1 John 2

My dear children, I am writing these things to you so that you will not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have someone who speaks to the Father for us: Jesus Christ, the one who is righteous.

1My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:

Note"advocate" translates the Greek parakletos, someone called to stand beside another, above all in a legal setting: the counsel or supporting witness who speaks for you before the judge. The Gospel of John uses the same word for the Spirit, where the KJV renders it "Comforter." "the righteous" is a courtroom-flavored word too: the one who is in the right.

2He himself is the sacrifice that deals with our sins, and not only ours, but the sins of the whole world.

2And he is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.

Note"propitiation" renders the Greek hilasmos. In ordinary Greek religious language it meant an offering that turns away a god's anger; many readers of this letter have heard it instead as the wiping away of the sin itself. The word carries both senses and the letter does not decide between them, which is why English versions vary so widely here.

3This is how we can be sure that we have come to know him: we keep his commands.

3And hereby we do know that we know him, if we keep his commandments.

4Anyone who says, "I know him," but does not keep his commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

4He that saith, I know him, and keepeth not his commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

5But if anyone keeps his word, God's love has truly been made complete in that person. This is how we know that we are in him:

5But whoso keepeth his word, in him verily is the love of God perfected: hereby know we that we are in him.

Note"perfected" in 1611 meant brought to its intended completion, not made flawless. "the love of God" is open in the Greek: it can mean God's love for people, a person's love for God, or the kind of love that comes from God. The grammar allows all three.

6Anyone who says he lives in him should live the same way Jesus lived.

6He that saith he abideth in him ought himself also so to walk, even as he walked.

Note"walk" is a standard Jewish and early Christian idiom for the whole course of a person's conduct, not physical walking. "abide" is the ordinary Greek verb for remaining or staying put, and it is repeated throughout this letter as a keyword.

7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command, but an old one that you have had from the beginning. This old command is the message you already heard.

7Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

Note"Brethren" follows Greek manuscripts reading adelphoi, brothers; other manuscripts read agapetoi, beloved, which is why modern versions say "dear friends." Either way the address is to a whole congregation of men and women.

8Then again, I am writing you a new command. It is true in him, and it is true in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true light is already shining.

8Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

9Anyone who says he is in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness, right up to now.

9He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

Note"his brother" means a fellow member of the community rather than a blood relative. The Greek word covers women as well as men, and throughout this letter it refers to others in the same group of believers.

10Whoever loves his brother stays in the light, and there is nothing in him that causes stumbling.

10He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

Note"occasion of stumbling" translates skandalon, the trigger of a trap or the obstacle that trips a person up. The Greek here is genuinely ambiguous: it may mean nothing in such a person makes him fall, or nothing in him makes anyone else fall.

11But whoever hates his brother is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. He does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.

11But he that hateth his brother is in darkness, and walketh in darkness, and knoweth not whither he goeth, because that darkness hath blinded his eyes.

12I am writing to you, dear children, because your sins have been forgiven for the sake of his name.

12I write unto you, little children, because your sins are forgiven you for his name’s sake.

Note"for his name's sake" uses "name" in the ancient sense, where a person's name stands for the person himself and for his authority. The phrase means on account of who Jesus is.

13I am writing to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I am writing to you, children, because you know the Father.

13I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

Note"the wicked one" is a person, not wickedness in general: the Greek says "the evil one," a title for the devil. "fathers" and "young men" may mark age groups within the congregation, or length of time in the community; the letter does not say which.

14I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God stays in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

14I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

NoteThe switch from "I write" to "I have written" follows a change of tense in the Greek. Letter writers in that world often used a past tense for the letter in hand, since by the time it was read the writing was over. It most likely refers to this same letter rather than an earlier one.

15Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

15Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

16For everything in the world, the desires of the body, the desires of the eyes, and the pride people take in their lives, does not come from the Father but from the world.

16For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.

Note"lust" in 1611 meant strong desire of any kind, with no necessarily sexual sense. "flesh" here means human nature turned in on itself, not the physical body as such. "the pride of life" translates alazoneia, the boasting of someone showing off his resources and his style of living.

17The world is passing away, and so are its desires. But whoever does what God wants stays forever.

17And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.

18Dear children, it is the last hour. You have heard that the antichrist is coming, and now many antichrists have already appeared. That is how we know it is the last hour.

18Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time.

Note"the last time" translates a Greek phrase meaning "the last hour." "antichrist" is a word found in the Bible only in John's letters; built from Greek, it means one who stands against Christ, or one who stands in place of him. The verse holds two ideas together: a figure the readers had been told to expect, and people already among them.

19They left us, but they never really belonged to us. If they had belonged to us, they would have stayed with us. They left so that it would be made clear that none of them belonged to us.

19They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with us: but they went out, that they might be made manifest that they were not all of us.

NoteThe last clause is compressed in Greek and can be read either as "none of them belonged to us" or as "not all of them belonged to us." Translators divide on it. "made manifest" is older English for made plain or brought into the open.

20But you have been anointed by the Holy One, and you all know the truth.

20But ye have an unction from the Holy One, and ye know all things.

Note"unction" is simply the older English word for an anointing: oil poured on a person to mark him out for a role, as kings and priests were marked out. "the Holy One" is a title. The manuscripts also differ in the second half: some read "you know all things," others "you all know," which is why English versions end this verse differently.

21I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because no lie comes from the truth.

21I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth.

22Who is the liar? It is the person who denies that Jesus is the Christ. That person is the antichrist, the one who denies both the Father and the Son.

22Who is a liar but he that denieth that Jesus is the Christ? He is antichrist, that denieth the Father and the Son.

Note"the Christ" is a title, not a second name. Greek christos means anointed one and translates the Hebrew word Messiah. The dispute in view is over who Jesus is, not over whether he existed.

23Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father. Whoever openly accepts the Son has the Father as well.

23Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father: he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also.

NoteIn the King James Version the words "he that acknowledgeth the Son hath the Father also" are printed in italics, the translators' signal that they had no Greek behind them in the text they worked from. Other manuscripts do contain the clause, and modern editions print it as part of the verse.

24So let what you heard from the beginning stay in you. If what you heard from the beginning stays in you, then you also will remain in the Son and in the Father.

24Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you, ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father.

25And this is what he himself promised us: eternal life.

25And this is the promise that he hath promised us, even eternal life.

26I have written these things to you about the people who are trying to lead you astray.

26These things have I written unto you concerning them that seduce you.

Note"seduce" in 1611 meant to lead astray or mislead, with no sexual sense at all.

27But the anointing you received from him stays in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. His anointing teaches you about everything, and it is true and not a lie. So, just as it has taught you, remain in him.

27But the anointing which ye have received of him abideth in you, and ye need not that any man teach you: but as the same anointing teacheth you of all things, and is truth, and is no lie, and even as it hath taught you, ye shall abide in him.

Note"the anointing" is the same word that the KJV rendered "unction" in verse 20. The "any man" who need not teach them is set against the people of verse 26 who were trying to lead them astray.

28And now, dear children, remain in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and not ashamed in front of him when he comes.

28And now, little children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.

Note"confidence" translates parrhesia, literally the freedom to say everything: the standing of a person who can speak openly because he has nothing to hide. "his coming" translates parousia, a word used in that world for the arrival and official presence of a king or high official visiting a city.

29If you know that he is righteous, then you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.

29If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

NoteThe pronouns "he" and "him" shift between God and Christ across these verses without any marker in the Greek, and it is not clear where one gives way to the other. "born of him" elsewhere in this letter means born of God.