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Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, will be with us in truth and love.
2 John 1:3 · Berean Standard Bible
Parallel translations
  • WEB Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
  • KJV Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
  • NKJV Grace, mercy, and peace will be with you from God the Father and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
  • NASB Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us, from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.
  • NLT Grace, mercy, and peace, which come from God the Father and from Jesus Christ—the Son of the Father—will continue to be with us who live in truth and love.

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.

Quick answer

John pronounces grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and from Jesus Christ, the Son, in truth and love. These gifts flow from God himself and frame the whole letter.

Overview

This greeting blends a typical apostolic blessing with the letter's twin themes of truth and love. By naming Jesus Christ "the Son of the Father" alongside God the Father, John affirms Christ's full deity and the unity of Father and Son, a point central to the doctrinal battle that follows. Grace, mercy, and peace are unearned gifts secured through Christ, reminding readers that the Christian life rests on God's saving initiative.

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Rom 1:7To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints: Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
  • 1 Jn 4:10And love consists in this: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
  • 1 Tim 1:2To Timothy, my true child in the faith: Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
  • 1 Tim 1:14And the grace of our Lord overflowed to me, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
  • Gal 5:6For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. All that matters is faith, expressed through love.
  • 2 Tim 1:13Hold on to the pattern of sound teaching you have heard from me, with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
  • 2 Jn 1:1The elder, To the chosen lady and her children, whom I love in the truth—and not I alone, but also all who know the truth—
  • 1 Jn 2:23–24Whoever denies the Son does not have the Father, but whoever confesses the Son has the Father as well.
  • Zech 8:19“This is what the LORD of Hosts says: The fasts of the fourth, the fifth, the seventh, and the tenth months will become times of joy and gladness, cheerful feasts for the house of Judah. Therefore you are to love both truth and peace.”

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (1)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — 2 John videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

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

  • VideoWatch teaching on 2 John 1:3YouTube · 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 2 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

To walk in truth and love is to abide in 'the teaching of Christ'; whoever has the Son has both the Father and life.

How 2 John 1:3 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.