3 John 1

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

²³Gaius, who has hosted me and all the church, sends you greetings. Erastus, the city treasurer, sends you greetings, as does our brother Quartus.

¹⁴I thank God that I did not baptize any of you except Crispus and Gaius,

²⁹Soon the whole city was in disarray. They rushed together into the theatre, dragging with them Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul’s traveling companions from Macedonia.

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:

⁴Paul was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia.

³His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence.

⁴Through these He has given us His precious and magnificent promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, now that you have escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.

¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

⁴because we have heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all the saints—

⁵the faith and love proceeding from the hope stored up for you in heaven, of which you have already heard in the word of truth, the gospel

⁸Above all, love one another deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. May the Lord answer you in the day of trouble; may the name of the God of Jacob protect you.

²May He send you help from the sanctuary and sustain you from Zion.

¹³And we continually thank God because, when you received the word of God that you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it truly is, the word of God, which is also now at work in you who believe.

¹⁴For you, brothers, became imitators of the churches of God in Judea that are in Christ Jesus. You suffered from your own countrymen the very things they suffered from the Jews,

⁴I was overjoyed to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as the Father has commanded us.

⁶But just now, Timothy has returned from his visit with the good news about your faith, your love, and the fond memories you have preserved, longing to see us just as we long to see you.

⁷For this reason, brothers, in all our distress and persecution, we have been reassured about you, because of your faith.

¹¹I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.

¹⁹After all, who is our hope, our joy, our crown of boasting, if it is not you yourselves in the presence of our Lord Jesus at His coming?

²⁰You are indeed our glory and our joy.

⁸First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being proclaimed all over the world.

⁹God, whom I serve with my spirit in preaching the gospel of His Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you

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

¹⁹My children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,

²⁴The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

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

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

³“Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴and so that the Lord may fulfill His promise to me: ‘If your descendants take heed to walk faithfully before Me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a man on the throne of Israel.’

¹⁰Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to the family of faith.

⁴²And the Lord answered, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom the master puts in charge of his servants to give them their portion at the proper time?

¹⁰Whoever is faithful with very little will also be faithful with much, and whoever is dishonest with very little will also be dishonest with much.

¹¹So if you have not been faithful with worldly wealth, who will entrust you with true riches?

¹⁷And whatever you do, in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

⁴⁵Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the others their food at the proper time?

¹Therefore, since God in His mercy has given us this ministry, we do not lose heart.

²Instead, we have renounced secret and shameful ways. We do not practice deceit, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by open proclamation of the truth, we commend ourselves to every man’s conscience in the sight of God.

¹²encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.

³Sent on their way by the church, they passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, recounting the conversion of the Gentiles and bringing great joy to all the brothers.

¹³Do your best to equip Zenas the lawyer and Apollos, so that they will have everything they need.

⁵because I hear about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints.

⁶I pray that your partnership in the faith may become effective as you fully acknowledge every good thing that is ours in Christ.

¹⁰so that you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God,

¹⁴Nevertheless, you have done well to share in my affliction.

⁵For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.

¹⁵Then Naaman and all his attendants went back to the man of God, stood before him, and declared, “Now I know for sure that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel. So please accept a gift from your servant.”

¹⁶But Elisha replied, “As surely as the Lord lives, before whom I stand, I will not accept it.” And although Naaman urged him to accept it, he refused.

³Without growing weary, you have persevered and endured many things for the sake of My name.

¹⁸What then is my reward? That in preaching the gospel I may offer it free of charge, and so not use up my rights in preaching it.

⁷Was it a sin for me to humble myself in order to exalt you, because I preached the gospel of God to you free of charge?

⁸I robbed other churches by accepting their support in order to serve you.

²⁴Now I rejoice in my sufferings for you, and I fill up in my flesh what is lacking in regard to Christ’s afflictions for the sake of His body, which is the church.

⁵What then is Apollos? And what is Paul? They are servants through whom you believed, as the Lord has assigned to each his role.

⁶I planted the seed and Apollos watered it, but God made it grow.

¹⁰If Timothy comes, see to it that he has nothing to fear while he is with you, for he is doing the work of the Lord, just as I am.

¹¹No one, then, should treat him with contempt. Send him on his way in peace so that he can return to me, for I am expecting him along with the brothers.

¹As God’s fellow workers, then, we urge you not to receive God’s grace in vain.

³Yes, and I ask you, my true yokefellow, to help these women who have contended at my side for the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my fellow workers, whose names are in the Book of Life.

²³As for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker among you. As for our brothers, they are messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ.

¹¹Jesus, who is called Justus, also sends greetings. These are the only Jews among my fellow workers for the kingdom of God, and they have been a comfort to me.

⁷As God’s steward, an overseer must be above reproach—not self-willed, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not greedy for money.

⁸Instead, he must be hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined.

²⁴A dispute also arose among the disciples as to which of them should be considered the greatest.

²⁵So Jesus declared, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them, and those in authority over them call themselves benefactors.

⁴They tie up heavy, burdensome loads and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.

⁵All their deeds are done for men to see. They broaden their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.

⁴⁸And He said to them, “Whoever welcomes this little child in My name welcomes Me, and whoever welcomes Me welcomes the One who sent Me. For whoever is the least among all of you, he is the greatest.”

³⁴But they were silent, for on the way they had been arguing about which of them was the greatest.

⁴⁰He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives the One who sent Me.

⁴¹Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.

⁵You who tremble at His word, hear the word of the Lord: “Your brothers who hate you and exclude you because of My name have said, ‘Let the Lord be glorified that we may see your joy!’ But they will be put to shame.”

¹⁰He who winks the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will come to ruin.

⁸A wise heart will receive commandments, but foolish lips will come to ruin.

²²Blessed are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name as evil because of the Son of Man.

²I already warned you the second time I was with you. So now in my absence I warn those who sinned earlier and everyone else: If I return, I will not spare anyone,

²²His parents said this because they were afraid of the Jews. For the Jews had already determined that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would be put out of the synagogue.

¹⁶Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!

¹⁷Learn to do right; seek justice and correct the oppressor. Defend the fatherless and plead the case of the widow.”

²⁷Turn away from evil and do good, so that you will abide forever.

¹Be imitators of God, therefore, as beloved children,

¹¹He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

¹³Who can harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

²⁰Everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come into the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed.

⁷Furthermore, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the snare of the devil.

²⁴This is the disciple who testifies to these things and who has written them down. And we know that his testimony is true.

²²“Cornelius the centurion has sent us,” they said. “He is a righteous and God-fearing man with a good reputation among the whole Jewish nation. A holy angel instructed him to request your presence in his home so he could hear a message from you.”

¹²There a man named Ananias, a devout observer of the law who was highly regarded by all the Jews living there,

³⁵The one who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.

¹²Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.

¹²I have many things to write to you, but I would prefer not to do so with paper and ink. Instead, I hope to come and speak with you face to face, so that our joy may be complete.

²³“It is fine,” said the steward. “Do not be afraid. Your God, the God of your father, gave you the treasure that was in your sacks. I received your silver.” Then he brought Simeon out to them.

²³Peace to the brothers and love with faith from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

¹I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a servant of the church in Cenchrea.

²Welcome her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the saints, and assist her with anything she may need from you. For she has been a great help to many people, including me.

¹King Nebuchadnezzar, To the people of every nation and language who dwell in all the earth: May your prosperity be multiplied.

¹⁶So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.

¹⁴Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.