3 John
Chapter 1
1 Dear Gaius, my brother in the faith whom I love according to the true teaching that we’ve received from God. [1]
Greetings from me, the church elder.
2 My beloved brother, I pray that you will prosper in everything and will be healthy physically, just like your spiritual life is healthy. 3 I really rejoiced when some of the brothers in the faith came and they said openly that you are faithful and keep following the true teaching. 4 For me there’s no greater joy than to hear that you whom I consider to be my children live faithful to the true teaching.
5 My beloved brother, you’re demonstrating faithfulness by all of the help that you give to our brothers in the faith even though they are people you don’t know. 6 They’ve testified before the church about how you love them. And now I’m asking you once again, Brother, to help them in a way that’s pleasing to God so that they can continue their journey. 7 They went out to serve Christ and didn’t receive any help at all from people who don’t know God. 8 Because of that it’s proper for us to help them. If we help them, we share in their work to proclaim the true teaching.
9 I’ve written a letter to the church, but Diotrephes doesn’t want to hear what we say. He always wants to be the number one person among them. 10 For that reason, when I come later, I'll reveal various things he has done, that is the false stories and evil things he tells about us. He also doesn’t want to receive brothers in the faith who go there. And not only that, he even forbids people who want to help those brothers in the faith. And if there are members of the church who still do things like that, he kicks them out of the church.
11 My beloved brother, let’s not follow that evil example, but let’s follow a good example. A person who usually does good is from God. And a person who keeps doing evil has never known God.
12 Everyone says good things about Demetrius. [2] And it has been proven that his way of life is according to the true teaching. We ourselves also testify that he’s a good person. And you know that what we say is true.
13 There are still many things that I want to tell you but it seems better not to write them. 14 I hope to visit you soon so we can talk directly. I pray that God will always watch over you so that you live with a feeling of calm in His protection. The friends who are here send you greetings. Give our greetings to each of the friends there.