Iohannis I 4
1 carissimi nolite omni spiritui credere sed probate spiritus si ex Deo sint quoniam multi pseudoprophetae exierunt in mundum
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 in hoc cognoscitur Spiritus Dei omnis spiritus qui confitetur Iesum Christum in carne venisse ex Deo est
[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 et omnis spiritus qui solvit Iesum ex Deo non est et hoc est antichristi quod audistis quoniam venit et nunc iam in mundo est
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 vos ex Deo estis filioli et vicistis eos quoniam maior est qui in vobis est quam qui in mundo
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 ipsi de mundo sunt ideo de mundo loquuntur et mundus eos audit
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 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
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 carissimi diligamus invicem quoniam caritas ex Deo est et omnis qui diligit ex Deo natus est et cognoscit Deum
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 qui non diligit non novit Deum quoniam Deus caritas est
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 in hoc apparuit caritas Dei in nobis quoniam Filium suum unigenitum misit Deus in mundum ut vivamus per eum
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 in hoc est caritas non quasi nos dilexerimus Deum sed quoniam ipse dilexit nos et misit Filium suum propitiationem pro peccatis nostris
[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 carissimi si sic Deus dilexit nos et nos debemus alterutrum diligere
Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!
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. [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 in hoc intellegimus quoniam in eo manemus et ipse in nobis quoniam de Spiritu suo dedit nobis
[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 et nos vidimus et testificamur quoniam Pater misit Filium salvatorem mundi
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 quisque confessus fuerit quoniam Iesus est Filius Dei Deus in eo manet et ipse in Deo
[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 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
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 in hoc perfecta est caritas nobiscum ut fiduciam habeamus in die iudicii quia sicut ille est et nos sumus in hoc mundo
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 timor non est in caritate sed perfecta caritas foras mittit timorem quoniam timor poenam habet qui autem timet non est perfectus in caritate
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 nos ergo diligamus quoniam Deus prior dilexit nos
We love [God and our fellow believers] because God loved us first.
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
[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 et hoc mandatum habemus ab eo ut qui diligit Deum diligat et fratrem suum
Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers.
