| English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
| 1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves whoever has been born of him. | 1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has become a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. |
| 2By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. | 2We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. |
| 3For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome. | 3Loving God means keeping his commandments, and his commandments are not burdensome. |
| 4For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith. | 4For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith. |
| 5Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? | 5And who can win this battle against the world? Only those who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. |
| 6This is he who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ; not by the water only but by the water and the blood. And the Spirit is the one who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. | 6And Jesus Christ was revealed as God’s Son by his baptism in water and by shedding his blood on the cross —not by water only, but by water and blood. And the Spirit, who is truth, confirms it with his testimony. |
| 7For there are three that testify: | 7So we have these three witnesses — |
| 8the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three agree. | 8the Spirit, the water, and the blood—and all three agree. |
| 9If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater, for this is the testimony of God that he has borne concerning his Son. | 9Since we believe human testimony, surely we can believe the greater testimony that comes from God. And God has testified about his Son. |
| 10Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has borne concerning his Son. | 10All who believe in the Son of God know in their hearts that this testimony is true. Those who don’t believe this are actually calling God a liar because they don’t believe what God has testified about his Son. |
| 11And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. | 11And this is what God has testified: He has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. |
| 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. | 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have God’s Son does not have life. Conclusion |
| 13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life. | 13I have written this to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know you have eternal life. |
| 14And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. | 14And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. |
| 15And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him. | 15And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. |
| 16If anyone sees his brother committing a sin not leading to death, he shall ask, and God will give him life—to those who commit sins that do not lead to death. There is sin that leads to death; I do not say that one should pray for that. | 16If you see a fellow believer sinning in a way that does not lead to death, you should pray, and God will give that person life. But there is a sin that leads to death, and I am not saying you should pray for those who commit it. |
| 17All wrongdoing is sin, but there is sin that does not lead to death. | 17All wicked actions are sin, but not every sin leads to death. |
| 18We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him. | 18We know that God’s children do not make a practice of sinning, for God’s Son holds them securely, and the evil one cannot touch them. |
| 19We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one. | 19We know that we are children of God and that the world around us is under the control of the evil one. |
| 20And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. | 20And we know that the Son of God has come, and he has given us understanding so that we can know the true God. And now we live in fellowship with the true God because we live in fellowship with his Son, Jesus Christ. He is the only true God, and he is eternal life. |
| 21Little children, keep yourselves from idols. | 21Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts. |
| 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. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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