New International Version
1 John 2:17
17The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
1 John 2:17 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the will of God abideth for ever.
- English Standard Version (ESV)And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
- New King James Version (NKJV)And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever.
- New Living Translation (NLT)And this world is fading away, along with everything that people crave. But anyone who does what pleases God will live forever.
Context of 1 John 2:17
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16For 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. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever. 18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
Read all of 1 John 21 John 2:17 word by word
καὶ ὁ κόσμος παράγεται καὶ ἡ ἐπιθυμία αὐτοῦ· ὁ δὲ ποιῶν τὸ θέλημα τοῦ θεοῦ μένει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα.¶Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- Andκαίkai · andG2532
- the worldὁho hē to · the/this/whoG3588
- the worldκόσμοςkosmos · worldG2889
- passeth awayπαράγωparagō · to passG3855
- the lustἐπιθυμίαepithumia · desireG1939
- thereofαὐτόςautos · it/s/heG846
- butδέde · thenG1161
- he that doethποιέωpoieō · to do/make: doG4160
- the willθέλημαthelēma · will/desireG2307
- of Godθεόςtheos · GodG2316
- abidethμένωmenō · to stayG3306
- forεἰςeis · towardG1519
- everαἰώνaiōn · an age: eternityG165
Cross-references for 1 John 2:17
- Psalms 39:6“Surely everyone goes around like a mere phantom; in vain they rush about, heaping up wealth without knowing whose it will finally be.
- Psalms 73:18Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin.
- Psalms 90:9All our days pass away under your wrath; we finish our years with a moan.
- Psalms 102:26They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded.
- Isaiah 40:6A voice says, “Cry out.” And I said, “What shall I cry?” “All people are like grass, and all their faithfulness is like the flowers of the field.
- Matthew 24:35Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
- 1 Corinthians 7:31those who use the things of the world, as if not engrossed in them. For this world in its present form is passing away.
- James 1:10But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower.
- James 4:14Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.
- 1 Peter 1:24For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
- Psalms 143:10Teach me to do your will, for you are my God; may your good Spirit lead me on level ground.
- Matthew 7:21“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.
- Matthew 21:31“Which of the two did what his father wanted?” “The first,” they answered. Jesus said to them, “Truly I tell you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes are entering the kingdom of God ahead of you.
- Mark 3:35Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”
- John 7:17Anyone who chooses to do the will of God will find out whether my teaching comes from God or whether I speak on my own.
- Romans 12:2Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.
Commentaries on 1 John 2:17
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 17The world passeth away - All these things are continually fading and perishing; and the very state in which they are possessed is changing perpetually, and the earth and its works will be shortly burnt up. And the lust thereof - The men of this world, their vain pursuits, and delusive pleasures, are passing away in their successive generations, and their very memory perishes; but he that doeth the will of God - that seeks the pleasure, profit, and honor…Read the comment
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 17And the world passeth away - Everything properly constituting this world where religion is excluded. The reference here does not seem to be so much to the material world, as to the scenes of show and vanity which make up the world. These things are passing away like the shifting scenes of the stage. See the notes at 1 Corinthians 7:31. And the lust thereof - All that is here so much the object of desire. These things are like a pageant, which only amuses…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. 1717. the world--with all who are of the world worldly. passeth away--Greek, "is passing away" even now. the lust thereof--in its threefold manifestation (1Jo 2:16). he that doeth the will of God--not his own fleshly will, or the will of the world, but that of God (1Jo 2:3, 6), especially in respect to love. abideth for ever--"even as God also abideth for ever" (with whom the godly is one; compare Psa 55:19, "God, even He that abideth of old): a true…Read the comment
Topics related to 1 John 2:17
In the dictionaries
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
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