1 John 2:16

1 John 2:16 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
• New International Version (NIV)For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world.
• English Standard Version (ESV)For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
• New King James Version (NKJV)For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world.

Context of 1 John 2:16

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. 15Do 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. What 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. 18My children, the world will soon end. You have heard that the enemy of Christ will appear. You can see that many enemies of Christ have already appeared. This shows us that the world will end soon.

1 John 2:16 word by word

ὅτι πᾶν τὸ ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ, ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῆς σαρκὸς καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν καὶ ἡ ἀλαζονεία τοῦ βίου, οὐκ ἔστιν ἐκ τοῦ πατρὸς ἀλλ᾽ ἐκ τοῦ κόσμου ἐστίν.Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• Forὅτιhoti · that/since: sinceG3754
• all thatπᾶςpas · allG3956
• inἐνen · in/on/amongG1722
• the worldὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
• the worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
• the lustἐπιθυμίαepithumia · desireG1939
• of the fleshσάρξsarx · fleshG4561
• andκαίkai · andG2532
• of the eyesὀφθαλμόςophthalmos · eyeG3788
• the prideἀλαζονείαalazoneia · boastingG212
• of lifeβίοςbios · lifeG979
• isεἰμίeimi · to beG1510
• notοὐou · noG3756
• ofἐκek ex · out fromG1537
• the Fatherπατήρpatēr · fatherG3962
• butἀλλάalla · butG235

Cross-references for 1 John 2:16

• Numbers 11:4Some foreign people were travelling with the Israelites. Those people wanted very much to eat better food. So the Israelites wept again. They said, ‘We want meat to eat!
• Psalms 78:18They decided to test God, to see what he would do. They demanded to have the food that they liked best.
• Proverbs 6:25Do not keep thinking how beautiful her body is. Do not let her use her eyes like a trap to catch you.
• Matthew 5:28But what I tell you is this: A man may look at a woman who is not his wife. And he may want to have sex with her. In his thoughts, he has had sex with her, so he has done a wrong thing.
• Romans 13:14Instead, you must live with the Lord Jesus Christ as your guide. Do not even think about the bad things that you may want to do to make yourself happy.
• 1 Corinthians 10:6We must learn from those things that happened to our ancestors. We must not want to do very bad things, like they did.
• Galatians 5:17The things that you want to do as a weak person are opposite to the things that God's Spirit wants. The things that God's Spirit wants are the opposite of what we want as weak people. Our own thoughts fight against what God's Spirit wants us to do. As a result, you are not free to do the things that you really want to do.
• Ephesians 2:3At one time, all of us lived like those people. We did whatever bad things our bodies wanted to do. If our thoughts made us want to do something, we did it. Because we were like that, God was angry with us. He should have punished us, just like everyone else.
• 1 Peter 1:14Obey God, like good children who obey their father. Before you knew the true message about Christ, you very much wanted to do bad things. But now you should not agree to live in that bad way.
• 1 Peter 2:11My friends, remember that you are really strangers in this world. You do not belong here. So I am telling you not to do the bad things that your bodies may want to do. Those bad things fight against what is good for your soul.
• 1 Peter 4:2As a result, that person will want to do what God wants him to do. In his life in this world, he will not want to do the bad things that people think are good.
• 2 Peter 2:10God will certainly punish those people who want bad things for themselves. They do the wrong things that their bodies want to do. They do not want to obey anyone's authority. These false teachers are not afraid of what other people think about them. They think that they themselves are very important. They are not afraid to say many bad things against the great angels in heaven.
• Jude 1:16Those people are always complaining. They like to accuse other people. They do any bad things that will make themselves happy. They speak great things about themselves, to show how important they are. They praise other people only so that they can get something good for themselves.
• Genesis 3:6The woman looked at the fruit on the tree. She saw that it would be good to eat, and it was beautiful to look at. She wanted to eat it because it would make her become wise. So she took some fruit and she ate it. Then she gave some of the fruit to her husband who was with her. He also ate it.
• Genesis 6:2The sons of God saw that the daughters of men were beautiful. They chose for themselves any of them that they wanted to become their wives.
• Joshua 7:21I found a beautiful coat from Babylon, and I found 200 silver coins, and a piece of gold that weighed half a kilogram. I wanted them so much that I took them for myself. I hid them in the ground in my tent. The silver coins are under the other things.’

Commentaries on 1 John 2:16

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 16For all that is in the world - All that it can boast of, all that it can promise, is only sensual, transient gratification, and even this promise it cannot fulfill; so that its warmest votaries can complain loudest of their disappointment. The lust of the flesh - Sensual and impure desires which seek their gratification in women, strong drink, delicious viands, and the like. Lust of the eyes - Inordinate desires after finery of every kind, gaudy dress…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16For all that is in the world - That is, all that really constitutes the world, or that enters into the aims and purposes of those who live for this life. All that that community lives for may be comprised under the following things. The lust of the flesh - The word “lust” is used here in the general sense of desire, or that which is the object of desire - not in the narrow sense in which it is now commonly used to denote libidinous passion. See the notes…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. 1616. all that is in the world--can be classed under one or other of the three; the world contains these and no more. lust of the flesh--that is, the lust which has its seat and source in our lower animal nature. Satan tried this temptation the first on Christ: Lu 4:3, "Command this stone that it be made bread." Youth is especially liable to fleshly lusts. lust of the eyes--the avenue through which outward things of the world, riches, pomp, and beauty…Read the comment

Topics related to 1 John 2:16

• Ambition
• Covetousness
• Depravity of Man
• Eye
• Lust
• Pride
• Temptation
• Worldliness
• Young Men

In the dictionaries

• Acknowledge
• Advocate
• Enmity
• Eye
• Lie
• Stumble
• Flesh
• Jesus Christ
• Johannine Theology
• John, the Epistles of

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