I, the presbyter, send greeting to that sovereign lady whom God has chosen; and to those children of hers who are my friends in the truth, loved, not by me only, but by all those who have recognized the truth,✻

for love of that truth which dwells in us, and will be our companion for ever.

God the Father, and Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, send you grace, mercy and peace in a spirit of truth and love.

It has given me great happiness, in meeting some of thy children, to find that they followed the way of truth, obeying the command that came to us from the Father.

And now, sovereign lady, I have a request to make of thee. It is no new command that my letter brings, only the command we were given from the first; let us all love one another.

Love means keeping his commandments; love is itself the commandment which our earliest lessons bade us follow.

Many false teachers have appeared in the world, who will not acknowledge that Jesus Christ has come in human flesh; here is the deceiver you were warned against, here is Antichrist.

Be on your guard, or you will lose all you have earned, instead of receiving your wages in full.✻

The man who goes back, who is not true to Christ’s teaching, loses hold of God; the man who is true to that teaching, keeps hold both of the Father and of the Son.✻

If you are visited by one who does not bring this teaching with him, you must not receive him in your houses, or bid him welcome;

to bid him welcome is to share the guilt of his doings.

I might add to this letter, but I have thought it best not to entrust my message to paper and ink; I hope to visit you, and convey it by word of mouth, to give you happiness in full measure.

The children of thy sister, God’s chosen, send thee greeting.