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This is the boldness which we have toward him, that, if we ask anything according to his will, he listens to us.
1 John 5:14 · World English Bible
Parallel translations
  • KJV And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us:
  • BSB And this is the confidence that we have before Him: If we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
  • ESV And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
  • NKJV Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
  • NASB This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.
  • NLT And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him.

Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 23

  • John 14:13Whatever you will ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
  • Jer 29:12–13You shall call on me, and you shall go and pray to me, and I will listen to you.
  • Jer 33:3‘Call to me, and I will answer you, and will show you great things, and difficult, which you don’t know.’
  • 1 Jn 3:21–22Beloved, if our hearts don’t condemn us, we have boldness toward God;
  • John 15:7If you remain in me, and my words remain in you, you will ask whatever you desire, and it will be done for you.
  • Matt 7:7–11“Ask, and it will be given you. Seek, and you will find. Knock, and it will be opened for you.
  • Matt 21:22All things, whatever you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”
  • Ps 34:17The righteous cry, and Yahweh hears, and delivers them out of all their troubles.
  • John 9:31We know that God doesn’t listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God, and does his will, he listens to him.
  • Jas 4:3You ask, and don’t receive, because you ask with wrong motives, so that you may spend it for your pleasures.
  • Eph 3:12in whom we have boldness and access in confidence through our faith in him.
  • John 16:24Until now, you have asked nothing in my name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be made full.
  • Jas 1:5–6But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach; and it will be given to him.
  • Prov 15:29Yahweh is far from the wicked, but he hears the prayer of the righteous.
  • 1 Jn 2:28Now, little children, remain in him, that when he appears, we may have boldness, and not be ashamed before him at his coming.
  • Heb 10:35Therefore don’t throw away your boldness, which has a great reward.
  • Jas 5:16Confess your offenses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The insistent prayer of a righteous person is powerfully effective.
  • Ps 69:33For Yahweh hears the needy, and doesn’t despise his captive people.
  • Ps 31:22As for me, I said in my haste, “I am cut off from before your eyes.” Nevertheless you heard the voice of my petitions when I cried to you.
  • Heb 3:14For we have become partakers of Christ, if we hold fast the beginning of our confidence firm to the end:
  • John 11:42I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude that stands around I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.”
  • Heb 3:6but Christ is faithful as a Son over his house; whose house we are, if we hold fast our confidence and the glorying of our hope firm to the end.
  • Job 34:28so that they caused the cry of the poor to come to him. He heard the cry of the afflicted.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 1 John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on 1 John 5:14YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on 1 JohnMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

Jesus is the Word of life made manifest, the propitiation for our sins, the Son in whom is eternal life — 'that you may know that you have eternal life.'

How 1 John 5:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Greek word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.