¹The elder unto the elect lady and her children, whom I love in the truth; and not I only, but also all they that have known the truth;

¹በእኛ ስለሚኖርና ከእኛ ጋር ለዘላለም ስለሚሆን እውነት፥ እኔ ሽማግሌው በእውነት ለምወዳቸውና እኔ ብቻ ሳልሆን እውነትን የሚያውቁ ሁሉ ደግሞ ለሚወዱአቸው ለተመረጠች እመቤትና ለልጆችዋ፤

²For the truth's sake, which dwelleth in us, and shall be with us for ever.

³ከእግዚአብሔር አብና ከአብ ልጅ ከኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ ጸጋና ምሕረት ሰላምም በእውነትና በፍቅር ከእኛ ጋር ይሆናሉ።

³Grace be with you, mercy, and peace, from God the Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the Father, in truth and love.

⁴ትእዛዝን ከአብ እንደ ተቀበልን ከልጆችሽ በእውነት የሚሄዱ አንዳንዶችን ስለ አገኘኋቸው እጅግ ደስ ብሎኛል።

⁴I rejoiced greatly that I found of thy children walking in truth, as we have received a commandment from the Father.

⁵አሁንም፥ እመቤት ሆይ፥ እርስ በርሳችን እንድንዋደድ እለምንሻለሁ፤ ይህች ከመጀመሪያ በእኛ ዘንድ የነበረች ትእዛዝ ናት እንጂ አዲስ ትእዛዝን እንደምጽፍልሽ አይደለም።

⁵And now I beseech thee, lady, not as though I wrote a new commandment unto thee, but that which we had from the beginning, that we love one another.

⁶እንደ ትእዛዛቱም እንሄድ ዘንድ ይህ ፍቅር ነው፤ ከመጀመሪያ እንደ ሰማችሁ፥ በእርስዋ ትሄዱ ዘንድ ትእዛዙ ይህች ናት።

⁶And this is love, that we walk after his commandments. This is the commandment, That, as ye have heard from the beginning, ye should walk in it.

⁷ብዙ አሳቾች ወደ ዓለም ገብተዋልና እነርሱም ኢየሱስ ክርስቶስ በሥጋ እንደ መጣ የማያምኑ ናቸው፤ ይህ አሳቹና የክርስቶስ ተቃዋሚው ነው።

⁷For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.

⁸ሙሉ ደመወዝን እንድትቀበሉ እንጂ የሠራችሁትን እንዳታጠፉ ለራሳችሁ ተጠንቀቁ።

⁸Look to yourselves, that we lose not those things which we have wrought, but that we receive a full reward.

⁹ለሚወጣ ሁሉ በክርስቶስም ትምህርት ለማይኖር ሰው አምላክ የለውም፤ በክርስቶስ ትምህርት ለሚኖር አብና ወልድ አሉት።

⁹Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son.

¹⁰ማንም ወደ እናንተ ቢመጣ ይህንም ትምህርት ባያመጣ በቤታችሁ አትቀበሉት ሰላምም አትበሉት፤

¹⁰If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed:

¹¹ሰላም የሚለው ሰው በክፉ ሥራው ይካፈላልና።

¹¹For he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds.

¹²እንድጽፍላችሁ የምፈልገው ብዙ ነገር ሳለኝ በወረቀትና በቀለም ልጽፈው አልወድም፥ ዳሩ ግን ደስታችሁ ፍጹም እንዲሆን ወደ እናንተ ልመጣ አፍ ለአፍም ልናገራችሁ ተስፋ አደርጋለሁ።

¹²Having many things to write unto you, I would not write with paper and ink: but I trust to come unto you, and speak face to face, that our joy may be full.

¹³የተመረጠችው የእኅትሽ ልጆች ሰላምታ ያቀርቡልሻል።

¹³The children of thy elect sister greet thee. Amen.