Kirisiti nlebelekeli wedu
1 Bana bangu, ndomukwalila lukwalo igogu kuti ndizo musitjinye. Koga ha mmwe wenyu etjinya, tina nlebelekeli wedu kuna Tate, iye Jesu Kirisiti we nlulwami, 2 ndiye tjibhayilo tjinodusa matjinyo edu. Asi edu koga, ne matjinyo e shango yose.
3 Ha tilondolodza milayo iye, ndiko sekwa tingabe ne luzibo guzhele kuti tonziba. 4 Iye unoti “Ndonziba,” koga asingalondolodze milayo iye, nnyepi, ngono malebeswa ate ali munli. 5 Koga iye unolondolodza dama lile, munli ludo gwe Ndzimu guyapo ne buzhalo. Tingaduma kuti timunli, ha titjila sa woku: 6 Iye unozwidwa eti unotjilila munli wakafanila tjila nge zila yaakatjilabo ndiyo.
Nlayo ntshwa
7 Badiwa, anditomukwalila mmwe nlayo ntshwa, koga ndomukwalila ngekwe nlayo nkulukugwi wamakabe munawo kudwa mu kutangisa. Nlayo iwoyu nkulukugwi ndilo dama lamakahwa. 8 Nenguba ndimukwalila nlayo ntshwa, malebeswa awo anobong'wa munli ne mu muli, ngobe zhalima lopinda, ngono tjedza tje malebeswa tjotjipenya kale.
9 Iye unoti umu tjedza koga ebenga ikamu tjitje, unobe atjimu zhalima zwe. 10 Iye unoda ikamu tjitje ugele mu tjedza, ngono mu tjedza akuna tjingathama kuti utjinye. 11 Koga iye unobenga ikamu tjitje umu zhalima kakale unoyenda mu zhalima, ngono aatoziba kwaanoyenda, ngobe zhalima lakampofupadza.
12 Bana bangu, ndomukwalila ngobe matjinyo enyu makaazwiibhatigwa ngekwe zina lile. 13 Botate, ndamukwalila ngobe monziba iye unodwa mu kutangisa. Imwi bazhuzha, ndamukwalila ngobe makakunda mbiimbi.
14 Botate, ndamukwalila ngobe monziba iye wakabe alipo kudwa mu kutangisa. Bazhuzha, ndamukwalila ngobe makasima nenge dama le Ndzimu logala mu muli, kakale makakunda mbiimbi.
15 Muside shango kene tjimwe tje shango. Ha mmwe eda shango, aatoda Tate. 16 Ngoti tjimwe ne tjimwe tjimu shango; njemulo dze mbili ne njemulo dze mesho ne kuzwida mubutjilo, akutodwa kuna Tate, koga ngekwe shango. 17 Shango inopela ne njemulo dzayo, koga iye unothama kuda kwe Ndzimu unotjilila tjose.
Tjita tja Kirisiti
18 Bana bangu, kwabe tjibaka tje bupelo! Makahwa kuti tjita tja Kirisiti tjaswika; ngono ngwenu zwita zwa Kirisiti zwinji zwabe yapo kale, ndizo ngekwa ikoku toziba kuti kwabe nsi we bupelo. 19 Ibaba bathu tjoselele ate bali bamwe bedu, ndizo wali bakatisiya; ha bakabe bali bamwe bedu, banobe bakagala naswi. Koga bakayenda kuti kube patjena kuti akuna wabo tjose wakabe ali wedu.
20 Koga imwi makazhodziwa nge Wakayengemala, ngono mose muna luzibo. 21 Ndomukwalila, kusi kuti ngobe musingazibe malebeswa; koga ngobe muaziba, nge kuti mozibabo kuti akuna manyepkhwa anodwa mu malebeswa. 22 Nnyepi ndiani ngono, aaisi mmwe ne mmwe unolandula kuti Jesu ndi Kirisiti. Nthu wakajalo tjita tja Kirisiti, unolandula bose Tate ne Nkololo. 23 Ngobe iye unolandula Nkololo, na Tate unobalandulabo; iye unoleba kuti unoduma mu Nkololo, na Tate unabo.
