1 Yoane 4

1 Balingami na ngai, bondimaka te bato nyonso oyo babetaka tolo mpo na koloba ete batondisami na Molimo ya Nzambe; kasi bomeka bango mpo na koyeba soki bazali penza ya Nzambe, pamba te basakoli ebele ya lokuta basili kopanzana na mokili.

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 Tala ndenge nini bokoyeba soki bazali na Molimo ya Nzambe: moto nyonso oyo azali kondima ete Yesu-Klisto akomaki moto azali na Molimo ya Nzambe.

[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 Moto nyonso oyo azali kondima Yesu te azali na Molimo ya Nzambe te, kasi azali na molimo ya monguna ya Klisto, oyo boyokaki na tina na ye ete azali koya mpe azali sik’oyo kati na mokili.

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 Bino, bana na ngai, bozali ya Nzambe mpe bosili kolonga basakoli yango ya lokuta, pamba te Ye oyo azali kati na bino azali na nguya koleka ye oyo azali kati na mokili.

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 Basakoli ya lokuta bazali ya mokili; balobaka kolanda elobeli ya mokili, mpe mokili eyokaka bango.

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 Biso, tozali ya Nzambe; mpe moto nyonso oyo ayebi Nzambe ayokaka biso. Kasi moto oyo azali ya Nzambe te ayokaka biso te. Ezali ndenge wana nde toyebaka Molimo ya solo mpe molimo ya libunga.

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 Balingami na ngai, tolinganaka biso na biso, pamba te Nzambe azali bolingo. Moto nyonso oyo azali na bolingo azali ya Nzambe mpe ayebi Nzambe.

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 Moto oyo azangi bolingo ayebi Nzambe te, pamba te Nzambe azali bolingo.

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 Botala ndenge nini Nzambe atalisaki biso bolingo na Ye: atindaki Mwana na Ye se moko kati na mokili mpo ete tozala na bomoi ya solo na nzela na Ye.

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 Bolingo yango emonani na likambo oyo: ezali biso te bato tolingaki Nzambe, kasi Ye nde alingaki biso mpe atindaki Mwana na Ye mpo ete azala mbeka mpo na bolimbisi masumu na biso.

[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 Balingami na ngai, lokola Nzambe alingaki biso mingi penza, biso mpe tosengeli kolingana biso na biso.

Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!

12 Moto moko te asila komona Nzambe; nzokande soki tozali kolingana biso na biso, Nzambe azali kati na biso mpe bolingo na Ye ezali ya kokoka kati na biso.

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 Tala ndenge nini toyebaka ete tozali kati na Nzambe, mpe Nzambe azali kati na biso: ezali na nzela ya Molimo na Ye, oyo apesa biso.

[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 Tosilaki komona Ye mpe totatolaka ete Tata atinda Mwana na Ye mpo ete azala Mobikisi ya mokili.

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 Moto oyo andimaka ete Yesu azali Mwana na Nzambe, Nzambe azali kati na ye, mpe ye azali kati na Nzambe.

[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 Mpe biso toyebi mpe tozali na kondima kati na bolingo oyo Nzambe azali na yango mpo na biso. Nzambe azali bolingo, mpe moto oyo abikaka kati na bolingo abikaka kati na Nzambe, mpe Nzambe abikaka kati na ye.

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 Tala mpo na nini bolingo ezali ya kokoka kati na biso: ezali mpo ete tozala na elikya ya kokoka na mokolo ya kosambisama; pamba te kati na mokili oyo, ndenge Klisto azali, ndenge biso mpe tozali.

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 Kati na bolingo, kobanga ezalaka te; kasi bolingo oyo ezali ya kokoka elongolaka bobangi, pamba te bobangi ebendaka etumbu. Mpe moto oyo abangaka azali nanu ya kokoka te kati na bolingo.

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 Biso, tolingaka mpo ete Nzambe alingaki biso, ya liboso.

We love [God and our fellow believers] because God loved us first.

20 Soki moto alobi ete alingaka Nzambe, kasi azali lisusu koyina ndeko na ye, azali mokosi. Pamba te moto oyo alingaka te ndeko na ye, oyo amonaka akoki kolinga te Nzambe oyo amonaka te.

[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 Kutu, Klisto apesaki biso mobeko oyo: moto oyo alingaka Nzambe asengeli mpe kolinga ndeko na ye.

Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers.