Yohanes 1 4
1 Nɔvi lɔlɔ̃tɔwo, migaxɔ gbɔgbɔ ɖe sia ɖe ko dzi se o, ke boŋ mido gbɔgbɔwo kpɔ be wotso Mawu gbɔ hã. Elabena aʋatsonyagbɔɖila geɖewo kaka ɖe xexea me.
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 Ale si míatsɔ dze si Mawu ƒe Gbɔgbɔe nye esi: Gbɔgbɔ ɖe sia ɖe si ɖe gbeƒã be Yesu Kristo va le ŋutilã me la tso Mawu gbɔ.
[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 Ke Gbɔgbɔ ɖe sia ɖe si meɖea gbeƒã Yesu Kristo o la metso Mawu gbɔ o. Esiae nye Kristo ƒe futɔ ƒe gbɔgbɔ si mese be egbɔna eye fifia gɔ̃ hã la ele xexea me xoxo.
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 Vinye lɔlɔ̃awo, miawo ya la, mienye Mawu viwo, eye mieɖu aʋatsonyagbɔɖila siawo dzi; elabena Gbɔgbɔ si le mia me la tri akɔ wu esi le xexea me.
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 Wotso xexea me, eya ta woƒoa nu le xexea me ƒe nugɔmesese nu, eye xexea me ɖoa to wo.
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 Míawo ya míetso Mawu gbɔ, eye ame sia ame si nya Mawu la ɖoa to mí; ke ame si metso Mawu gbɔ o la meɖoa to mí o. Esiae na míedzea si Nyateƒegbɔgbɔ kple aʋatsogbɔgbɔ.
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 Xɔ̃nye lɔlɔ̃wo, mina míalɔ̃ mía nɔewo, elabena Mawu gbɔe lɔlɔ̃ tsona. Ame sia ame si lɔ̃a ame la, wodzii tso Mawu me, eye wònya Mawu.
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 Ame si melɔ̃a ame o la, menya Mawu o, elabena Mawu nye lɔlɔ̃.
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 Ale si Mawu ɖe eƒe lɔlɔ̃ fia le mía dome lae nye: eɖo via ɖeka hɔ̃ɔ ɖe xexea me be míanɔ agbe to eya amea me.
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 Esiae nye lɔlɔ̃ vavã, menye míawoe lɔ̃ Mawu o, ke boŋ le eƒe lɔlɔ̃ na mí ta wòɖo Via ɖa abe avulévɔsa le míaƒe nu vɔ̃wo ta ene.
[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 Xɔ̃nye lɔlɔ̃tɔwo, le ale si Mawu lɔ̃ mí ta la, ele be míawo hã míalɔ̃ mía nɔewo.
Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!
12 Ame aɖeke mekpɔ Mawu kpɔ o, ke ne míelɔ̃ mía nɔewo la, Mawu ƒe Gbɔgbɔ le mía me, eye eƒe lɔlɔ̃ ade blibo le mía me.
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 Míenyae bena míele agbe le eya amea me, eye eya hã le mía me, elabena etsɔ eƒe Gbɔgbɔ de mía me.
[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 Míekpɔe, eye míeɖi ɖase be Fofo la ɖo Via ɖa be wòanye xexea me ƒe Ɖela.
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 Ame sia ame si aɖe gbeƒã be Yesue nye Mawu Vi la la, Mawu le eya amea me, eye eya hã le Mawu me.
[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 Eye míawo míedze si lɔlɔ̃ si Mawu tsɔ lɔ̃a mi, eye míexɔ edzi se. Mawue nye lɔlɔ̃, eye ame si nɔa lɔlɔ̃ me la, eya nɔa Mawu me, eye Mawu hã nɔa eya me.
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 Ewɔ míaƒe lɔlɔ̃ wòde blibo le mía dome, ale be dzideƒo nanɔ mía si le ʋɔnudrɔ̃ŋkekea dzi, elabena míaƒe agbenɔnɔ le xexe sia me sɔ kple etɔ.
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 Vɔ̃vɔ aɖeke menɔa lɔlɔ̃ me o, ke boŋ lɔlɔ̃ vavãtɔ nyaa vɔvɔ̃ ɖe sia ɖe ɖa. Elabena vɔvɔ̃ ku ɖe tohehe ŋu. Ame si vɔ̃na la ƒe lɔlɔ̃ mede blibo o.
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 Míelɔ̃ mía nɔewo, elabena Mawu tre mía lɔlɔ̃.
We love [God and our fellow believers] because God loved us first.
20 Ne ame aɖe ƒo adegbe be, “Melɔ̃ Mawu,” ke wòléa fu nɔvia la, enye alakpatɔ, elabena ame sia ame si melɔ̃a nɔvia, ame si kpɔm wòle o la, mate ŋu alɔ̃ Mawu ame si mekpɔna o.
[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 Mawu ŋutɔ de se na mí be ame si lɔ̃a Mawu la nelɔ̃ nɔvia hã.
Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers.
