Easy English Bible - 1 2 3 John 2005
Chapter 1 2 3 4 5 2 John * 1 3 John * 1
How Christians Should Love Each Other
About this letter
Most students believe that John wrote this letter. He was the apostle John, who also wrote the Gospel of John. And John also wrote the letters called 2 John and 3 John.
These three letters contain ideas very like those in John’s Gospel. They have the same kinds of words. The Gospel tells people about Jesus, and how to know God. These letters are for people who know God. They tell those people how he wants them to live. The Gospel and these letters all speak about God’s love and light. John wrote the Gospel to say that Jesus is the Son of God. He wanted them to know, and to believe that Jesus had died for them. He wanted them to become Christians. But these letters were for people who were already Christians. John wrote this letter against false teaching that some Christians had heard.
1 We want to tell you about the person who is God’s message to people. He is the person who gives people proper life. He was before the beginning of the world. We heard him speak. We saw him with our own eyes. We watched him and we touched him.
2 He showed himself on this earth. We saw him and we are telling you about it. We are telling you that he is the person who gives eternal life. From long ago he was together with God the Father, and he has shown himself to us. 3 We ourselves are united with God the Father, and Jesus Christ his Son. And we want you to be of the same mind as us, as you trust him. That is why we are telling you about the person whom we have seen and heard.
4 We are writing so that together we may be completely happy.
5 Jesus Christ gave us a message and this is the message: God is good and clean like light. There is nothing dark about him. 6 Now, someone may say that he is united to God. But he may still do things that do not please God. Then what he says is not true. He is living as if he were in the dark. What he does shows that he does not want to obey God’s rules. 7 But when we do right things, it is like living in the light. God is always in the light. (He always does what is good and right.) When we live like this we are really united together. The death of Jesus, the Son of God makes us clean. He removes sin from us and he makes us clean in front of God. 8 We may say that we never do wrong things. But then, we are making a mistake. We may really believe that we never sin. Then we do not understand that God’s words are true. 9 But if we tell God about our sins then he will forgive us. He will take away from us all our sins. God is true and fair. So, he will do what he promised. And he will do what is right. 10 God says that all people have sinned. But we may say that we have never sinned. Then we are saying that God is not telling the truth. We have not accepted his word at all.
1 I am writing to you who are like dear children to me. I am writing this because I do not want you to sin. But if you do sin, tell him. Then God will forgive you. God our Father forgives us. He does this because a completely good person asks him to do it. That person is Jesus Christ. 2 He died to take the punishment for our sin. He not only died to take the punishment for our sins. He died to take the punishment for the sins of all people everywhere.
3 We can be sure that we have become people who know Christ. And I want to tell you how we can be sure. It is when we obey his rules. 4 Someone may say, ‘I know Christ.’ If he does not obey Christ’s rules, that person is lying. He does not know him. He has not obeyed the truth which he tells us in his rules. 5 But we should do the things that Christ said. Then we will show that we love God. By this we know that we live in him. 6 A person may say that he lives in God. Then he must live as Jesus did.
7 Dear Christian brothers, love each other. When I say this, I am not giving you a new rule. It is the old rule that you had for a long time. We gave it to you when you began to obey Christ. You have already heard this message. 8 But there is something new about it. The life of Christ shows us that this rule is new. Your lives also show that it is new. The life of Christ shows us the truth about God. And this truth is already shining in your lives. It is like a light that people can see. You did bad things before. They are like the dark, which is becoming less and less. 9 A person may say that he is in the light. He says that he obeys God. But, he may hate another Christian. Then he is still living as if he were in the dark. 10 Whoever loves other Christians is living in the light. He never causes other Christians to sin. 11 But a person may not love other Christians. He is like someone who is living in the dark. He does wrong things and he does not know God’s rules. Because he does not know God’s rules, he is like a blind person. He cannot see where he is going.
12 Dear children, I am writing to you because God has forgiven all your sins. God did this because of Christ. 13 I am writing to you who are like fathers. I am writing to you because you have known Christ for a long time. He was before the world began. I am writing to you who are like young men because you have beaten Satan. I write to you, my children. I am writing to you because you have become people who know God, our Father. 14 I write to you, fathers, because you know Jesus Christ. He was before the world began. I write to you young men because you are trusting Christ well. God’s word is always in your minds and you have beaten Satan.
15 Whoever loves the wrong values of this world cannot also love God our Father. So I tell all of you, do not love the wrong values of this world. 16 When people only want to please themselves, this is wrong. Sometimes people want to have all the things that they see. This is wrong. Sometimes people want to tell other people what great things they have done. Sometimes they want to tell them how rich they are. This is also wrong. None of these ideas comes from the Father. They come from loving the wrong things in this world. 17 God has begun to destroy the wrong things in this world. Those who want bad things will die. But those who do what God wants will live for ever.
18 Dear children, the world will soon end. You have heard that the enemy of Christ will appear. You now see that many enemies of Christ have already appeared. This shows us that the world really will soon end. 19 These enemies of Christ who used to be in our group no longer meet with us. They never really were Christians. If they had really been Christians, they would have remained with us. But they left. And so they showed that they were never really Christians. 20 But Christ has given you the Holy Spirit. Because of this, you all know what is true. 21 You do know that it is true. That is why I am writing this letter to you. Yes, you can be sure that the truth does not include anything false.
22 I will tell you who is the worst liar. It is the person who says that Jesus is not the Christ. When a person says that, he is refusing to believe in the Father of Jesus. He also refuses to believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Anyone who talks like this is the enemy of Christ. 23 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Son of God is united to God the Father. Whoever refuses to believe this is not united to the Father. 24 Always remember what you first heard about Christ. If you always remember that message you will remain united to God the Son and his Father. 25 Then he promises that we will receive eternal life.
26 Some people are trying to lead you away from what is true. I am writing these things to you about those people. 27 But the Holy Spirit, whom Christ gave, is still in you. So, you do not need anyone else to teach you what is true. The same Holy Spirit shows you all the things that are true. There is nothing false in what he shows you. So, I say to you, remain united to Christ. Remain united to Christ as the Holy Spirit has told you to do.
28 Dear children, remain united to Christ. Then, when he comes back to this world, we will be brave. We will not be afraid to meet him. 29 Christ does what pleases God. You know that. So you should know that everyone who pleases God is his child.
1 Think about how much God the Father loves us. He calls us his children. And we really have become children of God. The people of this world do not know God as Father. So they do not understand that we are his children. 2 Dear friends, we are already children of God. We do not know yet what we will become in the future. We do know that Christ will return to this world. Then we will see what he really is. And then we will become like him. 3 Christ does not sin. So everyone of you who hopes to become like Christ ought to keep himself clean from sin.
4 If a person continues to sin, he is choosing not to obey God’s rules. Sin is when we choose not to obey God. 5 You know that Jesus came into the world so that he might take away our sins. You know that he has never sinned. 6 A person who is united to Christ does not go on sinning. But if a person goes on sinning, he really does not know Christ at all. He does not understand who Christ is.
7 Dear children, be careful not to make this mistake. Do not let anyone lead you away from the truth. God sees as good only those people who do good things. People like that please God as Jesus Christ pleases God. 8 But some people go on doing what is wrong. Those people belong to the Devil. The Devil has been doing wrong things from the start. This is why the Son of God came. He came to destroy everything that the Devil had done.
9 No person who is a child of God should continue to sin. This is because God has given him a new life. He cannot continue to sin, because he is a child of God. 10 This is how we know who are the children of God. And this is how we know who are the children of the Devil. Some people do not do what is right. They are not his children. And people who do not love other Christians are not God’s children.
11 Since you began to obey Christ, you have heard God’s message. He says that we should love each other. 12 We should not be like Cain. He belonged to the Devil. He did things that were wrong. He even killed his brother. His brother did things that pleased God. That is why Cain killed him.
13 So, my Christian brothers, do not be surprised when people of this world hate you.
14 We know that we are no longer like dead people. We have become people who have life from God. We know this because we are now loving our Christian brothers. If someone does not love other Christians, he is still like a dead person. 15 Some people hate other people. Anyone like that is like someone who kills people. You know that a person like that does not have the eternal life.
16 This is how we know what love is. Christ gave his own life and he died for us. This shows us how we should really love other people. We ought to give our lives for other Christians. 17 Think about someone who has enough to buy all that he needs. That person knows another Christian. The other Christian does not have enough to buy all that he needs. He may refuse to help that poor Christian. Then he cannot say that he has God’s love for that other Christian. 18 Dear children, let us not only show love for each other by what we say. Let us show love by really helping each other.
19 Then we will know that we really belong to God. We will be doing what is true. This will make us not afraid to come to God. 20 Our thoughts may say that we are bad. But God knows much more than we know in our thoughts. God knows everything.
21 Dear friends, our thoughts may not say that we are bad. Then we are not afraid to come to God. 22 And God gives us everything that we ask. He does this because we obey his rules. And we do what pleases him. 23 He said that we must do this. We must believe that Jesus Christ is his Son. And we should love each other, as he said. 24 Anyone who obeys God’s rules is united to God. And God is united to him. God sent his Spirit to live in us. So we know that God is united to us.
1 Dear friends, many people are travelling about who say that they have the Holy Spirit. But they are saying what is false. The messages that they give do not come from God. So, find out if the Holy Spirit gave them the message. If not, do not believe their message.
