1 My little children, I write these things to you to guard you against sin. Yet if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father {pater, Gracious Judge}, Jesus Christ {Iesous Christos, Faithful Intercessor}, the Righteous One.
2 And He {Iesous Christos, Sin-Bearing Advocate} Himself is the atoning sacrifice {hilasmos: wrath-removing offering} concerning our sins—not limited to ours alone, but extending even to the sins of the entire world.
3 And this is how we know that we have come to know Him {Christos, Faithful Lord}: if we keep His commandments {entolas: binding directives}.
4 Whoever says, “I have known Him {Theos, Known through Obedience},” but does not keep His commandments {entolas: binding directives}, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.
5 But if anyone keeps His word, then in that one the love of God {Theos, Indwelling Love} has been perfected; by this {touto: this obedience} we know that we are in Him.
6 The one who says he abides in Him {autos: Christ, Living Model} ought also to live as that One lived {periepatesen: lived His life}.
7 Beloved {agapetoi: deeply loved family}, I am not writing to you a new commandment, but rather a long-standing commandment that you have had from the beginning {arches: initial teaching}. That long-standing commandment is the word which you heard.
8 Again, I write to you a new commandment that is true in Him {Christos, Perfect Pattern of Love} and in you, because darkness {skotia: spiritual blindness} is passing away and the true light is already shining.
9 The one who says he is in the light {phos: realm of truth} yet harbors hatred toward his brother is in the darkness until now {heos: present boundary}.
10 The one who loves {agapon: actively chooses goodwill} his brother abides in the light {photi: moral clarity}, and there is no stumbling block in him.
11 But the one who hates his brother is in darkness {skotia: moral darkness}, walks in darkness, and does not know where he is going, because that darkness has blinded his eyes {ophthalmous: inner perception}.
12 I write to you, little children {teknia: cherished believers}, because your sins have been pardoned for the sake of His {Christos, Forgiving Lord} name.
13 I write to you, fathers, because you have known Him {Christos, Preexistent Lord} who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, children, because you have known the Father {Theos, Abiding Parent}.
14 I have written to you, children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known Him who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong {ischyroi: spiritually resilient}, and the word of God {Theos, Empowering Speaker} abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love {agape: selfless devotion} of the Father {patros, Source Of Love} is not in him.
16 For all that is in the world—the desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the boastful pride of life—is not from the Father {Pater, Origin Source}, but is from the world {kosmos: created, fallen order}.
17 And the world is passing away, and its longing, but the one who does the will of God {Theos, Giver Of Permanence} endures into eternity {aiōna: unending age}.
18 Children {paidia: spiritually cherished}, it is the last hour, and just as you heard that antichrist {antichristos: opposing messiah} is coming, even now many antichrists have come; from this we know that it is the last hour.
19 They went out from us, but they were not from us; for if they had been from us, they would have remained {meno: stay faithful} with us. But they went out so that it might be made manifest {phaneroo: openly revealed} that not all are from us.
20 And you possess an anointing {chrisma: spiritual empowering gift} from the Holy One {hagios, Sanctifying Source}, and you all know.
21 I did not write to you because you do not know the truth {aletheia: unhidden reality}, but because you do know it, and because no lie {pseudos: opposing falsehood} comes from the truth.
22 Who is the liar except the one who denies that Jesus {Iesous, Promised Messiah} is the Christ {Christos, Anointed King}? This person is the antichrist, the one who denies the Father {pater, Rejected Source} and the Son {huios, Divine Son}.
23 Everyone who denies the Son {huios, Sole Mediator} does not have the Father {pater, Covenant Source}; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also.
24 As for you, let what you heard from the beginning remain in you. If what you heard from the beginning remains in you, then you also will remain in the Son {huios, Revealed Messiah} and in the Father {pater, Eternal Fellowship Source}.
25 And this is the promise {epangelia: guaranteed commitment} that He {Christos, Faithful Life-Giver} promised to us: eternal life.
26 These things I have written {egrapsa: completed message} to you about those who deceive {planonton: lead astray} you.
27 And as for you, the anointing you received from Him {Christos, Indwelling Teacher} remains in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; rather, as His anointing {chrisma: Spirit-given instruction} teaches you concerning all things and is true and is not falsehood, just as it has taught you, abide in Him.
28 And now, little children, abide in Him {Christos, Faithful Coming Lord} so that when He is revealed we may have confidence {parrēsian: open, fearless assurance} and not be ashamed before Him at His coming.
29 If you know that He {Christos, Perfectly Just One} is righteous, you know that everyone who does righteousness {dikaiosyne: just conduct} has been born of Him.