| New International Version | NET Bible |
| 1See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. | 1(See what sort of love the Father has given to us: that we should be called God's children--and indeed we are! For this reason the world does not know us: because it did not know him. |
| 2Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. | 2Dear friends, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that whenever it is revealed we will be like him, because we will see him just as he is. |
| 3All who have this hope in him purify themselves, just as he is pure. | 3And everyone who has this hope focused on him purifies himself, just as Jesus is pure). |
| 4Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness. | 4Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; indeed, sin is lawlessness. |
| 5But you know that he appeared so that he might take away our sins. And in him is no sin. | 5And you know that Jesus was revealed to take away sins, and in him there is no sin. |
| 6No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him. | 6Everyone who resides in him does not sin; everyone who sins has neither seen him nor known him. |
| 7Dear children, do not let anyone lead you astray. The one who does what is right is righteous, just as he is righteous. | 7Little children, let no one deceive you: The one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as Jesus is righteous. |
| 8The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil's work. | 8The one who practices sin is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was revealed: to destroy the works of the devil. |
| 9No one who is born of God will continue to sin, because God's seed remains in them; they cannot go on sinning, because they have been born of God. | 9Everyone who has been fathered by God does not practice sin, because God's seed resides in him, and thus he is not able to sin, because he has been fathered by God. |
| 10This is how we know who the children of God are and who the children of the devil are: Anyone who does not do what is right is not God's child, nor is anyone who does not love their brother and sister. | 10By this the children of God and the children of the devil are revealed: Everyone who does not practice righteousness--the one who does not love his fellow Christian--is not of God. |
| 11For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another. | 11For this is the gospel message that you have heard from the beginning: that we should love one another, |
| 12Do not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own actions were evil and his brother's were righteous. | 12not like Cain who was of the evil one and brutally murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother's were righteous. |
| 13Do not be surprised, my brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. | 13Therefore do not be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. |
| 14We know that we have passed from death to life, because we love each other. Anyone who does not love remains in death. | 14We know that we have crossed over from death to life because we love our fellow Christians. The one who does not love remains in death. |
| 15Anyone who hates a brother or sister is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. | 15Everyone who hates his fellow Christian is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life residing in him. |
| 16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. | 16We have come to know love by this: that Jesus laid down his life for us; thus we ought to lay down our lives for our fellow Christians. |
| 17If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? | 17But whoever has the world's possessions and sees his fellow Christian in need and shuts off his compassion against him, how can the love of God reside in such a person? |
| 18Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. | 18Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue but in deed and truth. |
| 19This is how we know that we belong to the truth and how we set our hearts at rest in his presence: | 19And by this we will know that we are of the truth and will convince our conscience in his presence, |
| 20If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything. | 20that if our conscience condemns us, that God is greater than our conscience and knows all things. |
| 21Dear friends, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God | 21Dear friends, if our conscience does not condemn us, we have confidence in the presence of God, |
| 22and receive from him anything we ask, because we keep his commands and do what pleases him. | 22and whatever we ask we receive from him, because we keep his commandments and do the things that are pleasing to him. |
| 23And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us. | 23Now this is his commandment: that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he gave us the commandment. |
| 24The one who keeps God's commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us. | 24And the person who keeps his commandments resides in God, and God in him. Now by this we know that God resides in us: by the Spirit he has given us. |
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