The elder, to the elect lady and her children which I love in the truth: And not I only, but also all that have known the truth,

With you be grace, mercy, and peace from God the father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the son of the father, in truth and love.

And now beseech I thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that same, which we had from the beginning: that we should love one another.

And this is the love, that we should walk after his commandments. This commandment is, that as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.