¹Vadiwa, musatenda mweya yose yose, asi muidze mweya, kuti yakabva kuna Mwari here; nekuti vaporofita vazhinji venhema vakabudira munyika.

¹Beloved, every spirit believe not, but prove the spirits, if of God they are, because many false prophets have gone forth to the world;

²Ndizvo zvamunoziva nazvo Mweya waMwari: Mweya umwe neumwe unobvuma kuti Jesu Kristu wakauya munyama unobva kuna Mwari.

²in this know ye the Spirit of God; every spirit that doth confess Jesus Christ in the flesh having come, of God it is,

³Mweya umwe neumwe usingabvumi kuti Jesu Kristu wakauya panyama, haubvi kuna Mwari; uye uyu ndiye uya womupikisi waKristu wamakanzwa kuti unouya nazvino watova panyika.

³and every spirit that doth not confess Jesus Christ in the flesh having come, of God it is not; and this is that of the antichrist, which ye heard that it doth come, and now in the world it is already.

⁴Imwi muri vaMwari vana vaduku, uye makavakunda, nekuti uyo uri mamuri mukuru kuna iye uri munyika.

⁴Ye — of God ye are, little children, and ye have overcome them; because greater is He who [is] in you, than he who is in the world.

⁵Ivo ndevenyika; naizvozvo vanotaura zvinobva kunyika, uye nyika inovanzwa.

⁵They — of the world they are; because of this from the world they speak, and the world doth hear them;

⁶Isu tiri vaMwari; uyo unoziva Mwari unotinzwa; usi waMwari haatinzwi. Ndizvo zvatinoziva nazvo Mweya wechokwadi nomweya wokutsauka.

⁶we — of God we are; he who is knowing God doth hear us; he who is not of God, doth not hear us; from this we know the spirit of the truth, and the spirit of the error.

⁷Vadiwa, ngatidanane; nekuti rudo runobva kuna Mwari, uye umwe neumwe unoda wakaberekwa naMwari, zvekare unoziva Mwari.

⁷Beloved, may we love one another, because the love is of God, and every one who is loving, of God he hath been begotten, and doth know God;

⁸Usingadi, haazivi Mwari, nekuti Mwari rudo.

⁸he who is not loving did not know God, because God is love.

⁹Naizvozvi rudo rwaMwari rwakaratidzwa kwatiri, kuti Mwari wakatuma Mwanakomana wake wakaberekwa umwe woga munyika, kuti tirarame kubudikidza naye.

⁹In this was manifested the love of God in us, because His Son — the only begotten — hath God sent to the world, that we may live through him;

¹⁰Rudo ruri pachinhu ichi, kwete kuti takada Mwari, asi kuti iye wakatida, akatuma Mwanakomana wake kuti ave rudzikunuro rwezvivi zvedu.

¹⁰in this is the love, not that we loved God, but that He did love us, and did send His Son a propitiation for our sins.

¹¹Vadiwa, kana Mwari akatida saizvozvo, nesu tinofanirawo kudanana.

¹¹Beloved, if thus did God love us, we also ought one another to love;

¹²Hakuna munhu wakamboona Mwari; kana tichidanana, Mwari unogara matiri uye norudo rwake rwunoperedzerwa matiri.

¹²God no one hath ever seen; if we may love one another, God in us doth remain, and His love is having been perfected in us;

¹³Ndizvo zvatinoziva nazvo kuti tinogara maari, naiye matiri, nekuti wakatipa zvemweya wake.

¹³in this we know that in Him we do remain, and He in us, because of His Spirit He hath given us.

¹⁴Isu takaona uye tinopupura kuti Baba vakatuma Mwanakomana, kuti ave Muponesi wenyika.

¹⁴And we — we have seen and do testify, that the Father hath sent the Son — Saviour of the world;

¹⁵Ani nani unobvuma kuti Jesu ndiye Mwanakomana waMwari, Mwari unogara maari, naiye muna Mwari.

¹⁵whoever may confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God in him doth remain, and he in God;

¹⁶Nesu takaziva tikatenda rudo urwu Mwari rwaanarwo kwatiri. Mwari rudo; uye unogara murudo unogara muna Mwari, naMwari maari.

¹⁶and we — we have known and believed the love, that God hath in us; God is love, and he who is remaining in the love, in God he doth remain, and God in him.

¹⁷Rudo rwakapedzeredzwa nesu pachinhu ichi, kuti tive neushingi nezuva rekutongwa; nekuti sezvaari iye, ndizvo zvatiriwo panyika ino.

¹⁷In this made perfect hath been the love with us, that boldness we may have in the day of the judgment, because even as He is, we — we also are in this world;

¹⁸Hakuna kutya murudo, asi rudo rwakaperera runodzinga kutya, nekuti kutya kune marwadzo, unotya haana kuperedzerwa parudo.

¹⁸fear is not in the love, but the perfect love doth cast out the fear, because the fear hath punishment, and he who is fearing hath not been made perfect in the love;

¹⁹Isu tinomuda, nekuti iye wakatanga kutida.

¹⁹we — we love him, because He — He first loved us;

²⁰Kana munhu achiti: Ndinoda Mwari asi achivenga hama yake, murevi wenhema; nekuti uyo usingadi hama yake yaakaona, ungada seiko Mwari waasina kuona?

²⁰if any one may say — `I love God,` and his brother he may hate, a liar he is; for he who is not loving his brother whom he hath seen, God — whom he hath not seen — how is he able to love?

²¹Iwoyu murairo tinawo unobva kwaari, kuti unoda Mwari ngaadewo hama yake.

²¹and this [is] the command we have from Him, that he who is loving God, may also love his brother.