2 John, in The King James Bible (1769 Standard Text)

The second letter of John, to the elect lady. This page gives the book complete in the King James Version of 1611 as standardised in 1769, the text of virtually every KJV printed since, in the spelling of that text. Words the translators supplied for sense are in italics, as the KJV prints them.

Chapter 1

1 The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

2 For the truth’s sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.

3 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.

4 I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

5 And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

6 And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

7 For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

8 Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

9 Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

10 If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:

11 For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

12 Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

13 The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.

Colophon

This page is an archival transcription, not a Good Works Translation. Its text is the King James Version (the Authorized Version, first printed in London by Robert Barker in 1611) in the standardised form that descends from Benjamin Blayney's Oxford edition of 1769, the form in which the KJV has been printed ever since. It was converted from the USFM files of "King James Version + Apocrypha" (eng-kjv) published by eBible.org courtesy of the CrossWire Bible Society (source files dated 26 Sep 2026). That digital text names no single printed copy, and modern printings of the 1769 text still differ from one another in a handful of readings. Spelling and punctuation are the source's own, including the paragraph marks (¶). The conversion removed only markup: Strong's-number tags and paragraph and poetry layout codes. Words printed in italic type in the KJV, which the translators supplied for sense, are in italics here; the words of Jesus, which the source marks for red-letter display, are plain text; LORD, printed in small capitals, is set in capitals. The digital source carries no marginal notes for the New Testament, although printed KJVs have them, nor the cross-references or chapter summaries; none are given here.

Licence: public domain. In the United Kingdom the Crown's letters patent still restrict the printing of the Authorized Version; outside the UK the text is free.

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