በእግዚአብሔር ልጅ ማመን
1ኢየሱስ እርሱ ክርስቶስ እንደ ሆነ የሚያምን ሁሉ ከእግዚአብሔር ተወልዷል፤ አባትንም የሚወድድ ሁሉ ልጁንም እንደዚሁ ይወድዳል። 2እግዚአብሔርን ስንወድድና ትእዛዞቹን ስንፈጽም የእግዚአብሔርን ልጆች እንደምንወድድ በዚህ እናውቃለን፤ 3እግዚአብሔርን መውደድ ትእዛዞቹን መፈጸም ነውና። ትእዛዞቹም ከባድ አይደሉም፤ 4ምክንያቱም ከእግዚአብሔር የተወለደ ሁሉ ዓለምን ያሸንፋል። ዓለምን የሚያሸንፈውም እምነታችን ነው። 5ኢየሱስ የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ እንደ ሆነ ከሚያምን በስተቀር ዓለምን የሚያሸንፍ ማነው?
6በውሃና በደም የመጣው ይህ፣ ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ነው። እርሱ በውሃና በደም እንጂ በውሃ ብቻ አልመጣም። የሚመሰክረውም መንፈስ ነው፤ መንፈስ እውነት ነውና። 7ስለዚህ ሦስት ምስክሮች አሉት፤ 8እነርሱም5፥7-8 ጥንታዊ ባልሆነው በቩልጌት ቅጅ ላይ በሰማይ የሚመሰክሩት ሦስቱ ናቸው፤ እነርሱም አባት፣ ቃልና መንፈስ ቅዱስ ናቸው ይላል። 8 በምድር የሚመሰክሩት ሦስቱ ናቸው – ሆኖም ይህ ከ16ኛው ክፍለ ዘመን በፊት በነበሩት የግሪክ ቅጆች ውስጥ አይገኝም። መንፈሱ፣ ውሃውና ደሙ ናቸው፤ ሦስቱም ይስማማሉ። 9የሰውን ምስክርነት ከተቀበልን፣ የእግዚአብሔር ምስክርነት ከዚያም ይልቃል፤ ይህ ስለ ልጁ የሰጠው የእግዚአብሔር ምስክርነት ነውና። 10በእግዚአብሔር ልጅ የሚያምን ሁሉ በልቡ ምስክር አለው፤ ማንም እግዚአብሔርን የማያምን ሁሉ እግዚአብሔር ስለ ልጁ የሰጠውን ምስክርነት ስላላመነ ሐሰተኛ አድርጎታል። 11ምስክርነቱም ይህ ነው፤ እግዚአብሔር የዘላለምን ሕይወት ሰጠን፤ ይህም ሕይወት ያለው በልጁ ነው። 12ልጁ ያለው ሕይወት አለው፤ የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ የሌለው ሕይወት የለውም።
ማጠቃለያ ሐሳብ
13በእግዚአብሔር ልጅ ስም የምታምኑ እናንተ፣ የዘላለም ሕይወት እንዳላችሁ ታውቁ ዘንድ ይህን እጽፍላችኋለሁ፤ 14በእግዚአብሔር ፊት ለመቅረብ ያለን ድፍረት ይህ ነው፤ ማንኛውንም ነገር እንደ ፈቃዱ ብንለምን እርሱ ይሰማናል። 15የምንለምነውን ሁሉ እንደሚሰማን ካወቅን፣ የለመንነውንም ነገር እንደ ተቀበልን እናውቃለን።
16ማንም ሰው ወንድሙ ለሞት የማያበቃ ኀጢአት ሲያደርግ ቢያየው ይጸልይ፤ እግዚአብሔርም ለሞት የማያበቃ ኀጢአት ላደረጉት ሕይወትን ይሰጣል። ለሞት የሚያበቃም ኀጢአት አለ፤ ስለዚህኛው ግን ይጸልይ አልልም። 17ዐመፅ ሁሉ ኀጢአት ነው፤ ለሞት የማያበቃም ኀጢአት አለ። 18ከእግዚአብሔር የተወለደ ሁሉ ኀጢአት እንደማያደርግ፣ ነገር ግን የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ እንደሚጠብቀው፣ ክፉውም እንደማይነካው እናውቃለን። 19እኛ ከእግዚአብሔር እንደ ሆንን፣ መላው ዓለምም በክፉው ሥር እንደ ሆነ እናውቃለን።
20የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ እንደ መጣ፣ እውነተኛ የሆነውን እርሱን እንድናውቅ ማስተዋልን እንደ ሰጠን እናውቃለን፤ እኛም እውነተኛ በሆነው በልጁ በኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ አለን። እርሱ እውነተኛ አምላክና የዘላለም ሕይወት ነው።
21ልጆች ሆይ፤ ራሳችሁን ከጣዖቶች ጠብቁ።
Faith in the Incarnate Son of God
1Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5Who is it that overcomes the world? Only the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.
6This is the one who came by water and blood—Jesus Christ. He did not come by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit who testifies, because the Spirit is the truth. 7For there are three that testify: 8the5:7,8 Late manuscripts of the Vulgate testify in heaven: the Father, the Word and the Holy Spirit, and these three are one. 8 And there are three that testify on earth: the (not found in any Greek manuscript before the fourteenth century) Spirit, the water and the blood; and the three are in agreement. 9We accept human testimony, but God's testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son. 10Whoever believes in the Son of God accepts this testimony. Whoever does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because they have not believed the testimony God has given about his Son. 11And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.
Concluding Affirmations
13I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God so that you may know that you have eternal life. 14This is the confidence we have in approaching God: that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. 15And if we know that he hears us—whatever we ask—we know that we have what we asked of him.
16If you see any brother or sister commit a sin that does not lead to death, you should pray and God will give them life. I refer to those whose sin does not lead to death. There is a sin that leads to death. I am not saying that you should pray about that. 17All wrongdoing is sin, and there is sin that does not lead to death.
18We know that anyone born of God does not continue to sin; the One who was born of God keeps them safe, and the evil one cannot harm them. 19We know that we are children of God, and that the whole world is under the control of the evil one. 20We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true by being in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
21Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.