| International Standard Version | Holman Christian Standard Bible |
| 1My little children, I'm writing these things to you so that you might not sin. Yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father—Jesus, the Messiah, one who is righteous. | 1My little children, I am writing you these things so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father--Jesus Christ the Righteous One. |
| 2It is he who is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the whole world's. | 2He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not only for ours, but also for those of the whole world. |
| 3This is how we can be sure that we have come to know him: if we continually keep his commandments. | 3This is how we are sure that we have come to know Him: by keeping His commands. |
| 4The person who says, "I have come to know him," but does not continually keep his commandments is a liar, and the truth has no place in that person. | 4The one who says, "I have come to know Him," yet doesn't keep His commands, is a liar, and the truth is not in him. |
| 5But whoever continually keeps his commandments is the kind of person in whom God's love has truly been perfected. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God: | 5But whoever keeps His word, truly in him the love of God is perfected. This is how we know we are in Him: |
| 6The one who says that he abides in him must live the same way he himself lived. | 6The one who says he remains in Him should walk just as He walked. |
| 7Dear friends, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but an old commandment that you have had from the beginning. This old commandment is the word you have heard. | 7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old command that you have had from the beginning. The old command is the message you have heard. |
| 8On the other hand, I am writing to you a new commandment that is truly in him and in you. For the darkness is fading away, and the true light is already shining. | 8Yet I am writing you a new command, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining. |
| 9The person who says that he is in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. | 9The one who says he is in the light but hates his brother is in the darkness until now. |
| 10The person who loves his brother abides in the light, and there is no reason for him to stumble. | 10The one who loves his brother remains in the light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. |
| 11But the person who hates his brother is in the darkness and lives in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. | 11But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness, walks in the darkness, and doesn't know where he's going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes. |
| 12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name. | 12I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven because of Jesus' name. |
| 13I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. I am writing to you, young people, because you have overcome the evil one. | 13I am writing to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have had victory over the evil one. |
| 14I have written to you, little children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known the one who has existed from the beginning. I have written to you, young people, because you are strong and because God's word remains in you and you have overcome the evil one. | 14I have written to you, children, because you have come to know the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have come to know the One who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, God's word remains in you, and you have had victory over the evil one. |
| 15Stop loving the world and the things that are in the world. If anyone persists in loving the world, the Father's love is not in him. | 15Do not love the world or the things that belong to the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in him. |
| 16For everything that is in the world—the desire for fleshly gratification, the desire for possessions, and worldly arrogance—is not from the Father but is from the world. | 16For everything that belongs to the world--the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride in one's lifestyle--is not from the Father, but is from the world. |
| 17And the world and its desires are fading away, but the person who does God's will remains forever. | 17And the world with its lust is passing away, but the one who does God's will remains forever. |
| 18Little children, it is the last hour. Just as you heard that an antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour. | 18Children, it is the last hour. And as you have heard, "Antichrist is coming," even now many antichrists have come. We know from this that it is the last hour. |
| 19They left us, but they were not part of us, for if they had been part of us, they would have stayed with us. Their leaving made it clear that none of them was really part of us. | 19They went out from us, but they did not belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us. However, they went out so that it might be made clear that none of them belongs to us. |
| 20You have an anointing from the Holy One and know all things. | 20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you have knowledge. |
| 21I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because lies don't come from truth. | 21I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth. |
| 22Who is a liar but the person who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? The person who denies the Father and the Son is an antichrist. | 22Who is the liar, if not the one who denies that Jesus is the Messiah? This one is the antichrist: the one who denies the Father and the Son. |
| 23No one who denies the Son has the Father. The person who acknowledges the Son also has the Father. | 23No one who denies the Son can have the Father; he who confesses the Son has the Father as well. |
| 24What you have heard from the beginning must abide in you. If what you have heard from the beginning abides in you, you will also abide in the Son and in the Father. | 24What you have heard from the beginning must remain in you. If what you have heard from the beginning remains in you, then you will remain in the Son and in the Father. |
| 25The message that the Son himself declared to us is eternal life. | 25And this is the promise that He Himself made to us: eternal life. |
| 26I have written to you about those who are trying to deceive you. | 26I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you. |
| 27The anointing you received from God abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you this. Instead, because God's anointing teaches you about everything and is true and not a lie, abide in him, as he taught you to do. | 27The anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you don't need anyone to teach you. Instead, His anointing teaches you about all things and is true and is not a lie; just as He has taught you, remain in Him. |
| 28Even now, little children, abide in him. Then, when he appears, we will have confidence and will not turn away from him in shame when he comes. | 28So now, little children, remain in Him, so that when He appears we may have boldness and not be ashamed before Him at His coming. |
| 29Since you know that he is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been fathered by God. | 29If you know that He is righteous, you know this as well: Everyone who does what is right has been born of Him. |
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