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That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the word of life:

For the life was manifested; and we have seen and do bear witness, and declare unto you the life eternal, which was with the Father, and hath appeared to us:

That which we have seen and have heard, we declare unto you, that you also may have fellowship with us, and our fellowship may be with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ.

And these things we write to you, that you may rejoice, and your joy may be full.

And this is the declaration which we have heard from him, and declare unto you: That God is light, and in him there is no darkness.

If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth.

But if we walk in the light, as he also is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.

If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just, to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all iniquity.

10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

I. Prologue

Chapter 1

The Word of Life[a]

What was from the beginning,
    what we have heard,
    what we have seen with our eyes,
    what we looked upon
    and touched with our hands
    concerns the Word of life—(A)
for the life was made visible;
    we have seen it and testify to it
    and proclaim to you the eternal life
    that was with the Father and was made visible to us—(B)
what we have seen and heard
    we proclaim now to you,
    so that you too may have fellowship with us;
    for our fellowship is with the Father
    and with his Son, Jesus Christ.(C)
We are writing this so that our joy may be complete.(D)

II. God As Light

God Is Light. Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light,[b] and in him there is no darkness at all. If we say, “We have fellowship with him,” while we continue to walk in darkness, we lie and do not act in truth.(E) But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of his Son Jesus cleanses us from all sin.(F) If we say, “We are without sin,” we deceive ourselves,[c] and the truth is not in us.(G) If we acknowledge our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive our sins and cleanse us from every wrongdoing.(H) 10 If we say, “We have not sinned,” we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.(I)

Footnotes

  1. 1:1–4 There is a striking parallel to the prologue of the gospel of John (Jn 1:1–18), but the emphasis here is not on the preexistent Word but rather on the apostles’ witness to the incarnation of life by their experience of the historical Jesus. He is the Word of life (1 Jn 1:1; cf. Jn 1:4), the eternal life that was with the Father and was made visible (1 Jn 1:2; cf. Jn 1:14), and was heard, seen, looked upon, and touched by the apostles. The purpose of their teaching is to share that life, called fellowship…with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ, with those who receive their witness (1 Jn 1:3; Jn 1:14, 16).
  2. 1:5–7 Light is to be understood here as truth and goodness; darkness here is error and depravity (cf. Jn 3:19–21; 17:17; Eph 5:8). To walk in light or darkness is to live according to truth or error, not merely intellectual but moral as well. Fellowship with God and with one another consists in a life according to the truth as found in God and in Christ.
  3. 1:8–10 Denial of the condition of sin is self-deception and even contradictory of divine revelation; there is also the continual possibility of sin’s recurrence. Forgiveness and deliverance from sin through Christ are assured through acknowledgment of them and repentance.

论到从起初原有的生命之道,就是我们所听见、所看见、亲眼看过、亲手摸过的。 这生命已经显现出来,我们也看见过,现在又作见证,将原与父同在且显现于我们那永远的生命传给你们。 我们将所看见、所听见的传给你们,使你们与我们相交;我们乃是与父并他儿子耶稣基督相交的。 我们将这些话写给你们,使你们[a]的喜乐充足。

耶稣的血洗净一切的罪

神就是光,在他毫无黑暗,这是我们从主所听见又报给你们的信息。 我们若说是与神相交,却仍在黑暗里行,就是说谎话,不行真理了。 我们若在光明中行,如同神在光明中,就彼此相交,他儿子耶稣的血也洗净我们一切的罪。 我们若说自己无罪,便是自欺,真理不在我们心里了。 我们若认自己的罪,神是信实的,是公义的,必要赦免我们的罪,洗净我们一切的不义。 10 我们若说自己没有犯过罪,便是以神为说谎的,他的道也不在我们心里了。

Footnotes

  1. 约翰一书 1:4 有古卷作:我们。

The Incarnation of the Word of Life

That which was from the beginning,(A) which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes,(B) which we have looked at and our hands have touched(C)—this we proclaim concerning the Word of life. The life appeared;(D) we have seen it and testify to it,(E) and we proclaim to you the eternal life,(F) which was with the Father and has appeared to us. We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard,(G) so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.(H) We write this(I) to make our[a] joy complete.(J)

Light and Darkness, Sin and Forgiveness

This is the message we have heard(K) from him and declare to you: God is light;(L) in him there is no darkness at all. If we claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness,(M) we lie and do not live out the truth.(N) But if we walk in the light,(O) as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all[b] sin.(P)

If we claim to be without sin,(Q) we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.(R) If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins(S) and purify us from all unrighteousness.(T) 10 If we claim we have not sinned,(U) we make him out to be a liar(V) and his word is not in us.(W)

Footnotes

  1. 1 John 1:4 Some manuscripts your
  2. 1 John 1:7 Or every