1 John 2 - Disciples’ Literal New Testament (DLNT)

Jesus Is Our Advocate With God. We Know That We Know Him If We Keep His Commands

2 My little-children, I am writing these things to you in order that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an advocate^[a] with the Father: Jesus Christ the Righteous. ² And He Himself is the satisfaction^[b] for our sins; and not for ours only, but also for the whole world’s. ³ And by this we know that we have come-to-know Him: if we are keeping His commandments. ⁴ The one claiming that “I have come-to-know Him” and not keeping His commandments is a liar, and the truth is not in this one. ⁵ But whoever is keeping His word, truly the love of God has been perfected^[c] in this one. By this we know that we are in Him: ⁶ the one claiming to be abiding in Him ought just as that One walked also himself thus to be walking.

If We Are Loving One Another, We Are Abiding In The Light

⁷ Beloved, I am not writing a new commandment to you, but an old^[d] commandment which you had from the beginning. The old commandment is the word which you heard. ⁸ Yet-again I am writing a new^[e] commandment to you, which^[f] is true^[g] in Him and in you, because^[h] the darkness is passing-away and the true Light^[i] is already shining. ⁹ The one claiming to be in the light and hating his brother is in the darkness until now. ¹⁰ The one loving his brother is abiding in the light, and there is no cause-of-falling in him. ¹¹ But the one hating his brother is in the darkness, and is walking in the darkness, and does not know where he is going because the darkness blinded his eyes.

I Am Writing To You Because of What Has Already Happened In Your Life

¹² I am writing to you, little-children^[j], because your sins have been forgiven you for-the-sake-of His name. ¹³ I am writing to you, fathers, because you have known the One from the beginning. I am writing to you, young-men, because you have overcome the evil one.

I Wrote To You Because of Who And What You Already Know

¹⁴ I wrote^[k] to you, children, because you have known the Father. I wrote to you, fathers, because you have known the One from the beginning. I wrote to you, young-men, because you are strong ones, and the word of God is abiding in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

So Don’t Love The World Or Pursue Its Desires. The One Doing God’s Will Abides Forever

¹⁵ Do not be loving the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone is loving the world, the love of the Father is not in him. ¹⁶ Because everything in the world— the desire of ^[l] the flesh, and the desire of the eyes, and the boastful-pride of life^[m]— is not from the Father, but is from the world. ¹⁷ And the world is passing-away, and its desire. But the one doing the will of God abides forever.

Children, Antichrists Have Arisen

¹⁸ Children, it is the last^[n] hour. And just as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen— from which we know that it is the last hour. ¹⁹ They went out from us, but they were not of ^[o] us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us. But they went out in order that they might be made-evident that^[p] they all are not of us.

You Have God’s Anointing And You Know The Truth. Let It Abide In You And You In It

²⁰ And you have an Anointing^[q] from the Holy One, and you all have-knowledge^[r]. ²¹ I did not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you know it, and that^[s] every lie is not from^[t] the truth. ²² Who is the liar if not the one denying that Jesus is the Christ? This one is the antichrist, the one denying the Father and the Son. ²³ Everyone denying the Son does also-not have the Father. The one confessing^[u] the Son also has the Father. ²⁴ Let what you heard from the beginning be abiding 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 to us: eternal life. ²⁶ I wrote these things to you concerning the ones deceiving you. ²⁷ And the Anointing which you received from Him is abiding in you. And you have no need that anyone should be teaching^[v] you; but as His Anointing is teaching you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it^[w] taught you, be abiding^[x] in it^[y].

Abide In Christ So That If He Appears You May Have Confidence And Not Shame

²⁸ And now little-children, be abiding^[z] in Him so that if He appears, we may have confidence and not be put-to-shame^[aa] by Him at His coming.

Abiding Means Doing Righteousness, Which Characterizes All Those Born From God

²⁹ If you know^[ab] that He^[ac] is righteous, you know that everyone also doing righteousness has been born^[ad] from Him.

Footnotes

1. 1 John 2:1 Or, defender, intercessor.
2. 1 John 2:2 Or, propitiation; the sacrifice offered to remove God’s wrath against our sin.
3. 1 John 2:5 Or, brought-to-completion.
4. 1 John 2:7 Some think it is old in the sense that it is in the Law of Moses; others, in that it was spoken by Jesus Himself; others, in that the readers have had it since they first became Christians.
5. 1 John 2:8 That is, ‘new’ in that it is Christ’s ‘new commandment’, Jn 13:34. Or, ‘new’ in that John gives us here a fresh statement of the old command they heard from the beginning.
6. 1 John 2:8 This does not refer back to ‘new commandment’, as it appears in English. John may mean ‘all of which’ (everything included in what I am writing here); or, ‘the newness of which’.
7. 1 John 2:8 That is, genuinely present, truly seen.
8. 1 John 2:8 John may be explaining why he is writing (as in v 12-14); or, why it is true in Him and in you (because His light is shining in you).
9. 1 John 2:8 Or, light.
10. 1 John 2:12 little children... fathers... young-men. Some think John is referring to all Christians from three viewpoints; others, that ‘little children’ refers to all Christians (as elsewhere in the letter), who are then divided into two groups; others, that three groups are intended. In the last two views, some think the groups represent stages of spiritual growth; others, tenure as a Christian; others, physical age.
11. 1 John 2:14 John may mean ‘wrote’ from the readers viewpoint when they receive the letter, ‘writing’ (v 12-13) from his viewpoint as he writes; or, ‘wrote’ what he has already written, ‘writing’ the whole letter. Some think the change in tense is merely stylistic.
12. 1 John 2:16 That is, belonging to; or, proceeding from.
13. 1 John 2:16 That is, the manner of living, the things or goods of life.
14. 1 John 2:18 That is, the final period of time, which extends from when antichrists first appear until Christ returns.
15. 1 John 2:19 That is, belonging to us.
16. 1 John 2:19 That is, that none of those who left are of us. Or, made-evident, because. That is, because not all the people in the church are of us.
17. 1 John 2:20 That is, the Holy Spirit.
18. 1 John 2:20 That is, you all have the knowledge you need to discern between truth and error.
19. 1 John 2:21 Or, and because. This may be a second thing they know; or, a second reason John wrote to them.
20. 1 John 2:21 That is, originating from, belonging to.
21. 1 John 2:23 Or, declaring.
22. 1 John 2:27 That is, teaching you about God beyond what the Anointing and Christ through His servants (Eph 4:11) are teaching you.
23. 1 John 2:27 That is, just as His Anointing taught you from the beginning. Or, as He (Jesus) taught you when He was on Earth.
24. 1 John 2:27 Or, you are abiding.
25. 1 John 2:27 That is, in the teaching, as in v 24. Or, in Him, as in v 28.
26. 1 John 2:28 John turns from abiding in His truth to abiding in His character, His righteousness (2:29-3:10) and love (3:10-24).
27. 1 John 2:28 Or, shrink-in-shame from Him.
28. 1 John 2:29 Or, understand, recognize.
29. 1 John 2:29 That is, the Father; or, Jesus.
30. 1 John 2:29 Or, fathered by.