1 John 4

1 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.

Mes bien-aimés, ne croyez point à tout esprit, mais éprouvez les esprits, s’ils sont de Dieu; parce que beaucoup de faux prophètes se sont élevés dans le monde.

2 [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.

Voici en quoi se connaît l’Esprit de Dieu: Tout esprit qui confesse que Jésus-Christ est venu dans la chair est de Dieu;

3 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!

Et tout esprit qui détruit Jésus n’est point de Dieu, et celui-là est l’Antéchrist, dont vous avez ouï dire qu’il vient; or il est déjà dans le monde.

4 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].

Vous, vous êtes de Dieu, mes petits enfants, et vous l’avez vaincu; parce que celui qui est en vous est plus grand que celui qui est dans le monde.

5 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.

Eux sont du monde, c’est pourquoi ils parlent du monde, et le monde les écoute.

6 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].

Nous, nous sommes de Dieu. Qui connaît Dieu nous écoute; qui n’est pas de Dieu ne nous écoute point; et c’est à cela que nous connaissons l’esprit de vérité et l’esprit d’erreur.

7 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.

Mes bien-aimés, aimons-nous les uns les autres, parce que la charité est de Dieu. Ainsi quiconque aime est né de Dieu et connaît Dieu.

8 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.

Qui n’aime point ne connaît pas Dieu, parce que Dieu est charité.

9 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].

La charité de Dieu a paru en cela qu’il a envoyé son Fils unique dans le monde, afin que nous vivions par lui.

10 [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}.

Et cette charité consiste en ce que ce n’est pas nous qui avons aimé Dieu, mais que c’est lui qui nous a aimés le premier, et qui a envoyé son Fils, propitiation pour nos péchés.

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

Mes bien-aimés, si Dieu nous a ainsi aimés, nous devons, nous aussi, nous aimer les uns les autres.

12 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].

Personne n’a jamais vu Dieu. Si nous nous aimons les uns les autres, Dieu demeure en nous, et sa charité en nous est parfaite.

13 [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.

Nous connaissons que nous demeurons en lui, et lui en nous, en cela qu’il nous a donné de son Esprit.

14 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].

Et nous, nous avons vu et nous attestons que le Père a envoyé son Fils, Sauveur du monde.

15 [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.

Quiconque confesse que Jésus est le Fils de Dieu, Dieu demeure en lui, et lui en Dieu.

16 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.

Quant à nous, nous avons connu la charité que Dieu a pour nous, et nous y avons cru. Dieu est charité; et qui demeure dans la charité demeure en Dieu, et Dieu en lui.

17 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.

Or la charité de Dieu n’est parfaite en nous, de manière que nous ayons confiance au jour du jugement, qu’autant que nous sommes en ce monde tels qu’il est,

18 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.

Car il n’y a point de crainte dans la charité; mais la charité parfaite chasse la crainte, parce que la crainte est accompagnée de peine; ainsi, celui qui craint n’est point parfait dans la charité.

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

Nous donc, aimons Dieu, parce que Dieu nous a aimés le premier.

20 [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.

Si quelqu’un dit: J’aime Dieu, et qu’il haïsse son frère, c’est un menteur. Car celui qui n’aime point son frère qu’il voit, comment peut-il aimer Dieu qu’il ne voit pas?

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

De plus, nous avons ce commandement de Dieu: Que celui qui aime Dieu aime aussi son frère.