the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
Click here to join the effort!
Read the Bible
THE MESSAGE
3 John 1:11
Bible Study Resources
Parallel Translations
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Beloued, follow not that which is euill, but that which is good. He that doth good, is of God: but hee that doth euill, hath not seene God.
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does what is good is of God; the one who does what is evil has not seen God.
My dear friend, do not follow what is bad; follow what is good. The one who does good belongs to God. But the one who does evil has never known God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Dear friend, don't copy the evil deeds of others! Follow the example of people who do kind deeds. They are God's children, but those who are always doing evil have never seen God.
Dear friend, don't imitate the bad, but the good. Those who do what is good are from God; those who do what is bad are not from God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He that does good is of God. He that does evil has not seen God.
My dear friend, don't follow what is bad; follow what is good. Whoever does what is good is from God. But whoever does evil has never known God.
Beloued, followe not that which is euill, but that which is good: he that doeth well, is of God: but he that doeth euill, hath not seene God.
Our beloved, do not follow that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God: but he who does evil has not seen God.
My dear friend, do not imitate what is bad, but imitate what is good. Whoever does good belongs to God; whoever does what is bad has not seen God.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate the bad, but the good. The one doing good is of God; but the one doing bad has not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but [imitate] what is good. The one who practices good [exhibiting godly character, moral courage and personal integrity] is of God; the one who practices [or permits or tolerates] evil has not seen God [he has no personal experience with Him and does not know Him at all].
Beloved, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
My loved one, do not be copying what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God: he who does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, don't imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn't seen God.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The person who does what is good is from God. The person who does what is evil has never seen God.[xr]
Our beloved, be not imitative of the evil, but of the good. He who doeth good is of Aloha, and he who doeth evil hath not seen Aloha.
Our beloved, be not a follower of what is evil, but of what is good. He that doeth good, is of God; but he that doeth evil, hath not seen God.
Beloued, folow not that which is euyl, but that which is good. He that doth well, is of God: but he that doth euyll, seeth not God.
Beloved, imitate not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Beloved, don't imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He who does good is of God. He who does evil hasn't seen God.
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that is a doer of good is of God, but he that is a doer of evil, hath not seen God.
My dear friend, do not follow wrong examples, but right ones. He who habitually does what is right is a child of God: he who habitually does what is wrong has not seen God.
Moost dere brothir, nyle thou sue yuel thing, but that that is good thing. He that doith wel, is of God; he that doith yuel, seeth not God.
Beloved, don't imitate that which is evil, but that which is good. He that does good is of God: he that does evil has not seen God.
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.
Dear friend, do not imitate what is bad but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does what is bad has not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. He who does good is of God, but [fn] he who does evil has not seen God.
Dear friend, don't let this bad example influence you. Follow only what is good. Remember that those who do good prove that they are God's children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know God.
Dear friend, do not follow what is sinful, but follow what is good. The person who does what is good belongs to God. The person who does what is sinful has not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate what is evil but imitate what is good. Whoever does good is from God; whoever does evil has not seen God.
Beloved! be not thou imitating what is bad, but what is good. He that doeth good, is, of God: he that doeth what is bad, hath not seen God.
Dearly beloved, follow not that which is evil: but that which is good. He that doth good is of God: he that doth evil hath not seen God.
Beloved, do not imitate evil but imitate good. He who does good is of God; he who does evil has not seen God.
folowe not that which is evyll but that which is good. He that doeth well is of God: but he yt doeth evyll seith not God.
Beloved, be not thou following that which is evil, but that which is good; he who is doing good, of God he is, and he who is doing evil hath not seen God;
My beloued, folowe not yt which is euell, but that which is good. He that doeth well, is of God: but he that doeth euell, seyth not God.
my beloved, don't imitate vice, but virtue. he that does good, is a child of God: he that does evil, is not acquainted with God.