2 You can know that a person has the Spirit of God in him. This is how you can know it. Ask him if Jesus Christ came into the world as a human baby. If he says ‘Yes’, he has the Spirit of God. He belongs to God. 3 But some people say that Jesus did not come as a human baby. And anyone who says that does not have the Spirit of God. That person has a false spirit from the enemy of Christ. You have heard that this false spirit was coming to this world. And it is already in the world.
4 But, dear children, God has sent you. You have shown that these people are wrong. You have been able to do this because the Holy Spirit in you is powerful. He is more powerful than the spirit who rules the world. 5 Those wrong people do not know God. They are people of this world. So, they teach like other people who do not know God. So the people of this world believe what they teach. 6 But God has sent us. Everyone who knows God believes our message. But anyone whom God has not sent will not believe it. By this, we know if a person has the Spirit of God. A person may teach the truth that the Holy Spirit teaches. Then he believes our message. There is a different spirit, which teaches false things. Anyone with that spirit does not believe our message.
7 Dear friends, we should all continue to love each other. God makes us able to love other people. So, everyone who loves other people is a child of God. And he knows God. 8 Anyone who does not love other people does not know God. We know this because God shows his love in everything that he does. 9 This is how God showed his love for us. He sent his only Son into the world, so that we could have eternal life because of him. 10 We did not love God first. Rather, he loved us first. He sent his Son to die, to take away our sins. 11 This shows how much he loved us. So, dear friends, we should all love each other.
12 Nobody has ever seen God. But, if we love each other, he really lives in us. And he can love people completely in us. 13 God has given us his Holy Spirit. Because of this, we know that we are united to God. And we know that he is united to us. 14 We have seen that God the Father sent his Son to this world. Jesus saves the people of the world. We tell everybody that this is true. 15 Anyone who tells people that Jesus is the Son of God is united to God. God is also united to that person. 16 And we know well that God loves us. We also trust him to love us all the time. God always shows love. If a person continues to love God and people, he is united to God. And God is united to him.
17 This is how God loves people completely in us. Then, we will be safe on the day when God will judge all people. We can be sure about this. We have remained united to God, as Jesus did. So, we will not be afraid on that day. 18 Any person who knows that God loves him will not be afraid of God. This love causes us not to be afraid. Some people are afraid of God. They think that he will punish them. So, if someone is afraid of God, he is not completely trusting God. He is not completely trusting that God loves him.
19 We are able to love God and people because God first loved us. 20 Think about someone who hates other Christians. That person may say that he loves God. If he says that, he is telling a lie. He does not love the Christian that he can see. So, he cannot love God that he has not seen. 21 So this is what God has told us to do. He has told us that anyone who loves God should also love other Christians.
1 Whoever believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. We may love someone who is a father. If we do, we will also love the child of that person. 2 This is how we know that we really love the children of God. We know it when we love God and obey his words. 3 Because, if we really love God, we will obey his words. And, it is not difficult for us to obey his words. 4 This is how we can refuse to live like people of this world. It is by believing in Jesus Christ. 5 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Son of God can refuse to live like the people of this world. Nobody else can.
6 Jesus Christ is the person who came to this world from God's home. John baptised him in water. When Jesus died, his blood flowed out. He showed that he was human not only by his baptism in water. He showed it also when his blood flowed out. The Holy Spirit shows us that these things are true. He always says what is true. 7 So there are three signs. By these three signs, we know that Jesus was really human. 8 These signs are the Holy Spirit, the water and the blood. These signs all show us the same thing. 9 People tell us about things that they know. And we believe them. God is more important than man. And he has told us about things that he knows. He has told us about his Son. So we should believe his word.
10 Someone will believe that Jesus is the Son of God. Then he really will know that these things are true. But someone may not believe what God has said. So he is saying that God does not tell the truth. God is telling us about his own Son. But, this man still does not believe God. 11 God has given us life that never ends. He has given it by his Son. 12 So if anyone is united to the Son of God, he has this eternal life. But anyone who is not united to the Son of God does not have eternal life.
13 I have written these things to you who believe that Jesus is the Son of God. I wanted you to know that you have eternal life. 14 Also, we can be sure of this. We may ask God for something. Then we can be sure that he hears us. Yes, if we ask for something that he wants us to have, he will never refuse us. We can be sure about this. 15 We know that he hears us when we ask him. So, he will give us whatever we ask. We can be sure about that.
16 One Christian may know that another Christian is sinning. So he should pray to God about it. That person may not be doing something wrong that would cause him to die. Then God will answer your prayer. God will cause that person to live. I am only talking about a person who has done something that will not cause him to die. There is a sin that will cause a person to die. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17 Any wrong thing that a person does is sin against God. But there are sins which do not cause people to die.
