| International Standard Version | English Standard Version |
| 1Dear friends, stop believing every spirit. Instead, test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. | 1Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out into the world. |
| 2This is how you can recognize God's Spirit: Every spirit who acknowledges that Jesus the Messiah has become human—and remains so—is from God. | 2By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, |
| 3But every spirit who does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist. You have heard that he is coming, and now he is already in the world. | 3and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. |
| 4Little children, you belong to God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. | 4Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. |
| 5These people belong to the world. That is why they speak from the world's perspective, and the world listens to them. | 5They are from the world; therefore they speak from the world, and the world listens to them. |
| 6We belong to God. The person who knows God listens to us. Whoever does not belong to God does not listen to us. This is how we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of deceit. | 6We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error. |
| 7Dear friends, let us continuously love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born from God and knows God. | 7Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. |
| 8The person who does not love does not know God, because God is love. | 8Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. |
| 9This is how God's love was revealed among us: God sent his unique Son into the world so that we might live through him. | 9In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. |
| 10This is love: not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. | 10In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. |
| 11Dear friends, if this is the way God loved us, we must also love one another. | 11Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. |
| 12No one has ever seen God. If we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. | 12No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us. |
| 13This is how we know that we abide in him and he in us: he has given us his Spirit. | 13By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. |
| 14We have seen for ourselves and can testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. | 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. |
| 15God abides in the one who acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, and he abides in God. | 15Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. |
| 16We have come to know and rely on the love that God has for us. God is love, and the person who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. | 16So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. |
| 17This is how love has been perfected among us: we will have confidence on the day of judgment because, during our time in this world, we are just like him. | 17By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. |
| 18There is no fear where love exists. Rather, perfect love banishes fear, for fear involves punishment, and the person who lives in fear has not been perfected in love. | 18There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. |
| 19We love because God first loved us. | 19We love because he first loved us. |
| 20Whoever says, "I love God," but hates his brother is a liar. The one who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love the God whom he has not seen. | 20If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. |
| 21And this is the commandment that we have from him: the person who loves God must also love his brother. | 21And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. |
The Holy Bible: International Standard Version® Release 2.1 Copyright © 1996-2012 The ISV Foundation
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED INTERNATIONALLY. | ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. |
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