1 Johannes 4
1 I elskede! tror ikke enhver Ånd, men prøver Ånderne, om de ere af Gud; thi mange falske Profeter ere udgåede i Verden.
Dear friends, many people [who have a false message] are teaching it to people [MTY]. So do not trust every [message that someone claims/says that God’s] Spirit [MTY] [gave to him]. Instead, (test/think carefully about) the teachings that [you hear] in order to know whether they are from God or not.
2 Derpå kende I Guds Ånd: enhver Ånd, der bekender Jesus som Kristus, kommen i Kød, er af Gud.
[I will tell] you how to recognize [teachings that come from] the Spirit of God: Those who affirm/say that Jesus Christ came [from God] to become a human [like us] are [teaching a message] that is from God.
3 Og enhver Ånd, der ikke bekender Jesus, er ikke af Gud; og dette er Antikrists Ånd, om hvilken I have hørt, at den kommer, og den er allerede nu i Verden.
But those who do not affirm/say [that about] Jesus are not [teaching a message] from God. [They are teachers who] oppose Christ. You have heard that people like that are coming [to be among us]. Even now they are already here!
4 Mine Børn! I ere af Gud og have overvundet dem, fordi den, som er i eder, er større end den, som er i Verden.
As for you who are very dear to me, you belong to God, and you have refused [the false messages] that those people [teach], because [God], who enables you [to do what he wants], is (greater/more powerful) than ([Satan/the devil]), who enables (godless people/people who conduct their lives in a way that displeases God) [MTY].
5 De ere af Verden; derfor tale de af Verden, og Verden hører dem.
As for [those who are teaching what is false], they are (godless people/people whose lives are displeasing to God) [MTY]. Because of that, they teach what (godless people/people whose lives are displeasing to God) [MTY] want to hear. That is why the (godless people/people whose lives displease God) [MTY] listen to them.
6 Vi ere af Gud. Den, som kender Gud, hører os; den, som ikke er af
As for us [(exc)], [because] we belong to God, whoever (knows/has a close relationship with) God listens to us. [But] those who do not belong to God do not listen to us. That is how we can know whether [the things that people are teaching] [MTY] are true or whether they are false, and deceiving [people].
7 I elskede! lader os elske hverandre, thi Kærligheden er af Gud, og hver den, som elsker, er født at Gud og kender Gud.
Dear friends, we must love each other, because God [enables us] to love [each other], and because those who love [their fellow believers] have become God’s children and (know/have a close relationship with) him.
8 Den, som ikke elsker, kender ikke Gud, thi Gud er Kærlighed.
God’s [nature] is to love [all people]. So those who do not love [their fellow believers] do not (know/have a relationship with) God.
9 Deri blev Guds Kærlighed åbenbaret iblandt os, at Gud har sendt sin Søn, den enbårne, til Verden, for at vi skulle leve ved ham.
I will tell you how God has shown us [that he] loves us: He sent (his only Son/the only one who was also God) [to live] on the earth to enable us to live [eternally] as a result of [our trusting in what] he [accomplished for us by dying for us].
10 Deri består Kærligheden: ikke at vi have elsket Gud, men at han har elsket os og udsendt sin Søn til en Forsoning for vore Synder.
[And God] has shown [us what it means to] love [another person]: [It does] not [mean] that we loved God, but [it means] that God loved us and sent (his Son/the one who was also God) to sacrifice [his life] in order that [our sins might be forgiven] {[he might forgive] our sins}.
11 I elskede! har Gud således elsket os, da ere også vi skyldige at elske hverandre.
Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!
12 Ingen har nogen Sinde set Gud; dersom vi elske hverandre, bliver Gud i os, og hans Kærlighed er fuldkommet i os.
No one has ever seen God. [Nevertheless], if we love each other, [it is evident that] God lives within us and that we love others just like he [intends/wants us to do].
13 Derpå kende vi, at vi blive i ham, og han i os, at han har givet os af sin Ånd.
[I will tell you] how we can be sure that we have a close relationship with God and that God is within us: He has put his Spirit within us.
14 Og vi have skuet og vidne, at Faderen bar udsendt Sønnen til Frelser for Verden.
We [apostles] have seen (God’s Son/the one who is also God), and [we tell people] that the Father sent him to save [the people in] the world [MTY] [from being punished for their sins].
15 Den, som bekender, at Jesus er Guds Søn, i ham bliver Gud, og han i Gud.
[So] those who affirm/say that Jesus is the (Son of/one who is also) God, God is within them, and they have a close relationship with God.
16 Og vi have erkendt og troet den Kærlighed, som Gud har til os. Gud er Kærlighed, og den, som bliver i Kærligheden, bliver i Gud, og Gud i ham.
We have experienced how God loves us and we believe that he loves us. [As a result, we love others. Because] God’s [nature] is to love people, those who continue to love [others] have a close relationship with God, and God has a close relationship with them.
17 Deri er Kærligheden fuldkommet hos os, at vi have Frimodighed på Dommens Dag, fordi, ligesom han er, således ere også vi i denne Verden.
We [should] love others completely. And if we do that, when the time comes for [him to] judge us, we will be confident [that he will not condemn us] (OR, [that we have a close relationship with him]). [We will be confident of that] because of our [conducting our lives] in this world as Christ did.
18 Frygt er ikke i Kærligheden, men den fuldkomne Kærlighed driver Frygten ud; thi Frygt bringer Straf; men den, som frygter, er ikke fuldkommet i Kærligheden.
We will not be afraid [of God] if we [truly] love [him], because those who love [God] completely cannot possibly be afraid [of him]. [We would be] afraid only [if we thought that he would] punish us. So those who are afraid [of God certainly] are not loving [God] completely.
19 Vi elske, fordi han elskede os først.
We love [God and our fellow believers] because God loved us first.
20 Dersom nogen siger: "Jeg elsker Gud," og hader sin Broder, han er en Løgner; thi den, der ikke elsker sin Broder, som han har set, hvorledes kan han elske Gud, som han ikke har set?
[So] those who say “I love God” but hate a fellow believer are lying. Those who do not love one of their fellow believers, whom they have seen, certainly cannot be loving God, whom they have not seen.
21 Og dette Bud have vi fra ham, at den, som elsker Gud, skal også elske sin Broder.
Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers.
