Iohannis I 4
1 Carissimi, nolite omni spiritui credere, sed probate spiritus si ex Deo sint: quoniam multi pseudoprophetæ 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 Jesum 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 Jesum, ex Deo non est, et hic est antichristus, de quo audistis quoniam venit, et nunc jam 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 eum, quoniam major 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 nos invicem: quia 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 prior 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 ejus 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 cognoscimus 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 suum 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 Quisquis confessus fuerit quoniam Jesus 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 Dei nobiscum, ut fiduciam habeamus in die judicii: 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 pœnam 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 Deum, 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 a Deo: ut qui diligit Deum, diligat et fratrem suum.
Indeed, we have this command from Christ: Those who love God must also love each other.
