1 John 2:15

1 John 2:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
• New International Version (NIV)Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.
• English Standard Version (ESV)Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.
• New King James Version (NKJV)Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

Context of 1 John 2:15

13You who are older, like fathers, I am writing to you because you know Christ. He has always been there, since before the world began. You who are young men, I am writing to you because you have won against Satan. 14Yes, my children, I have written to you because you know God, our Father. Fathers, I have written to you because you know Christ. He was already there before the world began. Young men, I have written to you because you are strong. You continue to obey God's message, and you have won against Satan. Do not live like people who do not know God. Do not love the wrong things that belong to this world. If anyone loves those things, it shows that they do not love God, their Father. 16What are the wrong things that belong to this world? People want to do bad things to make themselves happy. People want to have things that they see, even bad things. People want to show other people how rich they are. These ideas do not come from God, our Father. They are the thoughts of people who belong to the world. 17One day, those people and the things that they want will not be there any longer. But those who continue to do what God wants will live for ever.

1 John 2:15 word by word

Μὴ ἀγαπᾶτε τὸν κόσμον μηδὲ τὰ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ. ἐάν τις ἀγαπᾷ τὸν κόσμον, οὐκ ἔστιν ἡ ἀγάπη τοῦ πατρὸς ἐν αὐτῷ·Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Loveἀγαπάωagapaō · to loveG25
• notμήmē · notG3361
• the worldὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
• neitherμηδέmēde · norG3366
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• Ifἐάνean · ifG1437
• any manτιςtis · oneG5100
• the loveἀγάπηagapē · loveG26
• the Fatherπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• notοὐou · noG3756
• himαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846

Cross-references for 1 John 2:15

• 1 John 4:5Those false prophets belong to this world. Their message comes from the ideas of people of this world. So the people of this world believe what they teach.
• 1 John 5:4Because we have become God's children, we can live in a good way. We can refuse to live like people who belong to this world. We are able to win against the wrong ways of this world because we trust Jesus Christ.
• John 15:19If you belonged to this world, this world's people would love you. They would love you because you would belong with them. But I chose you so that you would be separate from this world's people. You do not belong with them, so they hate you.
• Romans 12:2Do not become like the people who belong to this world. But let God completely change the way that you think, so that you live differently. Then you will understand what God wants you to do. You will know what is good. You will know what pleases God. You will know what is completely right.
• Galatians 1:10When I say these things, I am not trying to please people. No, it is God that I want to please. If I only wanted to make people happy, then I would not be a servant of Christ.
• Ephesians 2:2You lived in a bad way, like the people who belong to this world. You were obeying Satan, who rules the powerful spirits in the air. Those spirits are working now in everyone who refuses to obey God.
• Colossians 3:1God has raised you with Christ to a new life. So you should want more and more the things that belong to heaven. That is where Christ is now. He sits there at God's right side.
• 1 Timothy 6:10When people like to have lots of money, it causes all kinds of bad things to happen. Some people have stopped believing the message about Christ because they want to get more money. As a result, they have caused themselves to become sad with many troubles.
• Matthew 6:24Jesus said, ‘Nobody can work as a slave for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other master. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.
• Luke 16:13A slave cannot work for two masters at the same time. Maybe he will hate one of the masters, but he will love the other one. Or he will work well for one master, but he will think bad things about the other one. God and money are like different masters. You cannot work for both of them.’
• James 4:4You are turning away from God, like a woman who is not faithful to her husband. You choose to be friends with people who are against God. So you yourselves become enemies of God. You should know that!
• 1 John 3:17When another believer has trouble, we need to be kind to him. Maybe you have all the things that you need to live. If you see another believer who needs things like that, you should help him. If you refuse to be kind to him, it shows that you do not belong to God. You do not love people in the way that God loves them.

Commentaries on 1 John 2:15

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 15Love not the world - Though these several classes were so well acquainted with Divine things, and had all tasted the powers of the world to come: yet so apt are men to be drawn aside by sensible things, that the Holy Spirit saw it necessary to caution these against the love of the world, the inordinate desire of earthly things. Covetousness is the predominant vice of old age: Ye fathers, love not the world. The things which are in the world, its profits…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15Love not the world - The term “world” seems to be used in the Scriptures in three senses: (1)As denoting the physical universe; the world as it appears to the eye; the world considered as the work of God, as a material creation. (2)the world as applied to the people that reside in it - “the world of mankind.” (3)as the dwellers on the earth are by nature without religion, and act under a set of maxims, aims, and principles that have reference only to this…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 15-17Verses 15-17 The things of the world may be desired and possessed for the uses and purposes which God intended, and they are to be used by his grace, and to his glory; but believers must not seek or value them for those purposes to which sin abuses them. The world draws the heart from God; and the more the love of the world prevails, the more the love of God decays. The things of the world are classed according to the three ruling inclinations of depraved…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 15-17The world is a morally evil system that is under the influence of Satan and is opposed to God and to Christ’s kingdom on this earth (2:16; 3:1; 4:4; 5:19; John 12:31; 15:18; Ephesians 6:11–12; James 4:4). The world appeals to people’s fleshly desires and turns them away from God. People who belong to the world in this way need God to rescue them from it.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1515. Love not the world--that lieth in the wicked one (1Jo 5:19), whom ye young men have overcome. Having once for all, through faith, overcome the world (1Jo 4:4; 5:4), carry forward the conquest by not loving it. "The world" here means "man, and man's world" [Alford], in his and its state as fallen from God. "God loved [with the love of compassion] the world," and we should feel the same kind of love for the fallen world; but we are not to love the world…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 2:15

• Commandments
• Covetousness
• God
• Love
• Righteous
• Worldliness
• Young Men

In the dictionaries

• Acknowledge
• Advocate
• Enmity
• Lie
• Stumble
• John, the Epistles of
• Love
• will of God
• world, worldly

Commentaries on 1 John 2

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Illustrated New Testament
• Burkitt’s Expository Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Family Bible Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• The People’s New Testament
• Robertson’s Word Pictures
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings