1My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father – Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. 2He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.
Love and hatred for fellow believers
3We know that we have come to know him if we keep his commands. 4Whoever says, ‘I know him,’ but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in that person. 5But if anyone obeys his word, love for God2:5 Or word, God’s love is truly made complete in them. This is how we know we are in him: 6whoever claims to live in him must live as Jesus did.
7Dear friends, I am not writing you a new command but an old one, which you have had since the beginning. This old command is the message you have heard. 8Yet I am writing you a new command; its truth is seen in him and in you, because the darkness is passing and the true light is already shining.
9Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister2:9 The Greek word for brother or sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in verse 11; and in 3:15, 17; 4:20; 5:16. is still in the darkness. 10Anyone who loves their brother and sister2:10 The Greek word for brother and sister (adelphos) refers here to a believer, whether man or woman, as part of God’s family; also in 3:10; 4:20, 21. lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.
Reasons for writing
12I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
14I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one.
On not loving the world
15Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father2:15 Or world, the Father’s love is not in them. 16For everything in the world – the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life – comes not from the Father but from the world. 17The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives for ever.
Warnings against denying the Son
18Dear children, this is the last hour; and as you have heard that the antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come. This is how we know it is the last hour. 19They went out from us, but they did not really belong to us. For if they had belonged to us, they would have remained with us; but their going showed that none of them belonged to us.
20But you have an anointing from the Holy One, and all of you know the truth.2:20 Some manuscripts and you know all things 21I do not write to you because you do not know the truth, but because you do know it and because no lie comes from the truth. 22Who is the liar? It is whoever denies that Jesus is the Christ. Such a person is the antichrist – denying the Father and the Son. 23No-one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.
24As for you, see that what you have heard from the beginning remains in you. If it does, you also will remain in the Son and in the Father. 25And this is what he promised us – eternal life.
26I am writing these things to you about those who are trying to lead you astray. 27As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit – just as it has taught you, remain in him.
God’s children and sin
28And now, dear children, continue in him, so that when he appears we may be confident and unashamed before him at his coming.
29If you know that he is righteous, you know that everyone who does what is right has been born of him.
1’Ya’yana ƙaunatattu, ina rubuta muku wannan ne don kada ku yi zunubi. Amma in wani ya yi zunubi, muna da wani wanda yake magana da Uba don taimakonmu, wato, Yesu Kiristi, Mai Adalci. 2Shi ne hadayar kafara saboda zunubanmu, kuma ba don namu kaɗai ba amma har ma da zunuban duniya duka.
3Ta haka za mu tabbata cewa mun san shi in muna yin biyayya da umarnansa. 4Mutumin da ya ce, “Na san shi,” amma ba ya yin abin da ya umarta, maƙaryaci ne, gaskiya kuwa ba ta cikinsa. 5Amma in wani ya yi biyayya da maganarsa, ƙaunar Allah ta zama cikakkiya ke nan a cikinsa. Ta haka muka san cewa muna cikinsa. 6Duk wanda ya ce yana rayuwa a cikinsa dole yă yi tafiya kamar yadda Yesu ya yi.
7Abokaina ƙaunatattu, ba sabon umarni nake rubuta muku ba, a’a, daɗaɗɗen umarnin nan ne, wanda kuke da shi tun farko. Wannan tsohon umarni shi ne saƙon da kuka riga kuka ji. 8Duk da haka ina rubuta muku sabon umarni; ana ganin gaskiyar umarnin a cikinsa da kuma cikinku, gama duhu yana shuɗewa, haske na gaskiya kuwa yana haskakawa.
9Duk wanda ya ce yana cikin haske yana kuma ƙin ɗan’uwansa, ashe a duhu yake har yanzu. 10Duk wanda yake ƙaunar ɗan’uwansa, a cikin hasken yake rayuwa ke nan, kuma babu wani abin da yake cikinsa da zai sa yă yi tuntuɓe. 11Amma duk wanda yake ƙin ɗan’uwansa, cikin duhu yake, yana kuma tafiya cikin duhu ke nan; bai ma san inda za shi ba, domin duhun ya makanta shi.
