3 John

Goodspeed^{(i) 1} The Elder to my dear friend Gaius, whom I truly love. ² Dear friend, it is my prayer that everything is going well with you and that you are well; I know it is well with your soul. ³ For it makes me exceedingly happy to have some brothers come and testify to the truth of your life, for you are guided by truth. ⁴ I know of no greater blessing than hearing that my children are being guided by the truth. ⁵ Dear friend, it is loyal of you to do anything you can for the brothers, especially as they are strangers; ⁶ they have testified before the church to your love. Please see them off on their journey in a way appropriate to God's service. ⁷ For they have started out for the sake of the cause, and they are accepting nothing from the heathen. ⁸ So we ought to support such men, to show that we are ready to co-operate with the truth. ⁹ I have written briefly to the church, but Diotrephes who likes to be their leader will not accept what I say. ¹⁰ So if I come, I will bring up the things that he is doing, and how he is maliciously accusing me. Not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers himself, and he is interfering with those who want to do so, and has them put out of the church. ¹¹ Dear friend, do not follow bad examples, but good ones. The man who does right is a child of God; the man who does wrong has never seen God. ¹² Everybody testifies to Demetrius; the truth itself does; I testify to him too, and you know that my testimony to him is true. ¹³ I have a great deal to write to you, but I do not want to write it with pen and ink; ¹⁴ I hope to see you very soon and we will talk face to face. Goodbye. Our friends wish to be remembered to you. Remember me to our friends, every one.