2 John 1

⁴who wants everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

³²Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

¹⁸Little children, let us love not in word and speech, but in action and truth.

²²Since you have purified your souls by obedience to the truth so that you have a genuine love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.

²³For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

¹³The children of your elect sister send you greetings.

¹As a fellow elder, a witness of Christ’s sufferings, and a partaker of the glory to be revealed, I appeal to the elders among you:

¹⁷The world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God remains forever.

⁸If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

¹⁴I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

⁷If you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.

¹²Therefore I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are established in the truth you now have.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

¹⁰And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.

⁷To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

²To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹⁴And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

⁶For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. What matters is faith expressing itself through love.

¹³Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.

³For I was overjoyed when the brothers came and testified about your devotion to the truth, in which you continue to walk.

⁴I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.

⁸For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light,

⁶Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.

²and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

⁶If we say we have fellowship with Him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth.

⁷But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

⁹Whoever is wise, let him understand these things; whoever is discerning, let him know them. For the ways of the Lord are right, and the righteous walk in them but the rebellious stumble in them.

¹¹This is the message you have heard from the beginning: We should love one another.

¹²This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you.

³⁴A new commandment I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you also must love one another.

³⁵By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another.”

⁹Now about brotherly love, you do not need anyone to write to you, because you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another.

²³And this is His commandment: that we should believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and we should love one another just as He commanded us.

²⁰If anyone says, “I love God,” but hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

³For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome,

²⁴As for you, let what you have heard from the beginning remain in you. If it does, you will also remain in the Son and in the Father.

¹⁰If you keep My commandments, you will remain in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and remain in His love.

¹⁵If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.

⁵But if anyone keeps His word, the love of God has been truly perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him:

¹³For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

¹⁴The entire law is fulfilled in a single decree: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”

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.

²By this you will know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God,

²⁶I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

¹⁸Children, it is the last hour; and just as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have appeared. This is how we know it is the last hour.

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. But their departure made it clear that none of them belonged to us.

¹Now there were also false prophets among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you. They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the Master who bought them—bringing swift destruction on themselves.

²Many will follow in their depravity, and because of them the way of truth will be defamed.

¹⁶By common confession, the mystery of godliness is great: He appeared in the flesh, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was proclaimed among the nations, was believed in throughout the world, was taken up in glory.

¹⁴The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

³⁵So do not throw away your confidence; it holds a great reward.

¹¹I am coming soon. Hold fast to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.

¹⁴If what he has built survives, he will receive a reward.

⁸He who plants and he who waters are one in purpose, and each will be rewarded according to his own labor.

¹⁵See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.

⁴Have you suffered so much for nothing, if it really was for nothing?

¹⁶“My teaching is not My own,” Jesus replied. “It comes from Him who sent Me.

¹⁷If anyone desires to do His will, he will know whether My teaching is from God or whether I speak on My own.

¹⁶Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.

²²Who is the liar, if it is not the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist, who denies the Father and the Son.

²³Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.

⁶If anyone does not remain in Me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers. Such branches are gathered up, thrown into the fire, and burned.

³We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And this fellowship of ours is with the Father and with His Son, Jesus Christ.

⁶Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

¹⁰Reject a divisive man after a first and second admonition,

¹⁷Now I urge you, brothers, to watch out for those who create divisions and obstacles that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Turn away from them.

¹⁸For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.

⁶Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to keep away from any brother who leads an undisciplined life that is not in keeping with the tradition you received from us.

⁵having a form of godliness but denying its power. Turn away from such as these!

⁶They are the kind who worm their way into households and captivate vulnerable women who are weighed down with sins and led astray by various passions,

¹⁴Take note of anyone who does not obey the instructions we have given in this letter. Do not associate with him, so that he may be ashamed.

¹¹But now I am writing you not to associate with anyone who claims to be a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a verbal abuser, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat.

²²Do not be too quick in the laying on of hands and thereby share in the sins of others. Keep yourself pure.

¹¹Have no fellowship with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

⁴Then I heard another voice from heaven say: “Come out of her, My people, so that you will not share in her sins or contract any of her plagues.

¹⁸When you see a thief, you befriend him, and throw in your lot with adulterers.

¹²I still have much to tell you, but you cannot yet bear to hear it.

¹³I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with pen and ink.

¹⁴Instead, I hope to see you soon and speak with you face to face. Peace to you. The friends here send you greetings. Greet each of our friends there by name.

¹¹I have told you these things so that My joy may be in you and your joy may be complete.

⁵After I go through Macedonia, however, I will come to you; for I will be going through Macedonia.

⁶Perhaps I will stay with you awhile, or even spend the winter, so that you can help me on my journey, wherever I go.

⁸I speak with him face to face, clearly and not in riddles; he sees the form of the Lord. Why then were you unafraid to speak against My servant Moses?”

¹³But now I am coming to You; and I am saying these things while I am in the world, so that they may have My joy fulfilled within them.

¹The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth—

²because of the truth that abides in us and will be with us forever:

¹³The church in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you greetings, as does my son Mark.