man should pray.

All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death [one can repent of it and be forgiven].

We know that everyone who is fathered by God does not sin, but the one fathered by God, he protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

We know that we be of God, and that the world is altogether set on mischief.

We know that the son of God is come, and hath given us understanding, to know him that is true: and we be in the truth through his son Jesus Christ. He is very God, and eternal life.

Little children (believers, dear ones), guard yourselves from idols—[false teachings, moral compromises, and anything that would take God’s place in your heart].