World English Bible · Under Rome
1 John 3
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is. Tap a verse number to see where it is taken up elsewhere.
See how great a love has given to us, that we should be called children of ! For this cause the world doesn't know us, because it didn't know him. Beloved, now we are children of . It is not yet what we will be; but we know that when he is , we will be like him, for we will see him as he is. Everyone who has this set on him purifies himself, even as he is pure. Everyone who also commits lawlessness. is lawlessness. You know that he was to take away our , and no is in him. Whoever in him doesn't . Whoever hasn't seen him and doesn't know him. Little children, let no one lead you astray. He who does is , even as he is . He who is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning . To this end the Son of was : that he might destroy the works of the devil. Whoever is born of doesn't , because in him, and he can't , because he is born of . In this the children of are , and the children of the devil. Whoever doesn't do is not of , neither is he who doesn't love his brother. For this is the message which you heard , that we should love one another— unlike , who was of the evil one and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, and his brother's . Don't be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you. We know that we have passed out of into life, because we love the brothers. He who doesn't love his brother in . Whoever hates his brother is a , and you know that no has remaining in him. By this we know love, because he laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers. But whoever has the world's goods and sees his brother in need, then closes of against him, how does love in him? My little children, let's not love in word only, or with only, but in deed and truth. And by this we know that we are of the truth and persuade our before him, because if our condemns us, is greater than our , and knows all things. Beloved, if our don't condemn us, we have boldness toward ; so whatever we ask, we receive from him, because we keep his and do the things that are pleasing in his sight. This is his , that we should in the name of his Son, , and love one another, even as he commanded. He who keeps his in him, and he in him. By this we know that he in us, by which he gave us.
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.