I don't think I have to say this, but don't act like that. Be better than that. Those who do good belong to God and those who act like Diotrephes, don't. Simple as that.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
Beloved: Beloved, בדבנחפו [Strong's G27], is in the vocative singular, and therefore refers to Gaius.
follow: Rather, imitate לילןץ. Exodus 23:2, Psalms 37:27, Proverbs 12:11, Isaiah 1:16, Isaiah 1:17, John 10:27, John 12:26, 1 Corinthians 4:16, 1 Corinthians 11:1, Ephesians 5:1, Philippians 3:17, 1 Thessalonians 1:6, 1 Thessalonians 2:14, 2 Timothy 3:10, *marg. Hebrews 6:12, 1 Peter 3:13
He that doeth good: 1 Peter 3:11, 1 John 2:29, 1 John 3:6-9
he that doeth evil: John 3:20
Reciprocal: Ezra 1:5 - whose spirit Psalms 15:3 - doeth Psalms 26:3 - For Psalms 34:14 - do Psalms 53:3 - none Proverbs 2:20 - General Proverbs 12:28 - General Amos 5:15 - Hate Luke 6:27 - do Luke 8:21 - which John 3:21 - they are John 8:47 - General 1 Corinthians 14:1 - Follow 1 Corinthians 16:18 - therefore Galatians 6:10 - do good Ephesians 5:9 - goodness 1 Thessalonians 5:15 - ever 2 Thessalonians 2:12 - but 2 Thessalonians 3:6 - that ye 1 Timothy 6:18 - they do 2 Timothy 2:22 - follow Hebrews 12:14 - and holiness Hebrews 13:16 - to do James 1:22 - be 1 John 3:10 - is
Cross-References
God spoke: "Separate! Water-beneath-Heaven, gather into one place; Land, appear!" And there it was. God named the land Earth. He named the pooled water Ocean. God saw that it was good.
God spoke: "Lights! Come out! Shine in Heaven's sky! Separate Day from Night. Mark seasons and days and years, Lights in Heaven's sky to give light to Earth." And there it was.
God made two big lights, the larger to take charge of Day, The smaller to be in charge of Night; and he made the stars. God placed them in the heavenly sky to light up Earth And oversee Day and Night, to separate light and dark. God saw that it was good. It was evening, it was morning— Day Four.
God spoke: "Swarm, Ocean, with fish and all sea life! Birds, fly through the sky over Earth!" God created the huge whales, all the swarm of life in the waters, And every kind and species of flying birds. God saw that it was good. God blessed them: "Prosper! Reproduce! Fill Ocean! Birds, reproduce on Earth!" It was evening, it was morning— Day Five.
Then God said, "I've given you every sort of seed-bearing plant on Earth And every kind of fruit-bearing tree, given them to you for food. To all animals and all birds, everything that moves and breathes, I give whatever grows out of the ground for food." And there it was.
At the time God made Earth and Heaven, before any grasses or shrubs had sprouted from the ground— God hadn't yet sent rain on Earth, nor was there anyone around to work the ground (the whole Earth was watered by underground springs)— God formed Man out of dirt from the ground and blew into his nostrils the breath of life. The Man came alive—a living soul!
God commanded the Man, "You can eat from any tree in the garden, except from the Tree-of-Knowledge-of-Good-and-Evil. Don't eat from it. The moment you eat from that tree, you're dead."
"If God gives such attention to the appearance of wildflowers—most of which are never even seen—don't you think he'll attend to you, take pride in you, do his best for you? What I'm trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God's giving. People who don't know God and the way he works fuss over these things, but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don't worry about missing out. You'll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.
