1 Yokaana 4
1 Abaagalwa, temukkirizanga buli myoyo, naye musookenga okugyetegereza mulabe obanga givudde eri Katonda, kubanga kaakano waliwo bannabbi ab’obulimba bangi mu nsi.
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 Eno y’engeri gye tutegeeramu Mwoyo wa Katonda: buli ayatula nti Yesu Kristo yafuuka omubiri, ng’ava eri Katonda, oyo y’alina Mwoyo wa Katonda.
[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 Naye buli mwoyo ogutayatula Yesu nga teguvudde eri Katonda. Ogwo gwe mwoyo ogw’Omulabe wa Kristo, gwe mwawulira nti ajja mu nsi, era amaze okutuuka.
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 Mmwe, abaana abaagalwa, muli ba Katonda era mumaze okuwangula, kubanga oyo ali mu mmwe wa maanyi okusinga oyo ali mu nsi.
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 Bo ba nsi era boogera bya nsi, era abantu b’ensi kyebava babawuliriza.
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 Naye ffe tuli bantu ba Katonda, era buli amanyi Katonda atuwuliriza; atali wa Katonda tatuwuliriza. Eyo y’engeri gye tusobola okwawulamu omwoyo ogw’amazima n’omwoyo ogw’obulimba.
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 Abaagalwa, twagalanenga, kubanga okwagala kuva eri Katonda, era buli alina okwagala mwana wa Katonda, era amanyi Katonda.
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 Naye buli atalina kwagala tamanyi Katonda, kubanga Katonda kwagala.
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 Katonda yatulaga okwagala kwe, bwe yatuma mu nsi Omwana we omu yekka bw’ati, tulyoke tube abalamu ku bw’oyo.
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 Mu kino mwe tutegeerera ddala okwagala kwennyini, kubanga teyakikola lwa kuba nti ffe twali twagala Katonda, naye ye yennyini ye yatwagala, n’awaayo Omwana we ng’omutango olw’ebibi byaffe.
[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 Kale abaagalwa, nga Katonda bwe yatwagala bw’atyo naffe tuteekwa okwagalananga.
Dear friends, since God loves us like that, we certainly ought to love each other!
12 Tewali n’omu eyali alabye ku Katonda, naye bwe twagalana, Katonda abeera mu ffe, n’okwagala kwe ne kulabikira mu ffe.
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 Mu ekyo mwe tutegeerera nti Katonda ali mu ffe era naffe tuli mu Ye, olwa Mwoyo gw’atuwadde.
[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 Era ffe twamulaba n’amaaso gaffe, kyetuva tutegeeza nti Kitaffe yatuma Omwana we okuba Omulokozi w’ensi.
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 Kale buli ayatula nti Yesu Mwana wa Katonda, nga Katonda ali mu ye era nga naye ali mu Katonda.
[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 Ffe tumanyi okwagala kwa Katonda era tukkiririza mu kwagala kwe okwo kw’alina gye tuli. Katonda kwagala, era buli abeera n’okwagala abeera mu Katonda, ne Katonda abeera mu 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 Bwe twagala bannaffe nga Kristo bwe yakola ng’ali mu nsi muno, tetulibaako kye tweraliikirira ku lunaku olw’okusalirako omusango.
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 Mu kwagala temuliimu kutya, kubanga okwagala okutuukiridde kumalawo okutya; kubanga okutya kulimu okubonerezebwa, na buli atya, aba tannatuukirira mu kwagala.
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 Tulina okwagala kubanga Ye ye yasooka okutwagala.
We love [God and our fellow believers] because God loved us first.
20 Omuntu yenna bw’agamba nti, “Njagala Katonda,” naye n’akyawa muganda we, omuntu oyo mulimba. Kubanga buli atayagala muganda we gw’alabako, tasobola kwagala Katonda gw’atalabangako.
[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 Era Katonda yennyini yatulagira nti, “Buli ayagala Katonda ayagalenga ne muganda we.”
Keep in mind that this is what God has commanded us: If we love him, we must also love our fellow believers.
