Study Desk

What was ^(a)from the beginning, what we have ^(b)heard, what we have ^(c)seen with our eyes, what we ^(d)have looked at and ^(e)touched with our hands, concerning the ^(f)Word of Life—

and ^(g)the life was manifested, and we have ^(h)seen and ⁽ⁱ⁾testify and proclaim to you ^(j)the eternal life, which was ^(k)with the Father and was ^(l)manifested to us—

what we have ^(m)seen and ⁽ⁿ⁾heard we proclaim to you also, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our ^(o)fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ.

^(p)These things we write, so that our ^(q)joy may be made complete.

^(r)This is the message we have heard from Him and announce to you, that ^(s)God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all.

^(t)If we say that we have fellowship with Him and yet walk in the darkness, we ^(u)lie and ^(v)do not practice the truth;

but if we ^(w)walk in the Light as ^(x)He Himself is in the Light, we have fellowship with one another, and ^(y)the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.

^(z)If we say that we have no sin, we are deceiving ourselves and the ^(aa)truth is not in us.

^(ab)If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and ^(ac)to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

^(ad)If we say that we have not sinned, we ^(ae)make Him a liar and ^(af)His word is not in us.

^(a)My little children, I am ^(b)writing these things to you so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, ^(c)we have an ^[a](d)Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous;

and He Himself is ^(e)the ^[b]propitiation for our sins; and not for ours only, but also ^(f)for those of the whole world.

^(g)By this we know that we have come to ^(h)know Him, if we ⁽ⁱ⁾keep His commandments.

The one who says, "^(j)I have come to ^(k)know Him," and does not keep His commandments, is a ^(l)liar, and ^(m)the truth is not in him;

but whoever ⁽ⁿ⁾keeps His word, in him the ^(o)love of God has truly been perfected. ^(p)By this we know that we are in Him:

the one who says he ^(q)abides in Him ^(r)ought himself to walk in the same manner as He walked.

^(s)Beloved, I am ^(t)not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had ^(u)from the beginning; the old commandment is the word which you have heard.

^[c]On the other hand, I am writing ^(v)a new commandment to you, which is true in Him and in you, because ^(w)the darkness is passing away and ^(x)the true Light is already shining.

The one who says he is in the Light and yet ^(y)hates his ^(z)brother is in the darkness until now.

^(aa)The one who loves his brother abides in the Light and there is no cause for stumbling in him.

But the one who ^(ab)hates his brother is in the darkness and ^(ac)walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness has ^(ad)blinded his eyes.

I am writing to you, ^(ae)little children, because ^(af)your sins have been forgiven you for His name's sake.

I am writing to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(ag)who has been from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because ^(ah)you have overcome ^(ai)the evil one. I have written to you, children, because ^(aj)you know the Father.

I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him ^(ak)who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are ^(al)strong, and the ^(am)word of God abides in you, and ^(an)you have overcome the evil one.

Do not love ^(ao)the world nor the things in the world. ^(ap)If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

For all that is in the world, ^(aq)the lust of the flesh and ^(ar)the lust of the eyes and ^(as)the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

^(at)The world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who ^(au)does the will of God lives forever.

Children, ^(av)it is the last hour; and just as you heard that ^(aw)antichrist is coming, ^(ax)even now many antichrists have appeared; from this we know that it is the last hour.

^(ay)They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, ^(az)so that ^[d]it would be shown that they all are not of us.

^[e]But you have an ^(ba)anointing from ^(bb)the Holy One, and ^(bc)you all know.

I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but ^(bd)because you do know it, and ^[f]because no lie is ^(be)of the truth.

Who is the liar but ^(bf)the one who denies that Jesus is the ^[g]Christ? This is ^(bg)the antichrist, the one who denies the Father and the Son.

^(bh)Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.

As for you, let that abide in you which you heard ^(bi)from the beginning. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also ^(bj)will abide in the Son and in the Father.

^(bk)This is the promise which He Himself ^[h]made to us: eternal life.

These things I have written to you concerning those who are trying to ^(bl)deceive you.

As for you, the ^(bm)anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing ^(bn)teaches you about all things, and is ^(bo)true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, ^[i]you abide in Him.

Now, ^(bp)little children, abide in Him, so that when He ^(bq)appears, we may have ^(br)confidence and ^(bs)not ^[j]shrink away from Him in shame ^[k]at His ^(bt)coming.

If you know that ^(bu)He is righteous, you know that everyone also who practices righteousness ^(bv)is ^[l]born of Him.

See ^[a](a)how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called ^(b)children of God; and such we are. For this reason the world does not know us, because ^(c)it did not know Him.

^(d)Beloved, now we are ^(e)children of God, and ^(f)it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He ^(g)appears, we will be ^(h)like Him, because we will ⁽ⁱ⁾see Him just as He is.

And everyone who has this ^(j)hope fixed on Him ^(k)purifies himself, just as He is pure.

Everyone who practices sin also practices lawlessness; and ^(l)sin is lawlessness.

You know that He ^(m)appeared in order to ⁽ⁿ⁾take away sins; and ^(o)in Him there is no sin.

No one who abides in Him ^(p)sins; no one who sins has seen Him or ^[b](q)knows Him.

^(r)Little children, make sure no one ^(s)deceives you; ^(t)the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous;

the one who practices sin is ^(u)of the devil; for the devil ^[c]has sinned from the beginning. ^(v)The Son of God ^(w)appeared for this purpose, ^(x)to destroy the works of the devil.

No one who is ^[d](y)born of God ^(z)practices sin, because His seed abides in him; and he cannot sin, because he is ^[e]born of God.

By this the ^(aa)children of God and the ^(ab)children of the devil are obvious: ^[f]anyone who does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor the one who ^(ac)does not love his ^(ad)brother.

^(ae)For this is the message ^(af)which you have heard from the beginning, ^(ag)that we should love one another;

not as ^(ah)Cain, who was of ^(ai)the evil one and slew his brother. And for what reason did he slay him? Because ^(aj)his deeds were evil, and his brother's were righteous.

Do not be surprised, brethren, if ^(ak)the world hates you.

We know that we have ^(al)passed out of death into life, ^(am)because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.

Everyone who ^(an)hates his brother is a murderer; and you know that ^(ao)no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.

We know love by this, that ^(ap)He laid down His life for us; and ^(aq)we ought to lay down our lives for the ^(ar)brethren.

But ^(as)whoever has the world's goods, and sees his brother in need and ^(at)closes his ^[g]heart ^[h]against him, ^(au)how does the love of God abide in him?

^(av)Little children, let us not love with word or with tongue, but in deed and ^(aw)truth.

We will know by this that we are ^(ax)of the truth, and will ^[i]assure our heart before Him

^[j]in whatever our heart condemns us; for God is greater than our heart and knows all things.

^(ay)Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have ^(az)confidence ^[k]before God;

and ^(ba)whatever we ask we receive from Him, because we ^(bb)keep His commandments and do ^(bc)the things that are pleasing in His sight.

This is His commandment, that we ^[l](bd)believe in ^(be)the name of His Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as ^(bf)He ^[m]commanded us.

The one who ^(bg)keeps His commandments ^(bh)abides in Him, and He in him. ^(bi)We know by this that ^(bj)He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.

^(a)Beloved, do not believe every ^(b)spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because ^(c)many false prophets have gone out into the world.

By this you know the Spirit of God: ^(d)every spirit that ^(e)confesses that ^(f)Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God;

and every spirit that ^(g)does not confess Jesus is not from God; this is the spirit of the ^(h)antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming, and ⁽ⁱ⁾now it is already in the world.

You are from God, ^(j)little children, and ^(k)have overcome them; because ^(l)greater is He who is in you than ^(m)he who is in the world.

⁽ⁿ⁾They are from the world; therefore they speak as from the world, and the world listens to them.

^(o)We are from God; ^(p)he who knows God listens to us; ^(q)he who is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know ^(r)the spirit of truth and ^(s)the spirit of error.

^(t)Beloved, let us ^(u)love one another, for love is from God; and ^(v)everyone who loves is ^[a](w)born of God and ^(x)knows God.

