2 John 1

World English Bible 119 include this book

1 The elder, to the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in truth, and not I only, but also all those who know the truth,

2 for the truth’s sake, which remains in us, and it will be with us forever:

3 Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

4 I rejoice greatly that I have found some of your children walking in truth, even as we have been commanded by the Father.

5 Now I beg you, dear lady, not as though I wrote to you a new commandment, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

6 This is love, that we should walk according to his commandments. This is the commandment, even as you heard from the beginning, that you should walk in it.

7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who don’t confess that Jesus Christ came in the flesh. This is the deceiver and the Antichrist.

8 Watch yourselves, that we don’t lose the things which we have accomplished, but that we receive a full reward.

9 Whoever transgresses and doesn’t remain in the teaching of Christ doesn’t have God. He who remains in the teaching has both the Father and the Son.

10 If anyone comes to you and doesn’t bring this teaching, don’t receive him into your house, and don’t welcome him,

11 for he who welcomes him participates in his evil deeds.

12 Having many things to write to you, I don’t want to do so with paper and ink, but I hope to come to you and to speak face to face, that our joy may be made full.

13 The children of your chosen sister greet you. Amen.

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No place is named in this book. Shown instead is where it is thought to have been written.

Where this was written

Ephesus traditional Same Johannine circle at Ephesus.

When this was written

The traditions broadly agree on this one.

Broad agreement: 90 AD–100 AD The Elder
Same circle and period.

Who ruled Rome

Emperors reigning while this book is dated. Where the traditions differ, they often fall under different rulers.

Broad agreement

Domitian 81 AD–96 AD
An autocratic reign under which Revelation is traditionally placed, on the testimony of Irenaeus.
Nerva 96 AD–98 AD
A brief reign that eased the pressures of Domitian's last years.
Trajan 98 AD–117 AD
His correspondence with Pliny the Younger is the earliest surviving statement of official Roman policy toward Christians.

Elsewhere in the world

Events overlapping the period this book is dated to (90 AD–100 AD).

1070 BC–350 AD The kingdom of Kush Africa
A Nubian power on the upper Nile that ruled Egypt itself as its twenty-fifth dynasty.
500 BC–500 AD The Nazca lines South America
Vast figures drawn on the Peruvian desert, visible only from the surrounding hills.
206 BC–220 AD The Han dynasty China
Four centuries of Chinese rule contemporary with the whole of Roman expansion.
150 BC–100 AD Roman concrete and the aqueducts Rome
Hydraulic concrete let Rome build harbours, domes and aqueducts that still stand.
100 BC–550 AD Teotihuacan Mesoamerica
A city of perhaps a hundred thousand people in the valley of Mexico, with monumental pyramids.
75 AD–94 AD Josephus writes his histories Levant
A Jewish commander turned Roman client whose account is the main narrative source for first-century Judea.
27 BC–100 AD Roman road and sea network matures Rome
Consolidated roads, harbours and suppressed piracy made long-distance travel unusually safe, a precondition for the rapid spread of early Christian communities.
100 AD–940 AD The kingdom of Aksum Africa
An Ethiopian trading power on the Red Sea, and among the earliest states to adopt Christianity.

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