1 John 3:9–12

¹⁸We know that whosoever is born of God sinneth not; but he that is begotten of God keepeth himself, and that wicked one toucheth him not.

²³Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.

¹WHOSOEVER believeth that Jesus is the Christ is born of God: and every one that loveth him that begat loveth him also that is begotten of him.

¹³Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

²⁹If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

¹⁸A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

³Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

⁴For whatsoever is born of God overcometh the world: and this is the victory that overcometh the world, even our faith.

¹⁷For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

⁷Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

²God forbid. How shall we, that are dead to sin, live any longer therein?

²⁰For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

²In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;

²⁸But ye should say, Why persecute we him, seeing the root of the matter is found in me?

⁸He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

¹¹Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

²¹And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

⁴⁴Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it.

³⁵But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.

³⁸The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

⁷Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness is righteous, even as he is righteous.

⁸He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

⁴⁷He that is of God heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God.

³And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

⁴Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

⁶We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

¹BE ye therefore followers of God, as dear children;

²⁹If ye know that he is righteous, ye know that every one that doeth righteousness is born of him.

⁹He that saith he is in the light, and hateth his brother, is in darkness even until now.

¹⁰He that loveth his brother abideth in the light, and there is none occasion of stumbling in him.

¹⁴We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

¹⁵Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.

²By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God, and keep his commandments.

¹⁰And said, O full of all subtilty and all mischief, thou child of the devil, thou enemy of all righteousness, wilt thou not cease to pervert the right ways of the Lord?

¹⁶The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God:

¹⁷And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.

¹⁹And we know that we are of God, and the whole world lieth in wickedness.

¹²This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

⁵And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

⁷Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

²¹And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.

⁸Finally, be ye all of one mind, having compassion one of another, love as brethren, be pitiful, be courteous:

³⁴A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

³⁵By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

²And walk in love, as Christ also hath loved us, and hath given himself for us an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweetsmelling savour.

⁸And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: for charity shall cover the multitude of sins.

⁹But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.

⁵This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

⁷Brethren, I write no new commandment unto you, but an old commandment which ye had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which ye have heard from the beginning.

⁸Again, a new commandment I write unto you, which thing is true in him and in you: because the darkness is past, and the true light now shineth.

²²Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:

⁵Now the end of the commandment is charity out of a pure heart, and of a good conscience, and of faith unfeigned:

²Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

⁴By faith Abel offered unto God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts: and by it he being dead yet speaketh.

⁴And Abel, he also brought of the firstlings of his flock and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering:

⁵But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell.

⁶And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen?

⁷If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.

⁸And Cain talked with Abel his brother: and it came to pass, when they were in the field, that Cain rose up against Abel his brother, and slew him.

⁹¶ And the Lord said unto Cain, Where is Abel thy brother? And he said, I know not: Am I my brother’s keeper?

¹⁰And he said, What hast thou done? the voice of thy brother’s blood crieth unto me from the ground.

¹¹And now art thou cursed from the earth, which hath opened her mouth to receive thy brother’s blood from thy hand;

¹²When thou tillest the ground, it shall not henceforth yield unto thee her strength; a fugitive and a vagabond shalt thou be in the earth.

¹³And Cain said unto the Lord, My punishment is greater than I can bear.

¹⁴Behold, thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass, that every one that findeth me shall slay me.

¹⁵And the Lord said unto him, Therefore whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him.

²⁷An unjust man is an abomination to the just: and he that is upright in the way is abomination to the wicked.

²⁵¶ And Adam knew his wife again; and she bare a son, and called his name Seth: For God, said she, hath appointed me another seed instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.

¹¹Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core.

⁵¹From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, It shall be required of this generation.

¹⁰The bloodthirsty hate the upright: but the just seek his soul.

¹²The wicked plotteth against the just, and gnasheth upon him with his teeth.

¹³I write unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I write unto you, young men, because ye have overcome the wicked one. I write unto you, little children, because ye have known the Father.

¹⁴I have written unto you, fathers, because ye have known him that is from the beginning. I have written unto you, young men, because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you, and ye have overcome the wicked one.

¹⁹If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.

²⁰Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

²¹But all these things will they do unto you for my name’s sake, because they know not him that sent me.

²²If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin: but now they have no cloke for their sin.

²³He that hateth me hateth my Father also.

²⁴If I had not done among them the works which none other man did, they had not had sin: but now have they both seen and hated both me and my Father.

²⁵But this cometh to pass, that the word might be fulfilled that is written in their law, They hated me without a cause.

³⁵That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar.

²⁰They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

⁸He that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning. For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil.

⁴Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you:

⁴¶ And Jonathan spake good of David unto Saul his father, and said unto him, Let not the king sin against his servant, against David; because he hath not sinned against thee, and because his works have been to thee-ward very good:

⁵For he did put his life in his hand, and slew the Philistine, and the Lord wrought a great salvation for all Israel: thou sawest it, and didst rejoice: wherefore then wilt thou sin against innocent blood, to slay David without a cause?

²⁴And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

³²Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?

¹⁹When any one heareth the word of the kingdom, and understandeth it not, then cometh the wicked one, and catcheth away that which was sown in his heart. This is he which received seed by the way side.

³⁸The field is the world; the good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the children of the wicked one;

¹⁴And David behaved himself wisely in all his ways; and the Lord was with him.

¹⁵Wherefore when Saul saw that he behaved himself very wisely, he was afraid of him.

¹⁴Then Ahimelech answered the king, and said, And who is so faithful among all thy servants as David, which is the king’s son in law, and goeth at thy bidding, and is honourable in thine house?

¹⁵Did I then begin to inquire of God for him? be it far from me: let not the king impute any thing unto his servant, nor to all the house of my father: for thy servant knew nothing of all this, less or more.

¹⁶And the king said, Thou shalt surely die, Ahimelech, thou, and all thy father’s house.

⁵²Which of the prophets have not your fathers persecuted? and they have slain them which shewed before of the coming of the Just One; of whom ye have been now the betrayers and murderers:

²³And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.

³⁸Pilate saith unto him, What is truth? And when he had said this, he went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all.

³⁹But ye have a custom, that I should release unto you one at the passover: will ye therefore that I release unto you the King of the Jews?

⁴⁰Then cried they all again, saying, Not this man, but Barabbas. Now Barabbas was a robber.

⁶And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

¹⁴For ye, brethren, became followers of the churches of God which in Judæa are in Christ Jesus: for ye also have suffered like things of your own countrymen, even as they have of the Jews: