3 John
1 This letter is from John,
the elder.
I am writing to Gaius, my dear friend, whom
I love in THE TRUTH.
2 Dear friend, I hope all
is well with you and that you are as healthy in body as you are strong in
spirit.
3 Some of
the traveling teachers recently
returned and made me very happy by telling me about your faithfulness and that
you are living according to THE TRUTH.
4 I could
have NO GREATER JOY
than to hear that my children are following THE TRUTH.
Caring for the Lord’s
Workers
5 Dear friend, you are
being faithful to GOD
when you care for the traveling teachers who pass through, even though they
are strangers to you.
6 They
have told the church here of your loving friendship. Please continue providing
for such teachers in a manner that pleases GOD.
7 For they
are traveling for THE
LORD, and they accept nothing from people who are not believers.[
8 So we
ourselves should support them so that we can be their partners as they teach THE TRUTH.
9 I wrote to the church
about this, but Diotrephes, who loves to be the leader, refuses to have
anything to do with us.
10 When I
come, I will report some of the things he is doing and the evil accusations he
is making against us. Not only does he refuse to welcome the traveling
teachers, he also tells others not to help them. And when they do help, he puts
them out of the church.
11 Dear friend, don’t let
this bad example influence you. Follow only what is GOOD. Remember that those who do GOOD prove that they
are GOD’s children, and those who do evil prove that they do not know GOD.
12 Everyone speaks highly of
Demetrius, as does THE
TRUTH itself. We ourselves can say the same for him, and you know we
speak THE TRUTH.
13 I have much more to say
to you, but I don’t want to write it with pen and ink.
14 For I
hope to see you soon, and then we will talk face to face.
15 PEACE be with you.
Your friends here send you their greetings.
Please give my personal greetings to each of our friends there.”
