The Rheims New Testament (1582) — 3 John

The Third Epistle of Saint John, as printed in the Rheims New Testament of 1582, the English Catholic translation made from the Latin Vulgate at the English College, then in exile at Rheims, chiefly by Gregory Martin. The page gives the single chapter with its printed summary, every verse in the original spelling, the marginal notes (cross-references, the days on which passages are read, and other readings). The argument of Saint John's three Epistles is printed before the first and stands on the page for 1 John.

Chapter 1

He commendeth Gaiues, for continuing in the truth, and for ſuſteining or ſuccouring true preachers, 9 noting Diotrepes for the contrarie, and praiſing Demétrius.

1 THE Seniour to Gaius the deereſt, whom I loue in truth.

2 My deereſt, concerning al thinges I make my praier that thou proceede proſperouſly, and fare vvel, as thy ſoule doth proſperouſly.

3 I vvas exceding glad vvhen the brethren came, and gaue teſtimonie to thy truth, euen as thou vvalkeſt in truth.

4 Greater thanke' haue I not of them, then that I may heare my children do vvalke in truth.

5 My deereſt, thou doeſt faithfully vvhatſoeuer thou vvorkeſt on the brethren, and that vpon ſtrangers.

6 they haue rendred teſtimonie to thy charitie in the ſight of the Church: vvhō, thou ſhalt doe vvel, bringing on their vvay in maner vvorthie of God.

7 For, for his name did they depart, taking nothing of the Gentiles.

8 Vve therfore ought to receiue ſuch: that vve may be coadiutors of the truth.

9 I had vvritten perhaps to the Church: but he that loueth to beare primacie among them, Diótrepes, doth not receiue vs.

10 For this cauſe, if I come, I vvil aduertiſe his vvorkes vvhich he doeth: vvith malicious vvordes chatting againſt vs. and as though theſe thinges ſuffiſe him not: neither him ſelf doth receiue the brethren, and them that do receiue, he prohibiteth, and caſteth out of the Church.

11 My deereſt, do not imitate euil, but that vvhich is good. He that doeth vvel, is of God: he that doeth il, hath not ſeen God.

12 To Demetrius teſtimonie is giuen of al, and of the truth it ſelf, yea and vve giue teſtimonie: and thou knovveſt that our teſtimonie is true.

13 I had many thinges to vvrite vnto thee: but I vvould not by inke and penne vvrite to thee.

14 But I hope forthvvith to ſee thee, and vve vvil ſpeake mouth to mouth. Peace be to thee. The freendes ſalute thee. Salute the freendes by name.

Marginal notes to Chapter 1

• v. 4 ` pleaſure.
• v. 4 ⟨non-Latin script⟩
• v. 5 ⸬ A great grace to be beneficial to ſtrangers, ſpecially to them that be of our Catholike faith and ſuffer for the ſame.
• v. 9 ᵇ It ſeemeth (ſaith S. Bede) he vvas an Arch-heretike or proud Sectmaiſter.
• v. 10 ᶜ That is, I vvil rebuke them and make them knovven to be vvicked. Bede.
• v. 10 ᶜ commonebo. ⟨non-Latin script⟩

Colophon

Printed edition: The Nevv Testament of Iesus Christ, translated faithfully into English, out of the authentical Latin … in the English College of Rhemes (Rhemes: Iohn Fogny, 1582; STC 2884, ESTC S102491), the Catholic New Testament translated from the Latin Vulgate chiefly by Gregory Martin. Copy transcribed: the Eton College Library copy, as filmed for Early English Books Online (image set 2646).

Transcription: Early English Books Online Text Creation Partnership (EEBO-TCP), Phase I text A16049 (keyed 2005–06, proofread and released 2006), placed in the public domain under Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal. Converted for the Good Works Library in October 2026.

What was done: the spelling, punctuation and capitals of the transcription are kept exactly, including u/v, i/j, "vv" for w, long s (ſ), the abbreviation stroke (as in "vpō") and the edition's own marks (″ for an annotated word, ⸬ and * for marginal references, ⊢ for the end of a liturgical Gospel or Epistle; ▪ is the transcribers' sign for a punctuation mark they could not identify). Removed as apparatus: the TEI markup, page breaks, line-end hyphenation, and the small cross ✝ that the edition sets at the beginning of each verse beside the verse number in the margin; the number is given here instead. Marginal notes are gathered after each chapter, keyed to their verse; the annotations follow as the edition prints them. Words the transcribers could not read are shown as ⟨illegible⟩; words printed in Greek or other non-Latin letters, which the transcription did not key, are shown as ⟨non-Latin script⟩. No gap has been filled or guessed.

The book's heading in the edition reads: "THE THIRD EPISTLE OF IOHN THE APOSTLE." The page title gives it in ordinary capitals and lower case, without other change.

On this page no place is marked ⟨illegible⟩ and 2 words or phrases in Greek or other non-Latin letters are marked ⟨non-Latin script⟩.

This is an archival transcription of a historic English Bible. It is not a Good Works Translation.

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