1 John 2
2
Christ, our Advocate with the Father
1 My little children, these things I am writing to you, so that you may not sin. Yet, if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father— Jesus Christ, the Righteous One; 2 and He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours alone, but also for the whole world. 3 And by this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments. 4 The one who says “I have come to know Him,” and does not keep His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in him. 5 But whoever keeps His word, in him the love of God has truly been brought to perfection. By this we know that we are in Him: 6 The one who claims to abide in Him ought also to walk just as He walked.
The New Commandment
7 Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old commandment which you have had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you have heard. 8 Again, a new commandment I am writing to you, which is true in Him and in you, because the darkness is passing away and the true Light is already shining. 9 The one who claims to be in the Light and hates his brother is in the darkness until now. 10 The one who loves his brother abides in the Light, and there is no cause for stumbling in him. 11 But the one who hates his brother is in the darkness and walks in the darkness, and does not know where he is going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
12 I am writing to you, little children, because your sins have been forgiven for His name’s sake. 13 I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known the One who is from the beginning. I am writing to you, young men, because you have subdued the evil one. 14 I have written to you, children, because you have known the Father. I have written to you, fathers, because you have known the One who is from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God* abides in you, and you have subdued the evil one.
Do Not Love the World
15 Do not love the world nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father* is not in him, 16 because everything that is in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance of life—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and its desire, but the one who does the will of God abides forever.
The Last Hour
18 Children, it is the last hour, and just as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have emerged, by which we know that it is the last hour. 19 They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, so that it might become clear that all of them are not of us.
20 But you possess an anointing from the Holy One, and you all have knowledge. 21 I have not written to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it, and because every lie is not from the truth. 22 Who is the liar but the one who denies that Jesus is the Christ? This is the antichrist—the one who denies the Father and the Son. 23 Everyone who denies the Son does not have the Father, either;* the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. 24 As for you, let what you heard from the beginning abide in you. If what you heard from the beginning abides in you, you also will abide in the Son and in the Father. 25 And this is the promise which He Himself promised us—eternal life.
26 These things I have written to you concerning the ones who are attempting to mislead you.* 27 As for you, however, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need that anyone should teach you. But as His anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
Confidence Before God
28 And now, little children, abide in Him, so that when He is manifested, we may have confidence and not be put to shame before Him at His coming. 29 If you know that He is righteous, you know that everyone who practises righteousness has been born of Him.
Notes
14 One ancient Greek manuscript omits the genitive phrase of God
15 Some ancient manuscripts read the love of God
23 Some ancient manuscripts end the verse at this point
26 Greek who are misleading you
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Copyright © 2026 Michael Adeyemi Adegbola. This Scripture text is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-SA 4.0).
