- 1 John
- <
- 2
- >

2
Jesus died for us
1-2 Listen, my Christian friends. I am like your father, and you are like my kids. I am writing these things to you because I want you to live the right way, and I don’t want you to do anything bad at all. But if any Christian does do something bad, then God our father will not get angry and punish them. You see, Jesus Christ died for us. He never did anything bad at all, but he died to take away all the bad things that we did. He is with God now, and he asks God to help us. So now God will say that we are not guilty. And you know, Jesus didn’t only die for us mob. He died for everybody in the world.
If we properly know God, we will live his way
3 I’ll tell you how we can be sure that we properly know God. If we always listen to God and do what he says, that shows that we properly know him.
4 Maybe somebody will say, “I know God.” But they don’t listen to God, and they don’t do what he says. Well, that person is lying. If they don’t listen to God, that shows that they don’t really know him, and they don’t believe his true message. 5 But if anyone listens to God and does what he says, it shows that God’s love is truly in that person.
I’ll tell you how we can be sure that we are joined up with God. 6 If we reckon we are joined up with God, then we have to live the way that Jesus lived. He always lived God’s way.
We have to love each other
7 My friends, I’m telling you that God wants us to love each other. I know that’s not a new message for you. You heard it from the beginning, right from the time you first heard about Jesus.*John 13:34
8 And you know that Jesus always loved people. He didn’t just love people a little bit. He loved people properly, and now we are loving people properly too. In that way, it is a new message for the world. It’s like we used to live in the dark, we didn’t know the true story and we did bad things, but now there is a bright light shining in the world.
9 But think about this. Maybe somebody will say, “I live in God’s light, I live God’s way.” But maybe that person hates another Christian. Then that person is lying. They are not really living God’s way. It’s like they are still living in the dark. 10 So I’m telling you mob, you have to love other Christians. If you do that, it shows that you are living God’s way. It is like you are living in God’s light, and nothing makes you go wrong.
11 But if anybody hates another Christian, it’s like they are walking around in the dark, so they can’t see properly. They don’t understand God’s true message, and they don’t live God’s way.
John said good things about his Christian friends
12 Listen, my Christian friends. I’m talking to you now like you are my kids.
I know that Jesus died for you, so God let go of all the bad things that you did, and he says that you are not guilty.
13 All right. Now I’m talking to some of you that are wise adults.
You properly know Jesus Christ. You know that he was always there, right from the start of everything.
And now I’m talking to some of you that are strong young men.
The devil, that boss over the bad spirits, he tried to get you to go wrong, but you said no to him.
It’s like you had a fight with him, and you won.
Yes, all of you are like my kids.
God is our father, and you mob properly know him.
That’s the reason why I’m writing this letter to you.
14 Yes, some of you are wise adults.
You properly know Jesus Christ. You know that he was always there, right from the start of everything.
That’s the reason why I’m writing this letter to you.
And yes, some of you are strong young men.
You are strong for God.
And you properly listen to God’s word, so it’s like God’s word lives right inside you.
And you won against the devil.
Don’t live like the people that belong to this world
15-16 You know, the people that belong to this world, they go against God all the time. Sometimes they do bad things just because it feels good. And sometimes they are greedy, like they want to get lots of things for themselves. And sometimes they talk up big about themselves, so that other people will think they are important. But God our father doesn’t want us to live that way. If anybody loves doing those bad things, it shows that they don’t love God. The people that belong to this world, they love doing those bad things. I’m telling you, don’t live like those people. Don’t love doing those bad things.
17 You know, one day, God will finish up this world, and he will finish up all those bad things in this world. But God will never finish up the people that love him and live his way. Those people will live with God for ever.
Some people are enemies of Jesus Christ
18 My Christian friends, listen to this. We know that these are the last days of this world, and soon Jesus will come back. Remember we told you that Jesus Christ’s enemy is going to come in the last days of this world. Well, lots of Jesus’s enemies are already here. So we know for sure that these are the last days of this world.
19 Those enemies of Jesus, they used to be part of our Christian mob. But later on, they left us, so now we know that they were not real Christians. You see, real Christians stay joined together. But those enemies of Jesus, they left us. That shows that they are not part of us Christian mob.
Jesus Christ’s enemies tell lies, but Christians know the true story
20 But you mob are real Christians. Jesus put the Holy Spirit in you, and you all know the true message about Jesus. 21 So I’m not writing this letter to tell you that message again. No, I’m writing to you because you already know that true message. That message is properly true, and there are no lies in it.
22 But those enemies of Jesus Christ, they tell really big lies. They say that Jesus is not the special man that God promised to send. That’s the biggest lie that anyone can tell. The people that tell those lies, they turned against God the father and against his son Jesus. 23 I’m telling you, if anyone turns against Jesus and tells lies about him, that person does not belong to God the father. But everyone that tells the true story about Jesus, they belong to God the father.
You have to stay joined up with Jesus
24 Remember that time when you first heard the good news about Jesus? I’m telling you mob, you have to keep on believing that good news. Then it will be like that good news lives right inside you. And if that good news lives inside you, then you will stay joined up with God’s son Jesus, and with God the father. 25 And you know, Jesus made a special promise to everyone that is joined up with him. He promised to give us new life, so that we will live with God for ever.
26 I’m writing these things because I want you to watch out. That other mob are trying to get you to go the wrong way. 27 But I know that you will be all right, because Jesus gave you the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives in you, and he teaches you everything that you need to know about Jesus. Everything that he teaches you is true, he never lies. There is nobody else that can teach you in that way. And you know that the Holy Spirit taught you to stay joined up with Jesus, so make sure you do that.
When Jesus comes back, we will not be frightened
28 My Christian friends, I am like your father, and you are like my kids. I’m telling you to stay joined up with Jesus. You know that one day, Jesus will come back to this earth, and everybody will see him. And if we are joined up with Jesus, then we will be happy to meet him on that day. We will not feel frightened, and we will not feel any shame.
29 You know that Jesus is properly good, and he always does what is right. Well, it’s the same for those people that are joined up with Jesus. They always try to live God’s way and do what is right. So if you live that way, you can be sure that you are one of God’s kids.

- 1 John
- <
- 2
- >

*2:7 John 13:34

© 2026 Wycliffe Bible Translators Australia