18 We know that no child of God continues to sin. Instead, the Son of God keeps him safe. The Devil cannot do something bad to a child of God. 19 We know that we are God’s children. And we know that the Devil rules all those of this world. 20 We also know that the Son of God has come into the world. He gives us understanding so that we know the only true God. We are united to this true God, and to his Son, Jesus Christ. There is no other true God. He is the only person who can give people eternal life. 21 Dear children, be careful not to have anything to do with false gods.
About John’s second letter
Most students believe that John wrote this letter. He was the apostle John, who also wrote the Gospel of John.
John calls himself a ‘Church leader’. He has authority over churches. He was an old man, and he called the Christians ‘his dear little children’. He wrote his letters for people to read out in church meetings. He called the churches that he was writing to, ‘the lady and her children’. He is warning these churches against false teachers. Teachers like this do not teach the words of Jesus.
1 I, the Church leader, am writing this letter to you, dear lady. God has chosen you and your children. I really love all of you. I am not the only person who really loves you. Everyone else who knows the true message about God also really loves you. 2 I love all of you because we know this true message. We will always know it. It remains with us for ever. 3 As we know this truth and love each other, God will do good things for us. God our Father and his Son Jesus Christ will give us grace. God will be kind to us and he will help us to live in peace.
4 I was very happy to hear about some of your children. They are doing what God wants us to do. They really are doing what God our Father told us to do. 5 And now, dear lady, I will ask you to do something. It is that we should love one another. This is not a new rule. This is a rule that we had from the beginning. 6 We show our love for God when we obey his rules. So, love each other, as he told us from the beginning.
7 I say this because many false teachers are travelling about. They say many wrong things. They say that Jesus Christ did not come to this world as a human baby. If a person says that, he is a liar and an enemy of Christ. 8 So, watch and be careful. Then you will not believe what they teach. If you do, you will lose what you have worked for. Instead, make sure that you receive all that God has promised you. 9 Remember this. Perhaps a person is not happy with what Christ taught. And if he includes his own ideas, he does not have God. Other people continue to believe what Christ taught. Those people are united to both God the Father and his Son. 10 Someone may come to your house who does not teach the same things. Do not receive that person into your house. Do not receive him as a Christian. 11 If you receive a person like that as a Christian, you are helping him to do wrong. You also are doing wrong.
12 I would like to tell you many more things, but I do not want to write them in a letter. Instead, I hope to come and visit you. I want us to be together so that we can talk. Then we will be completely happy. 13 The children of your dear sister whom God has chosen send their love.
A Letter to a Christian Friend
About John’s third letter
Most students believe that John wrote this letter. He was the apostle John, who also wrote the Gospel of John.
John wrote to a person called Gaius. John is sad, because Diotrephes is hurting Christian people. Diotrephes is not welcoming Christians. Also, he is saying bad things about John. He is telling lies. John is warning Gaius not to copy Diotrephes.
1 I, the Church leader, am writing this letter to you, Gaius. I really love you. 2 My dear friend, I ask God to give you good health. Your spirit is well. I hope that you may do as well in everything. 3 I was very happy when I heard news about you. Some Christians arrived. And they told me that you are living as you should live. I know that you will continue to live like that. 4 It makes me really happy when I hear news like that about my children. I am happy when they are really living properly.
5 My dear friend, you have done many things to help other Christians. You help those who travel about and teach about Jesus Christ. You do this even when they are strangers to you. This shows that you really trust Christ. 6 These people that you helped have told the Christians here about your love. I say to you, ‘Continue to help people who are like that.’ Give them what they need to travel. This pleases God. 7 Because these people are travelling about to tell about Jesus Christ. They do not take help from those that are not Christians. 8 So, we Christians ought to receive them. And we should give them what they need. So we will work together with them as they tell people the true message about Christ.
9 I wrote to the Christians in your town. But Diotrephes refuses to read to them what I wrote. He wants to be the only important person among them. 10 So, when I come, I will speak to the Christians there about this. Diotrephes is saying false and bad things about me to other people. He is doing something worse than that. He refuses to receive Christians from other places when you meet together. He will not let them teach the Christians in your town. And, if someone wants to receive those travelling Christians, he does not let them. He even sends away those who want to receive them.
11 My dear friend, do not copy bad people. Instead, you should copy what good people do. The person who does good things is a child of God. But the person who does bad things does not know God.
12 All Christians say that Demetrius is a good person. He really lives as God wants. And this shows that he is a good person. I also tell you that he is a good person. And whatever things I say about anyone are true. You know that.
13 I would like to tell you many more things. But I do not want to write them in a letter. 14 Instead, I hope to come and visit you soon. Then we can talk together.
I pray that God will give you peace. All your Christian friends here say hello to you. Say hello for me to each of my friends there.
Info
© Wycliffe Associates (UK), 1997-2005
This version published March 2005
The translated Bible text has been through Advanced Checking.