The 2nd letter that John wrote
(The book in the Holy Bible called 2 John)
About this letter
John wrote this letter about 2,000 years ago. That was about 60 years after Jesus went back to heaven. This letter is now in the Holy Bible.
John was one of Jesus’s 12 special workers. He went everywhere with Jesus, and he knew Jesus well. After Jesus went back to heaven, John lived until he was very old. He looked after lots of churches, so people called him Old Man.
Some of those churches that John looked after were in other towns, not in the town that John lived in. So he wrote letters to people in those churches. He wanted to tell them to keep following the true message about Jesus. Sometimes there was trouble in those churches, so John wrote letters to tell them what to do.
We still have copies of 3 of John’s letters, and they are now in the Holy Bible. This letter is the 2nd letter that we have.
John wrote this letter to a church. But he wrote this letter like he was writing to one woman. Maybe John wrote this letter at a time when it was dangerous to be a Christian. Maybe John didn’t want to get any Christians in trouble. Maybe that is why he didn’t want to write anyone’s name in his letter or say he was writing to a church. In this Bible we have made it clear that John was writing to a church.
Back then, there were some people that said they were Christians, but they were going around telling lies about Jesus. John wanted to warn Christians about those bad people. So John wrote this letter to help the Christians.
1
1 This letter is from the church leader that people call Old Man.
I am sending this letter to the church mob there. Your church is like a special woman that God picked to join his family. And all you mob are like her kids.
I really love you mob. And I’m not the only person that loves you. All the people that believe God’s true message, they all love you too.
2 We all love you because you know God’s true message, just like we do. It’s like that message is inside us, and it will stay inside us for ever. So we will always believe that true message.
3 God our father, and his son Jesus Christ, they will be good to us, they will take care of us, and they will make us happy and quiet inside ourselves. Yes, they will do that as we keep on trusting God’s true message and as we keep on loving each other.
Love other Christians
4 A little while ago, I met some people from your church. I found out that they still believe God’s true message, and they are living God’s way, just like he told us to. That made me really happy.
5 My friends, I have something to tell you. We have to love each other. You already know that. We heard that message from the beginning, right from the time you first heard about Jesus. It’s the message that Jesus told us.* 6 And this is how you can love each other, you have to listen to God and live his way. You see, God told us to love each other. Yes, you heard that when you first heard the message about Jesus.
Watch out for people that are telling lies about Jesus
7 You see, there are lots of people that say they are telling people God’s message, but they go around telling lies about Jesus. Those people say, “Jesus Christ did not come and live as a human being here on earth.” Those people are proper liars. They are enemies of Jesus Christ. 8 You have to watch out for those people. You see, we worked really hard to tell you the true message about Jesus. And if you believe that message, God will give you good things on the day when Jesus comes back. But if you start believing those liars, and you stop believing that true message, then God will not give you those good things, and our work will be for nothing.
9 You have to keep on believing the things that Jesus said. If anybody stops believing the things that Jesus said, or if anybody makes up new things about Jesus, they don’t belong to God. But everybody that keeps on believing in Jesus, they belong to God our father, and to his son Jesus.
10 Maybe somebody will come to your church to teach a message, but their message is not true. Maybe they don’t teach the things that Jesus said. Don’t let them come to your house. Don’t even say hello to them, and don’t be friendly to them. 11 They are telling lies about Jesus. If you are friendly to them, it’s like you are helping them do that bad thing.
The end of John’s letter
12 I have lots of things to tell you, but I don’t want to write them all in a letter. I hope to visit you soon. Then we can talk together. That will make us all really happy.
13 The church here is like a sister to your church. God picked them, just like he picked you mob. All the church mob here say hello to you all.
* 1:5 John 13:34; 15:12, 17