1 John 3 (BHT-ATN)

1 Consider the amazing love that the Father has lavished on us, so great as for us to be called God’s very children! It’s true!+ This is why the world doesn’t know us: Because it hasn’t known him. 2 Dear friends, although, at the present time, we are, indeed, children of God, the Messiah+ has not yet made his public appearance as what we shall be.+ We know that when he appears, we will be like him,+ and that we will see him as he is.+ 3 And everyone who has this hope in him keeps himself pure, just as the Messiah+ is himself pure. 4 Everyone who refuses to turn from sin is guilty, like the wicked one to come, of open defiance against God.+ Yes, to sin is to defy God!+ 5 You know that the Messiah+ appeared in order to do away with sins, and that sin is in him completely absent.+ 6 If someone is from union with the Messiah+ drawing life in fellowship,+ he will keep on resisting sin.+ If a person refuses to turn from sin, however, he is still void of the Messiah+ and does not know him. 7 Dear children, don’t let anyone deceive you!+ Those who live according to the Messiah’s righteous example+ are righteous, just as the Messiah+ is himself righteous. 8 Those who refuse to turn from sin, however, are just like their father the devil,+ who+ has been defying God+ from the very beginning. This is the purpose for which the Son of Man appeared: To destroy the works of the devil. 9 If someone has been conceived anew by God, he does not in sin go on conducting himself, because there dwells within him the very life and nature of God.+ Indeed, he is unable to continue in sinful defiance of God,+ since God himself is the very one whom he, as a newly conceived child, now has living inside of him.++ 10 This is how we discern the children of God from the children of the devil:+ If someone’s ways and deeds are evil,+ he doesn’t belong to God—indeed anyone who doesn’t love his brother or sister. 11 For this is the message you have heard from the start: We must love one another. 12 We must not be like Cain, who belonged to the evil one, and murdered his brother. And why did he murder him? Because his own deeds were evil, whereas those of his brother were righteous. 13 Don’t be surprised, brothers and sisters, if the world hates you. 14 We, for our part, know that we have crossed over from death to life, because we love our brothers and sisters. Anyone who does not love remains in a condition of death. 15 If someone hates his brother or sister, he is nothing short of a murderer, and you know that no murderer has the life of the coming age+ dwelling within him.

16 This is how we have come to know what it truly means to love:+ The Messiah+ laid down, for our sake, his very life. We too, then,+ must lay down, for the sake of our brothers and sisters, our own lives. 17 If someone who has plenty to live on+ sees his brother in need but refuses to show him compassion,+ how in the world can it be the love of God that is dwelling in him? 18 Dear children, let us love others not merely with words and talk,+ but with action and truth! 19 This is how we will know that is it the truth to which we belong, and how in the presence of God+ we can assure our consciences,+ 20 in whatever matter they+ may condemn us, that God is so much more merciful than they+ dare suppose,+ and knows everything. 21 Dear friends, if our consciences+ do not condemn us, we can approach God with great courage and confidence, 22 and will receive from him whatever we ask, because we are obeying his commandments and doing those things that are in his sight so pleasing and acceptable. 23 And this is what God+ commands: That we place our faith in the name of his Son, Jesus the Messiah, and show love to one another, in keeping with the commandment he gave us.++ 24 Indeed, if someone obeys God’s+ commandments, it is God in union with whom he is dwelling in fellowship,+ and God+ with him. And this is how we know that he is dwelling in united fellowship with us:+ By the Spirit whom he has to us so generously given.

