1 Juan 3
1 MIRAD cuál amor nos ha dado el Padre, que seamos llamados hijos de Dios: por esto el mundo no nos conoce, porque no le conoce á él.
[Think about] how much our [heavenly] Father loves us! He allows us to (say that we are/be called) his children! [And it is indeed true that] we are [his children. But people in] the world [MTY] [who are unbelievers] have not understood [who] God [is]. So they do not understand [who we are], that we [belong to God].
2 Muy amados, ahora somos hijos de Dios, y aun no se ha manifestado lo que hemos de ser; pero sabemos que cuando él apareciere, seremos semejantes á él, porque le veremos como él es.
Dear friends, even though (at present/now) we are God’s children, [he] has not yet (made clear/revealed) [to us] what we will be like [in the future]. However, we know that when [Christ] comes back again, we will be like him, because we will see what he is [really] like.
3 Y cualquiera que tiene esta esperanza en él, se purifica, como él también es limpio.
[So], all those who confidently expect [to see Christ as he actually is/what Christ is like when he returns] must keep themselves pure in every way, just like Christ, who is pure in every way.
4 Cualquiera que hace pecado, traspasa también la ley; pues el pecado es transgresión de la ley.
But everyone who continues sinning is refusing to obey [God’s] laws, because that is what sin is, refusing to obey [God’s] laws.
5 Y sabéis que él apareció para quitar nuestros pecados, y no hay pecado en él.
You know that Christ came in order to completely remove [the guilt of] our sins. You know also that he never sinned.
6 Cualquiera que permanece en él, no peca; cualquiera que peca, no le ha visto, ni le ha conocido.
Those who continue [doing what] Christ wants them to, do not continue sinning repeatedly. But those who repeatedly sin have not understood [who Christ is], nor have they had a close relationship with him.
7 Hijitos, no os engañe ninguno: el que hace justicia, es justo, como él también es justo.
[So I urge you, ] who are all very dear to me, do not let anyone deceive you [by telling you that it is all right to sin]. If you continue doing what is right, you are righteous, just like Christ is righteous.
8 El que hace pecado, es del diablo; porque el diablo peca desde el principio. Para esto apareció el Hijo de Dios, para deshacer las obras del diablo.
[But] if anyone continues sinning, he is like the devil, because the devil has always been sinning. [And] the reason why God’s Son became a human being was to destroy what the devil has done.
9 Cualquiera que es nacido de Dios, no hace pecado, porque su simiente está en él; y no puede pecar, porque es nacido de Dios.
People do not continue sinning repeatedly if they have become children of God. Instead, [they] continue [to conduct their lives according to the character/nature that God produced in them] [MET]. They cannot continually sin because God has caused them to become his children.
10 En esto son manifiestos los hijos de Dios, y los hijos del diablo: cualquiera que no hace justicia, y que no ama á su hermano, no es de Dios.
Those who are God’s children are clearly different from those who are (the devil’s/Satan’s) children. [The way that we can know who are Satan’s children is this]: Those who do not do what is right are not God’s children. [Specifically], those who do not love their fellow believers are not [God’s children Instead, they are Satan’s children].
11 Porque este es el mensaje que habéis oído desde el principio: Que nos amemos unos á otros.
The message that you heard when you first [MTY] [believed in Christ] is that we should love each other.
12 No como Caín, que era del maligno, y mató á su hermano. ¿Y por qué causa le mató? Porque sus obras eran malas, y las de su hermano justas.
[We should] not [hate others] as did [Adam’s son], Cain, who belonged to [Satan], the evil one. [Because Cain hated his younger brother], he murdered him. (I will tell you about why he murdered his brother./Do you know why he murdered his brother [RHQ]?) It was because Cain habitually conducted his life in an evil way, and [he hated his younger brother] because his [younger] brother [conducted his life] righteously.
13 Hermanos míos, no os maravilléis si el mundo os aborrece.
You should not be amazed/surprised, my fellow believers, when [unbelievers] [MTY] hate you.
14 Nosotros sabemos que hemos pasado de muerte á vida, en que amamos á los hermanos. El que no ama á su hermano, está en muerte.
We know that we have been changed from [being spiritually] dead [MET] to [being spiritually] alive. We know this because we love our fellow believers. [Those who] do not love [their fellow believers] are still [spiritually] [MET] dead.
15 Cualquiera que aborrece á su hermano, es homicida; y sabéis que ningún homicida tiene vida eterna permaneciente en sí. (aiōnios g166)
Those who hate [any of] their fellow believers, [God considers] [MET] them [to be] murderers. And you know that no murderer has eternal life. (aiōnios g166)
16 En esto hemos conocido el amor, porque él puso su vida por nosotros: también nosotros debemos poner nuestras vidas por los hermanos.
The way that we now know [how to truly] love [our fellow believers is by remembering] that Christ (voluntarily died/gave his life) for us. So, [when our fellow believers need something, we should be willing to help them. We should even be willing to] die for them.
17 Mas el que tuviere bienes de este mundo, y viere á su hermano tener necesidad, y le cerrare sus entrañas, ¿cómo está el amor de Dios en él?
Many [of us] have the things that are necessary for us to live in this world. If we become aware that any of our fellow believers do not have what they need and [if we] refuse to ([provide for them/give to them what they need]), it is clear that we do not love God [as we claim/say that we do].
18 Hijitos míos, no amemos de palabra ni de lengua, sino de obra y en verdad.
[I say to] all of you whom I love dearly, let us not merely say [MTY] that [we love our fellow believers!] Let us genuinely/really love them by doing things [to help them]!
19 Y en esto conocemos que somos de la verdad, y tenemos nuestros corazones certificados delante de él.
When we [truly love our fellow believers], we can be sure that we are [conducting our lives according to] the true message. [As a result], we will not feel guilty/ashamed [when we talk] [MTY] to God.
20 Porque si nuestro corazón nos reprendiere, mayor es Dios que nuestro corazón, y conoce todas las cosas.
[We can pray confidently], because [although] we might feel guilty/ashamed [about our sins], God is (greater/more worthy to be trusted) than what we feel. He knows everything [about us].
21 Carísimos, si nuestro corazón no nos reprende, confianza tenemos en Dios;
Dear friends, when we do not feel guilty [because of our sins], we can pray to God confidently.
22 Y cualquier cosa que pidiéremos, la recibiremos de él, porque guardamos sus mandamientos, y hacemos las cosas que son agradables delante de él.
And, when we confidently pray to him and request [something from him], we receive it because we do what he commands [us to do], and because we do what pleases him.
23 Y éste es su mandamiento: Que creamos en el nombre de su Hijo Jesucristo, y nos amemos unos á otros como nos lo ha mandado.
[I will tell you] what he commands [us to do]: [We must] believe that Jesus Christ is (his Son/the one who is also God). [We must] also love each other, just like he commanded [us to do].
24 Y el que guarda sus mandamientos, está en él, y él en él. Y en esto sabemos que él permanece en nosotros, por el Espíritu que nos ha dado.
Those who do what God commands are ones who have a close relationship with God, and God has a close relationship with them. [I will tell you how] we can be sure that God has a close relationship with us: It is because [we have] his Spirit, whom he gave to us, that we can be sure that God has a close relationship with us.