When You Open Your Mouth Don't be in any rush to become a teacher, my friends. Teaching is highly responsible work. Teachers are held to the strictest standards. And none of us is perfectly qualified. We get it wrong nearly every time we open our mouths. If you could find someone whose speech was perfectly true, you'd have a perfect person, in perfect control of life. A bit in the mouth of a horse controls the whole horse. A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it! It only takes a spark, remember, to set off a forest fire. A careless or wrongly placed word out of your mouth can do that. By our speech we can ruin the world, turn harmony to chaos, throw mud on a reputation, send the whole world up in smoke and go up in smoke with it, smoke right from the pit of hell. This is scary: You can tame a tiger, but you can't tame a tongue—it's never been done. The tongue runs wild, a wanton killer. With our tongues we bless God our Father; with the same tongues we curse the very men and women he made in his image. Curses and blessings out of the same mouth! My friends, this can't go on. A spring doesn't gush fresh water one day and brackish the next, does it? Apple trees don't bear strawberries, do they? Raspberry bushes don't bear apples, do they? You're not going to dip into a polluted mud hole and get a cup of clear, cool water, are you?
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Beloved, follow not that which is evil,.... Follow not evil in general, it being hateful to God, contrary to his nature and will, and bad in itself, as well as pernicious in its consequences; and particularly follow not, or do not imitate the particular evil or evils in Diotrephes; as his pride, ambition, love of preeminence, and tyrannical government in the church, and especially his hard heartedness, cruelty, and inhospitality to the poor saints; and so the Arabic version reads, "do not imitate him in evil"; the examples of persons in office and authority have great influence, especially in cases of charity, when men can be excused thereby, and save their money, or be freed from an expense:
but that which is good; follow and imitate that, be a follower of God, imitate him in acts of kindness and beneficence, be merciful as he is; copy the deeds of Jesus Christ, who went about doing good, and declared it to be more blessed to give than to receive; and tread in the steps of those good men, who have shown love to the name of Christ, by ministering to his saints; for though the apostle may mean everything that is good, which is to be followed and imitated in any, yet he chiefly designs acts of kindness and beneficence to poor saints and ministers: to which he encourages by the following,
he that doeth good is of God; he is a child of God, he appears to be so, in that he is like to his heavenly Father, who is kind and merciful; he is born of God, he is passed from death to life, which his love to the brethren shows; he has the grace of God, and strength from Christ, and the assistance of the Spirit, without either of which he could not do that which is good:
but he that doeth evil hath not seen God; has had no spiritual saving sight of God in Christ; for if he had, he would abhor that which is evil, and, with Job, abhor himself for it, and reckon himself, with Isaiah, as undone, Job 42:6, for such effects has the sight of God on the souls of men; such an one knows not God, nor what it is to have communion with him: for those who live in sin, in whom it is a governing principle, cannot have fellowship with God; nor has such an one ever felt the love of God in his soul, or been made a partaker of his grace, which would teach and constrain him to act otherwise. Compare this text with 1 John 3:10, which shows the Apostle John to be the writer of this epistle. The Ethiopic version reads, "shall not see God"; that is, hereafter, in the world to come.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good - There can be no doubt that in this exhortation the writer had Diotrephes particularly in his eye, and that he means to exhort Gaius not to imitate his example. He was a man of influence in the church, and though Gaius had shown that he was disposed to act in an independent manner, yet it was not improper to exhort him not to be influenced by the example of any one who did wrong. John wished to excite him to acts of liberal and generous hospitality.
He that doeth good is of God - He shows that he resembles God, for God continually does good. See the sentiment explained in the notes at 1 John 3:7.
He that doeth evil hath not seen God - See the notes at 1 John 3:8-10.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
Verse 3 John 1:11. Follow not that which is evil — Μμ μιμου το κακον· Do not imitate that wicked man, i.e., the conduct of Diotrephes; be merciful, loving, and kind. For whatever profession any man may make, it will ever appear that he who doeth good is of God - he alone is the person who uses rightly the grace received from God, and he alone shall enjoy the Divine approbation;
While he that doeth evil — He who is unfeeling, unmerciful, unkind, hath not seen God - has no proper knowledge of that God whose NAME is mercy, and whose NATURE is love.