+1:1Or That which was from the outset, or That which was from the beginning. Lit That which was from eternity. For a summary of the interpretation of ἀρχή ( archē) represented in the text, see NAC (1, 2, 3 Jn), 51-2. Cf also TDNT, 1:481; NCV.+1:1Lit That which was from eternity/the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we saw and our hands touched, concerning the Word of life. ME (see ESS [1, 2, 3 Jn], 11; NAC [1, 2, 3 Jn], 51; UBSHS [1 Jn], 11; TDNT, 1:481). Cf NET, NCV, NIV, NLT, NRSV, TEV. The neuter gender is used in the relative clauses here, but the primary focus is the Word, ie, Christ himself. For other examples of the neuter being used for personal referents in John’s writings, see translation and notes at Jn 4:22, 6:37, and 17:10.+1:2Or it. The direct object is implied here from the context.+1:2Unless otherwise marked (through superscript—ˢyou), all second person pronouns are the in the second person plural.+1:2Lit and we testify and announce/bring news.+1:2Since Jesus/the Word is the one being referred to here, “life” here is metonymical for the source of life (cf translation and notes at Jn 1:4 and 5:26), referring to “what causes people to live eternally” ( UBSHS [1 Jn], 15). Cf NCV, NLT, and TEV here and at Jn 1:4 and 5:26.+1:2This is a more literal rendering of ζωὴν αἰώνιον ( zōēn aiōnion), which most English translations render as “eternal life.” See UBSHS (Jn), 88.+1:3Lit have. ME (see note at Jn 3:15).+1:3Lit may have fellowship with us. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 17; translation and note at Jn 3:15). Cf TEV.+1:3Lit And the fellowship that is ours. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 17). Cf TEV.+1:4Lit so that our joy may be made complete. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 15:11). ἡμῶν ( hēmōn) here is interpreted as an inclusive first person plural. This is reflected in the translation.+1:5Or heard. Cf BSL, 1 Jn 1:5, sv ἀκούω; L-N, 33.212.+1:6Lit not doing the truth. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 3:21).+1:7Or from all sin, or from every kind of sin.+1:8Lit If we say that we do not have sin. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 9:41 and 15:22-24).+1:8Cf Jn 3:16-21 and 9:35-41.+1:9Or trustworthy, or reliable.+1:9Lit and righteous/upright/just. ME(OTB) (see translation and notes at Mt 5:48; UBSHS [1 Jn], 31; v 2:12 below). Cf Ex 34:6-7.+1:9Or from all wickedness. Cf Rm 1; Ga 5:16-26; Eph 4:17-24; Col 3:5-8.+1:10Lit we have not sinned. The perfect tense is used here, and therefore “guilty of sin” has been used in translation to signal the ongoing effects at the time of the speaker. Cf HCSB.+1:10Lit him.+1:10Cf Jn 5:38, 15:7; Col 3:16; 1 Jn 2:14.+2:1Lit an advocate/pleader/encourager/strengthener/one called alongside to help. ME (see note at Jn 14:15). Cf CJB, NCV, NIV, NLT, TEV. In this context, the advocate/pleading/appealing role is primarily in view. As v 2 indicates (note ἱλασμός [ hilasmos] there; cf Lk 18:9-14), the appeal is primarily for mercy and forgiveness, though help to resist further sin is also probably implied as well. Cf Jb 33:23-24; Lk 18:9-14; Heb 4:16.+2:2Lit He is the propitiation/expiation for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for [those] of the whole world. ME(OTB)/IT (see translation and notes at Lk 18:13 and Rm 3:25; NET Bible Notes, 1 Jn 2:2).+2:3Or proof.+2:3Lit By this we know. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 37-8). Cf NEB.+2:3Lit him.+2:3Cf 2 Co 13:5-6.+2:4Lit him. Cf NCV, NLT.+2:4Lit his. Cf NCV, NLT.+2:5Or word, or message.+2:5Or reached its goal, or accomplished its goal, or been brought to completion. See translation and notes at Lk 13:32.+2:5Lit that we are in him. ME (see translation and note at Jn 10:38). Cf CJB, TEV.+2:6Lit that he dwells/remains/continues in him. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 6:56, 10:38, 14:10, 14:20, and 15:4).+2:6Lit he must, just as that one walked, also himself to walk. ME (see BDAG, 803, sv περιπατέω 2; L-N, 41.11, 64.14; UBSHS [Jn], 43). Cf CJB, ISV, NIV, NLT, TEV.+2:6Cf Jn 13:31-35, 15:8; 1 Co 11:1; 1 Th 1:6.+2:7Cf Lv 19:18; Mt 5:17, 22:20; Rm 13:8-10.+2:7Lit which you have. In this context, ἔχω ( echo) means “a sense of obligation in regard to something” ( BDAG, 421, sv 7.a.