3 John 1 (BHT-ATN)

“To: Gaius, My Dear Friend”

1 From: The Elder.

To: Gaius, my dear friend, whom I truly love.+

“My Dear Friend, You Are So Loyal and Faithful”

2 My dear friend, I pray that ˢyou are getting along well in every way, and that you are in good health and doing as well in body as ˢyou are in mind and will and heart.+ 3 For it brought me great joy when some brothers came and told me about your faithfulness to the truth,+ how you are in accordance with the truth living your life. 4 There is nothing else that gives me such great joy as this:+ Hearing that my children are conducting themselves according to the truth. 5 My dear friend, you are so loyal and faithful in all you do to help and serve the brothers, even those who are traveling from other places, whom you don’t know.+ 6 They+ have spoken about your love in front of the assembly, and it will be very kind of you to help them with what is needed for the next part of their journey+ in a manner befitting God. 7 It is in service to the Name,+ after all, that they have left their homes, receiving no help from the Gentiles.+ 8 We, therefore, should provide help and assistance to people such as this, so that we may be with the truth fellow-workers.

9 I wrote a letter to the assembly, but the man who loves to domineer the others,+ Diotrephes, refuses to listen+ to us. 10 That is the reason why, if I come, I will draw attention to his shameful conduct, bringing against us as he does such malicious accusations.+ And not being content with that, he not only refuses to welcome the brothers himself, but continually stands in the way of those who do have it on their hearts to help them—even to the point of trying to have them thrown out of the assembly!

11 My dear friend, don’t ever follow an evil example, but conduct yourself like those who do what is good.+ If someone does what is good, it is God to whom he belongs; if someone’s deeds are evil, he is still void of God.+ 12 As for Demetrius, everyone speaks well of him, as does the truth itself. We, too, can ourselves vouch for him, and ˢyou know that our report is completely reliable.+

13 There is so much that I want to say+ to you, but it isn’t with pen and ink that I want to do so. 14 I hope to see ˢyou very soon, and we can talk, then, face to face. 15 Shalom to ˢyou. Your friends here send ˢyou greetings. Please greet each of our friends there by name.

+1:1Or whom I love in truth.+1:2Lit I pray/wish you concerning all things to succeed/get along well and to be in health, as/to the degree that your soul succeeds/gets along well. ME (see L-N, 26.4; UBSHS [3 Jn], 176; translation and note at Mk 3:5). Cf NLT.+1:3Lit and testified to your truth. ME (see UBSHS [3 Jn], 177). Cf HCSB, NIV, NRSV, TEV.+1:4Lit I do not have greater joy than these things. ME. Cf CJB, NCV, TEV.+1:5Lit even this strangers. ME (see UBSHS [Rm], 240; UBSHS [3 Jn], 179). Cf NCV.+1:6Lit who.+1:6Lit whom you will do well sending on their way. ME. In this context, προπέμπω ( propempō) means to help someone with the provisions needed for a trip (see BDAG, 873, sv 2). Cf NCV, NLT, TEV.+1:7Or for the sake of the Name, or on behalf of the Name.+1:7Or pagans, or unbelievers.+1:9Lit who loves to be leader/first of them. ME (see BDAG, 1058, sv φιλοπρωτεύω; UBSHS [3 Jn], 183).+1:9Lit will not welcome/accept. ME (see L-N, 36.14). Cf NCV.+1:10Lit talking nonsense/making empty charges against us with malicious words. ME (see ANLEX, 400, sv φλυαρέω; UBSHS [3 Jn], 184).+1:11Lit Don’t imitate the evil, but the good. ME (see UBSHS [3 Jn], 185). Cf NJB, NLT.+1:11Lit he has not seen God. ME (see translation and note at 1 Jn 3:6).+1:12Or true, or faithful.+1:13Lit write. Cf NLT, TEV.