Iohannis I 4
1 carissimi nolite omni spiritui credere sed probate spiritus si ex Deo sint quoniam multi pseudoprophetae exierunt in mundum
Dear friends, do not trust every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.
2 in hoc cognoscitur Spiritus Dei omnis spiritus qui confitetur Iesum Christum in carne venisse ex Deo est
This is the way to recognise the Spirit of God: those who acknowledge Jesus Christ as come in the flesh have God’s Spirit,
3 et omnis spiritus qui solvit Iesum ex Deo non est et hoc est antichristi quod audistis quoniam venit et nunc iam in mundo est
while a spirit that doesn’t acknowledge Jesus isn’t from God. Instead it is the spirit of the antichrist; you have heard that it was coming, and it is now already in the world!
4 vos ex Deo estis filioli et vicistis eos quoniam maior est qui in vobis est quam qui in mundo
You, my children, come from God, and you have successfully resisted such people as these, because he who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.
5 ipsi de mundo sunt ideo de mundo loquuntur et mundus eos audit
Those people belong to the world and therefore they speak as the world speaks, and the world listens to them.
6 nos ex Deo sumus qui novit Deum audit nos qui non est ex Deo non audit nos in hoc cognoscimus Spiritum veritatis et spiritum erroris
We come from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; the person who does not come from God does not listen to us. This is how we distinguish the spirit of truth and the spirit of deception.
7 carissimi diligamus invicem quoniam caritas ex Deo est et omnis qui diligit ex Deo natus est et cognoscit Deum
Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God and everyone who loves is a child of God and knows God.
8 qui non diligit non novit Deum quoniam Deus caritas est
Those who do not love know nothing of God, for God is love.
9 in hoc apparuit caritas Dei in nobis quoniam Filium suum unigenitum misit Deus in mundum ut vivamus per eum
This is how God showed his love among us: he sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
10 in hoc est caritas non quasi nos dilexerimus Deum sed quoniam ipse dilexit nos et misit Filium suum propitiationem pro peccatis nostris
This is what love is: it is not that we have loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
11 carissimi si sic Deus dilexit nos et nos debemus alterutrum diligere
Dear friends, since God loved us in this way, we should love one another.
12 Deum nemo vidit umquam si diligamus invicem Deus in nobis manet et caritas eius in nobis perfecta est
No one has ever seen God, but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love reaches perfection within us.
13 in hoc intellegimus quoniam in eo manemus et ipse in nobis quoniam de Spiritu suo dedit nobis
We know that we live in him, and he lives in us, because he has given us a measure of his Spirit.
14 et nos vidimus et testificamur quoniam Pater misit Filium salvatorem mundi
Moreover, we have seen for ourselves and testify that the Father has sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.
15 quisque confessus fuerit quoniam Iesus est Filius Dei Deus in eo manet et ipse in Deo
Whoever acknowledges that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, God lives in them, and they live in God.
16 et nos cognovimus et credidimus caritati quam habet Deus in nobis Deus caritas est et qui manet in caritate in Deo manet et Deus in eo
And so we have come to know and believe the love which God has for us. God is love; and whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in them.
17 in hoc perfecta est caritas nobiscum ut fiduciam habeamus in die iudicii quia sicut ille est et nos sumus in hoc mundo
This is the way love has reached its perfection among us, so that we may have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like Christ.
18 timor non est in caritate sed perfecta caritas foras mittit timorem quoniam timor poenam habet qui autem timet non est perfectus in caritate
There is no fear in love; perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. So anyone who is afraid has not reached perfection in love.
19 nos ergo diligamus quoniam Deus prior dilexit nos
We love, because God first loved us.
20 si quis dixerit quoniam diligo Deum et fratrem suum oderit mendax est qui enim non diligit fratrem suum quem vidit Deum quem non vidit quomodo potest diligere
If someone says “I love God,” and yet hates others, they are a liar. For the person who does not love their brother or sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
21 et hoc mandatum habemus ab eo ut qui diligit Deum diligat et fratrem suum
Indeed, we have this command from Christ: Those who love God must also love each other.