δ.).+2:7Or word, or message, or teaching. Cf REB in ESS (1, 2, 3 Jn), 50.+2:7Or heard. Cf L-N, 33.12.+2:8Lit which is true in him and in you. ME (see NAC [Jn], 79; Ibid [1, 2, 3 Jn], 96; FSB, 1 Jn 2:7; Robertson, Word Pictures, 1 Jn 2:8; Vincent, Word Studies, 2:331; UBSHS [1 Jn], 45). Cf Mt 5:17; Jn 13.+2:11Lit walks about [here and there]. ME/IT (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 49; the last clause in this verse).+2:12Or for his name’s sake. Cf Ex 34:6-7; Is 48:9-11; Cf Jr 31:31-34; Ml 3:6.+2:13Cf Jr 31:31-34. Maintaining consistency in translation with 1 Jn 1:1 (see translation and notes there).+2:15Lit the world and the things of the world. ME (see BDAG, 562, sv κόσμος 7.b.; UBSHS [1 Jn], 55). Cf NCV at v 16.+2:16According to the UBSHS, “The three following phrases are given not as an exhaustive enumeration but by way of characteristic examples of ‘all that is in the world’” ( UBSHS [1 Jn], 56).+2:16Lit of the flesh. Translating “flesh” according to “Flesh” P (see FBT Chart).+2:16Lit the lusts of the eyes. ME(I/F)/IT (see translation and notes at Mt 6:22-23). Cf 1 Co 5:11, 6:10; Eph 5:5.+2:16Cf Ps 73; Jr 9:22; 1 Ti 6:17.+2:17Or is about to pass away. Not out of existence altogether, but in its present form as tainted by evil and decay. Cf Gn 6:13, 9:11; Ps 72:5, 17, 89:36-37, 102:25-28, 148:6; Is 34:4-5, 65:17-25, 66:22; Jr 31:35-36, 33:20-21; 1 Co 7:31; Heb 1:10-12; Jm 1:10; 1 Pt 1:24; 4:7; 2 Pt 2:6, 3:13;1 Jn 2:17; Re 12:7-10, 21:1-4. Cf also 1 Co 2:6.+2:17Lit and. Cf ESV, NCV, NET.+2:18Or have heard. Cf BSL, 1 Jn 2:18, sv ἀκούω; BDAG, 38, sv ἀκούω 3; TEV.+2:18Lit an anti-Messiah. ME (see ANLEX, 59, sv ἀντίχριστος 2; BDAG, 91, sv ἀντίχριστος; BSL, 1 Jn 2:18, sv ἀντίχριστος; UBSHS [1 Jn], 62; Vincent, Word Studies, 2:337). Here, the “against” idea is signaled in translation by “oppose,” while the “in place of” idea is signaled by “imposter” and “true.” Cf Is 10:12, 30:30-33; Ezk 38:17; Dn 7:7-28, 8:23-25; Jl 3; Zc 12-14; Th 2:1-12; Re 13.+2:18Lit many anti-Messiahs. ME (see ANLEX, 59, sv ἀντίχριστος 1).+2:20Or and all of you know the truth. There is no direct object explicitly stated in the Greek text, and therefore it must be inferred from the context. Since this is most likely an allusion to Jr 31:34 (see NET Bible Notes, 1 Jn 2:20), the “Holy One” is most likely the implied direct object here.+2:22Lit Who is the liar, except...? EFE. For the rhetorical effect intended by the question here, see UBSHS (1 Jn), 68.+2:23Lit he does not have the Father. ME. Cf TEV.+2:23Lit he has the Father. ME (see BDAG, 420, sv ἔχω 2.b.; UBSHS [1 Jn], 70).+2:24Or have heard. Cf BSL, 1 Jn 2:24, sv ἀκούω; BDAG, 38, sv ἀκούω 3.+2:24Cf Jn 5:38, 8:31, 15:7; Col 3:16.+2:24Lit will dwell/remain/abide/continue. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 6:56, 10:38, 14:10, 14:20, and 15:4). Cf CJB.+2:25Lit And this is the promise that he has promised. ME. Cf CJB, NCV, NIV, NRSV, RSV.+2:25This is a more literal rendering of ζωὴν αἰώνιον ( zōēn aiōnion), which most English translations render as “eternal life.” See UBSHS (Jn), 88.+2:26Or are trying to deceive.+2:27Lit from him.+2:27Lit and you do not have need that someone should teach you. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 74). Cf Jn 14:15-17, 26.+2:27Or genuine, or reliable.+2:27Given the prevalence of the anti-Messiah (the ones who are “against/in place of the Anointed One”) theme in this chapter, ψεῦδος ( peudos) (lit false) most likely means “counterfeit” here. Cf CJB, NIV; translation and notes at v 18.+2:27Lit dwell/remain/abide/continue in. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 6:56, 10:38, 14:10, 14:20, and 15:4).+2:27Lit with him. Cf TEV.+2:28Lit dwell/remain/abide/continue in him. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 6:56, 10:38, 14:10, 14:20 and 15:4).+2:28Lit at his coming. The genitive here is subjective, and the Second Coming is meant here. This is reflected in the translation. Cf NET, NLT.+2:29Lit he. Cf NCV, NLT, TEV.+2:29Lit you know that also/likewise everyone who is doing the righteousness. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 79).+2:29Lit have been conceived by him, or have been fathered by him. ME (see notes at Jn 1:13, 1 Pt 1:3, and Ga 4:21-30).+3:1Lit and we are. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 81).+3:2Lit he, or it.+3:2Or what we will be has not yet appeared, or …he has not yet appeared. What shall we be?... The same verb was last used in v 2:28 (an aorist passive there as here), with the Messiah as the implied subject (cf NCV, NLT at 1 Jn 2:28). In the original text there were no punctuation marks. If the implied subject here is the Messiah, then “what we shall be” is either a second nominative functioning predicatively (cf, eg, Mt 6:18), or perhaps a rhetorical question. Otherwise, it is the subject of the verb. Cf Rm 8:18-30; Php 3:21; Col 3:4.+3:2Cf Rm 8:16-30; 1 Co 15:23; Php 3:21; Col 3:4.+3:2Or because we will see him as he is.+3:3Lit that one.+3:4Lit he is committing/doing also the lawlessness. ME (see BDAG, 840, sv ποιέω 3.c.; BSL, 1 Jn 3:4, sv ἀνομία; interpretation 2 in ESS [1, 2, 3 Jn], 102; UBSHS [1 Jn], 86-7). The exegesis of de Jonge and Swellengrebel on this verse is very sound (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 86-7), and is reflected in translation here. Cf 1 Jn 2:18-25; 2 Th 2:1-12.+3:4Lit And sin is the lawlessness. ME (see preceding note).+3:5Lit that one.+3:5Cf 1 Jn 1:5.+3:6Lit him.+3:6Lit dwells/remains/abides/continues in him. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 6:56, 10:38, 14:10, 14:20, and 15:4).+3:6Cf 1 Co 10:13; Ga 5:16-18; Heb 4:14-16.+3:6Lit he has not seen him. ME. In this context, ὁράω ( horaō) means “to experience an event or state” ( L-N, 90.79; cf BSL, 1 Jn 3:6, sv). Here, the thing experienced is the life and power (by which we resist sin) that comes through union with the Messiah (cf, eg, Jn 6:53-56 [note the use of μένω ( menō) in v 56]).+3:7Cf 1 Co 6:9; Eph 5:5-6.+3:7Lit The one who is doing the righteousness. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 79). Maintaining consistency in translation with 2:29 above.+3:7Lit that one.+3:8Lit of/belonging to/has the quality of/produced by the devil. Translating here in a way similar to how I’ve translated at Jn 8:41 and 8:44 (see translation and notes there; see also UBSHS [1 Jn], 90). Cf v 10 below. The preposition used here (ἐκ [ ek]) denotes source and origin, and is the opposite of being conceived/born/produced by God (note ἐκ τοῦ θεοῦ [ ek tou theou] in v 9). Cf Jn 8:39-47.+3:8Lit because the devil. Cf NLT.+3:8Lit has been sinning. ME (see translation and note at 3:4 above).+3:9Lit the seed of him. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 90). Cf NCV, NLT, TEV.+3:9Lit to go on sinning. ME (see translation and notes at 3:4 above).+3:9Lit since he has been conceived/produced by God. ME. Cf CJB, NCV, NLT, TEV; translation and note at 2:29 above.+3:9Cf Rm 8:6-8.+3:10Lit This is how the children of God and the children of the devil are manifest. ME. Cf ISV, NCV, NIV, NLT, TEV. See also translation and note at 1 Jn 2:3.+3:10Lit Everyone not doing righteousness. Cf Mt 7:16; 1 Jn 3:12, 18.+3:15This is a more literal rendering of ζωὴν αἰώνιον ( zōēn aiōnion), which most English translations render as “eternal life.” See UBSHS (Jn), 88.+3:16Lit By this we have come to know love. ME/IT (see ESS [1, 2, 3 Jn], 120; UBSHS [1 Jn], 99). Cf NIV, TEV; Brown et al in ESS (1, 2, 3 Jn), 120.+3:16Lit that one.+3:16IT. Cf NET, TEV; BDAG, 495, sv καί 1.b.ζ.+3:17Lit has the life/livelihood/property of the world. ME (see L-N, 57.18; UBSHS [1 Jn], 100).+3:17Lit but closes his entrails/inward parts from him. ME(I/F) (see L-N, 25.55).+3:18Lit in word or in tongue. ME (see L-N, 33.74; UBSHS [1 Jn], 102). Cf CJB, ESV, HCSB, NCV, NRSV, RSV, TEV.+3:19Lit of him.+3:19Or hearts. Cf HCSB, UBSHS (1 Jn), 104.+3:20Lit our hearts/consciences.+3:20Lit our hearts/consciences.+3:20Lit is greater than our hearts/consciences. ME (see ESS [1, 2, 3 Jn], 129; UBSHS [1 Jn], 105). Cf 1 Jn 1:8-10, 2:1-2, 12-14.+3:21Or hearts.+3:23Lit he. Translating the genitive subjectively here. Cf NCV.+3:23Lit just as he gave commandment to us. ME (see UBSHS [1 Jn], 108). Cf NET.+3:23Cf Jn 13.+3:24Lit his.+3:24Lit he dwells/remains/abides/continues in him. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 6:56, 10:38, 14:10, 14:20, and 15:4). Cf TEV.+3:24Lit he.+3:24Lit dwells/remains/abides/continues in us. ME (see translation and notes at Jn 6:56, 10:38, 14:10, 14:20, and 15:4).