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14 I am writing to you, dear children,
because you have known the Father.
I am writing to you, fathers,
because you have known him
who has existed from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young people,
because you are strong,
and the word of God abides in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
15 Do not love the world
or what is in the world.
If anyone does love the world,
the love of the Father is not in him.
16 For everything that is in the world—
the concupiscence of the flesh,
the concupiscence of the eyes,
and the pride of life—
comes not from the Father
but from the world.[a]

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Footnotes

  1. 1 John 2:16 The author here defines three great sins of worldliness: the concupiscence of the flesh, the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life. The first has to do with inordinate desire for sensuality (see Eph 2:3; 1 Pet 2:11; 2 Pet 2:10, 18). The second has to do with covetousness, which springs from the eyes and has to do with the desire for things (see Job 31:1; Ezek 23:12-17; Mt 5:27ff). The third has to do with worldly ambition, ostentation, pride and arrogance, independence of God (see Ps 10:4; Prov 16:5; Isa 13:11; Lk 1:51-52; Jas 4:6, 10; 1 Pet 3:8; 5:5).