The one who does not love does not know God, for ^(y)God is love.

By this the love of God was manifested ^[b](z)in us, that ^(aa)God has sent His ^[c]only begotten Son into the world so that we might live through Him.

In this is love, ^(ab)not that we loved God, but that ^(ac)He loved us and sent His Son to be ^(ad)the propitiation for our sins.

^(ae)Beloved, if God so loved us, ^(af)we also ought to love one another.

^(ag)No one has seen God at any time; if we love one another, God abides in us, and His ^(ah)love is perfected in us.

^(ai)By this we know that we abide in Him and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit.

We have seen and ^(aj)testify that the Father has ^(ak)sent the Son to be the Savior of the world.

^(al)Whoever confesses that ^(am)Jesus is the Son of God, God ^(an)abides in him, and he in God.

^(ao)We have come to know and have believed the love which God has ^[d](ap)for us. ^(aq)God is love, and the one who ^(ar)abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.

By this, ^(as)love is perfected with us, so that we may have ^(at)confidence in ^(au)the day of judgment; because ^(av)as He is, so also are we in this world.

There is no fear in love; but ^(aw)perfect love casts out fear, because fear ^[e]involves punishment, and the one who fears is not ^(ax)perfected in love.

^(ay)We love, because He first loved us.

^(az)If someone says, "I love God," and ^(ba)hates his brother, he is a ^(bb)liar; for ^(bc)the one who does not love his brother whom he has seen, ^(bd)cannot love God whom he has not seen.

And ^(be)this commandment we have from Him, that the one who loves God ^(bf)should love his brother also.

^(a)Whoever believes that Jesus is the ^[a]Christ is ^[b](b)born of God, and whoever loves the ^[c]Father ^(c)loves the child ^[d]born of Him.

^(d)By this we know that ^(e)we love the children of God, when we love God and ^[e]observe His commandments.

For ^(f)this is the love of God, that we ^(g)keep His commandments; and ^(h)His commandments are not burdensome.

For whatever is ^[f](i)born of God ^(j)overcomes the world; and this is the victory that has overcome the world—our faith.

Who is the one who overcomes the world, but he who ^(k)believes that Jesus is the Son of God?

This is the One who came ^(l)by water and blood, Jesus Christ; not ^[g]with the water only, but ^[h]with the water and ^[i]with the blood. It is ^(m)the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth.

For there are ⁽ⁿ⁾three that testify:

^[j]the Spirit and the water and the blood; and the three are ^[k]in agreement.

^(o)If we receive the testimony of men, the testimony of God is greater; for the testimony of God is this, that ^(p)He has testified concerning His Son.

The one who believes in the Son of God ^(q)has the testimony in himself; the one who does not believe God has ^(r)made Him a liar, because he has not believed in the testimony that God has given concerning His Son.

And the testimony is this, that God has given us ^(s)eternal life, and ^(t)this life is in His Son.

^(u)He who has the Son has the life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have the life.

^(v)These things I have written to you who ^(w)believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have ^(x)eternal life.

This is ^(y)the confidence which we have ^[l]before Him, that, ^(z)if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.

And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, ^(aa)we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him.

If anyone sees his brother ^[m]committing a sin not leading to death, ^(ab)he shall ask and ^[n]God will for him give life to those who commit sin not leading to death. ^(ac)There is a sin leading to death; ^(ad)I do not say that he should make request for this.

^(ae)All unrighteousness is sin, and ^(af)there is a sin not leading to death.

^(ag)We know that ^(ah)no one who is ^[o]born of God sins; but He who was ^[p]born of God ^(ai)keeps him, and ^(aj)the evil one does not ^(ak)touch him.

^(al)We know that ^(am)we are of God, and that ^(an)the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

And ^(ao)we know that ^(ap)the Son of God has come, and has ^(aq)given us understanding so that we may know ^(ar)Him who is true; and we ^(as)are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. ^(at)This is the true God and ^(au)eternal life.

^(av)Little children, guard yourselves from ^(aw)idols.