12Ina rubuta muku, ’ya’yana ƙaunatattu,
domin an gafarta muku zunubanku saboda sunansa.
13Ina rubuta muku, ubanni,
domin kun san shi wanda yake tun farko.
Ina rubuta muku, samari,
domin kun ci nasara a kan mugun nan.
14Ina rubuta muku, ’ya’yana ƙaunatattu,
domin kun san Uba.
Ina rubuta muku, ubanni,
domin kun san shi wanda yake tun farko.
Ina rubuta muku, samari,
domin kuna da ƙarfi,
maganar Allah kuwa tana zaune a cikinku,
kun kuma ci nasara a kan mugun nan.
Kada ku ƙaunaci duniya
15Kada ku ƙaunaci duniya, ko wani abin da yake cikinta. In wani yana ƙaunar duniya, ƙaunar Uba ba ta cikinsa. 16Gama duk abin da yake na duniya, kamar sha’awace-sha’awacen mutuntaka, sha’awar idanunsa, da kuma taƙama da abin da yake da shi, yake kuma yi, ba daga wurin Uba suke fitowa ba sai dai daga duniya. 17Duniya da sha’awace-sha’awacenta suna shuɗewa, amma mutumin da yake aikata nufin Allah, zai rayu har abada.
Gargaɗi a kan magabcin Kiristi
18’Ya’yana ƙaunatattu, waɗannan su ne kwanakin ƙarshe; kuma kamar yadda kuka ji cewa magabcin Kiristi yana zuwa, ko yanzu ma abokan gāban Kiristi da yawa sun zo. Ta haka muka san cewa kwanakin ƙarshe sun iso. 19Waɗannan masu gāba da Kiristi suna cikinmu a dā, amma sun bar mu, don tun dā ma su ba namu ba ne. Ai, da su namu ne, da har yanzu suna tare da mu. Amma sun bar mu, wannan ya nuna a fili cewa su ba namu ba ne.
20Amma ku kam, kuna da shafewa daga wurin Mai Tsarkin nan, kuma dukanku kun san gaskiya. 21Ina rubuta muku ba domin ba ku san gaskiya ba ne, a’a, sai dai domin kun santa, kun kuma san cewa babu yadda ƙarya za tă fito daga gaskiya. 22Wane ne maƙaryaci? Ai, shi ne mutumin da yake mūsun cewa Yesu shi ne Kiristi. Irin wannan mutum shi ne magabcin Kiristi, ya yi mūsun Uban da kuma Ɗan. 23Ba wanda yake mūsun Ɗan, sa’an nan yă ce yana da Uban; duk wanda ya yarda da Ɗan, yana da Uban a cikinsa ke nan.
24Ku lura fa cewa abin da kuka ji daga farko, bari yă ci gaba da kasance a cikinku. In kuwa ya ci gaba da zama a cikinku, za ku kasance a cikin Ɗan, da kuma a cikin Uban. 25Wannan shi ne abin da ya yi mana alkawari, wato, rai madawwami.
26Ina rubuta muku waɗannan abubuwa ne game da waɗanda suke ƙoƙari su sa ku kauce. 27Game da ku kuwa, shafan nan da kuka karɓa daga gare shi tana nan a cikinku, ba kwa kuma bukata wani yă koyar da ku. Amma kamar yadda shafan nan tasa tana koya muku kome, ita kuwa gaskiya ce ba ƙarya ba, yadda dai ta koya muku, to, sai ku zauna a cikinsa.
’Ya’yan Allah
28Yanzu fa, ya ku ’ya’yana ƙaunatattu, sai ku ci gaba a cikinsa, domin sa’ad da ya bayyana, mu iya tsaya gabagadi babu kunya a dawowarsa.
29In kun san cewa shi mai adalci ne, to, kun dai san cewa duk mai aikata abin da yake daidai haifaffensa ne.
