World English Bible · Under Rome
1 John 2
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My little children, I write these things to you so that you may not . If anyone , we have a with , , . And he is the atoning for our , and not for ours only, but also for the whole world. This is how we know that we know him: if we keep his . One who says, "I know him," and doesn't keep his , is a liar, and the truth isn't in him. But love has most certainly been perfected in whoever keeps his word. This is how we know that we are in him: he who says he in him ought himself also to walk like he walked. Brothers, I write no new to you, but an old which you had . The old is the word which you heard . Again, I write a new to you, which is true in him and in you, because is passing away and the true already shines. He who says he is in and hates his brother is in even until now. He who loves his brother in , and there is no occasion for stumbling in him. But he who hates his brother is in , and walks in , and doesn't know where he is going, because has blinded his eyes. I write to you, little children, because your are forgiven you for his name's sake. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is . I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one. I write to you, little children, because you know . I have written to you, fathers, because you know him who is . I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of in you, and you have overcome the evil one. Don't love the world or the things that are in the world. If anyone loves the world, love isn't in him. For all that is in the world—the of , the of the eyes, and the pride of life—isn't , but is the world's. The world is passing away with its lusts, but he who does will . Little children, these are the end times, and as you heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have arisen. By this we know that it is the final hour. They went out from us, but they didn't belong to us; for if they had belonged to us, they would have continued with us. But they left, that they might be that none of them belong to us. You have an anointing from the One, and you all have knowledge. I have not written to you because you don't know the truth, but because you know it, and because no lie is of the truth. Who is the liar but he who denies that is the Christ? This is the Antichrist, he who denies and the Son. Whoever denies the Son doesn't have . He who confesses the Son has also. Therefore, as for you, let that in you which you heard . If that which you heard in you, you also will in the Son, and in . This is the promise which he promised us, the . These things I have written to you concerning those who would lead you astray. As for you, the anointing which you received from him in you, and you don't need for anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is no lie, and even as it taught you, you will in him. Now, little children, in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness and not be before him at his coming. If you know that he is , you know that everyone who practices has been born of him.
A public domain modern English translation, free to read and share. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Rome, 63 BC to AD 100 ›
Judea as a client kingdom and then a province. Roads, garrisons, taxes, crucifixion, and a common Greek language that let a message travel the empire faster than any before it.
- Rome
- The republic tears itself apart in civil war and comes out as an empire under Augustus. What follows is two centuries of relative peace across the whole Mediterranean, enforced by legions and paid for by taxes, with safe roads and safe sea lanes. Every one of Paul's journeys depends on that.
- Judea
- Governed first through Herod the Great, a client king of enormous ability and enormous brutality who rebuilds the temple into one of the wonders of the ancient world, then directly by Roman prefects. Crucifixion is the standard penalty for sedition and is used often and publicly.
- The wider world
- Greek is spoken from Spain to Syria, which means a letter written in Corinth can be read in Rome without translation. Jewish communities already exist in most major cities, which is where the first Christian preaching lands. Mystery religions, imperial cult, and philosophy all compete in the same marketplace.
- Further afield
- The Han dynasty rules China and trades silk westward along routes that touch the Roman world at second hand. In Britain the Roman conquest begins within a decade of the crucifixion.