1 We want to tell you about the Word^[a] that gives life—the one who existed before the world began. This is the one we have heard and have seen with our own eyes. We saw what he did, and our hands touched him. ² Yes, the one who is life was shown to us. We saw him, and so we can tell others about him. We now tell you about him. He is the eternal life that was with God the Father and was shown to us. ³ We are telling you about what we have seen and heard because we want you to have fellowship^[b] with us. The fellowship we share together is with God the Father and his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴ We write these things to you so that you can be full of joy with us.

²⁴ That follower is the one who is telling these things. He is the one who has now written them all down. We know that what he says is true.

²⁵ There are many other things that Jesus did. If every one of them were written down, I think the whole world would not be big enough for all the books that would be written.