24 Thamani kuti tjamakahwa kudwa mu kutangisa tjigale mu muli. Ha tjamakahwa tjigala mu muli namwibo mowogala mu Nkololo ne muna Tate. 25 Ngono ikoku ndiko kwatakagadziwabgwe ndiye, butjilo gusingapele.
26 Ndamukwalila ikoku ngekwa ibabo banogwisa kumudzimidza. 27 Koga kuzhodziwa kwamakazhodziwa ndiye kumumuli, ndizo amutosheta mmwe kumudiya. Se kuzhodza kukwe kumudiya ngekwe tjimwe ne tjimwe, kakale ili lebeswa lisina manyepkhwa, koga sekwa kwakamudiya galani munli.
28 Ee, bana bangu, ibeni bang'ompela naye, kuti ndizo ati ezha tisime, ngono tisibhakhwe nge shoni ha ezha. 29 Ha muziba kuti wakalulwama, mungazibabo kuti mmwe ne mmwe unothama tjakalulwama mwana uwe.
Christ Our Helper
1 I am writing this to you, my children, so that you will not sin; but if anyone does sin, we have someone who pleads with the Father on our behalf—Jesus Christ, the righteous one. 2 And Christ himself is the means by which our sins are forgiven, and not our sins only, but also the sins of everyone.
3 If we obey God's commands, then we are sure that we know him. 4 If we say that we know him, but do not obey his commands, we are liars and there is no truth in us. 5 But if we obey his word, we are the ones whose love for God has really been made perfect. This is how we can be sure that we are in union with God: 6 if we say that we remain in union with God, we should live just as Jesus Christ did.
The New Command
7 My dear friends, this command I am writing you is not new; it is the old command, the one you have had from the very beginning. The old command is the message you have already heard. 8 However, the command I now write you is new, because its truth is seen in Christ and also in you. For the darkness is passing away, and the real light is already shining.
9 If we say that we are in the light, yet hate others, we are in the darkness to this very hour. 10 If we love others, we live in the light, and so there is nothing in us that will cause someone else to sin. 11 But if we hate others, we are in the darkness; we walk in it and do not know where we are going, because the darkness has made us blind.
12 I write to you, my children, because your sins are forgiven for the sake of Christ. 13 I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you have defeated the Evil One.
14 I write to you, my children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who has existed from the beginning. I write to you, young people, because you are strong; the word of God lives in you, and you have defeated the Evil One.
15 Do not love the world or anything that belongs to the world. If you love the world, you do not love the Father. 16 Everything that belongs to the world—what the sinful self desires, what people see and want, and everything in this world that people are so proud of—none of this comes from the Father; it all comes from the world. 17 The world and everything in it that people desire is passing away; but those who do the will of God live forever.
The Enemy of Christ
18 My children, the end is near! You were told that the Enemy of Christ would come; and now many enemies of Christ have already appeared, and so we know that the end is near. 19 These people really did not belong to our fellowship, and that is why they left us; if they had belonged to our fellowship, they would have stayed with us. But they left so that it might be clear that none of them really belonged to us.
20 But you have had the Holy Spirit poured out on you by Christ, and so all of you know the truth. 21 I write you, then, not because you do not know the truth; instead, it is because you do know it, and you also know that no lie ever comes from the truth.
22 Who, then, is the liar? It is those who say that Jesus is not the Messiah. Such people are the Enemy of Christ—they reject both the Father and the Son. 23 For those who reject the Son reject also the Father; those who accept the Son have the Father also.
24 Be sure, then, to keep in your hearts the message you heard from the beginning. If you keep that message, then you will always live in union with the Son and the Father. 25 And this is what Christ himself promised to give us—eternal life.
26 I am writing this to you about those who are trying to deceive you. 27 But as for you, Christ has poured out his Spirit on you. As long as his Spirit remains in you, you do not need anyone to teach you. For his Spirit teaches you about everything, and what he teaches is true, not false. Obey the Spirit's teaching, then, and remain in union with Christ.
28 Yes, my children, remain in union with him, so that when he appears we may be full of courage and need not hide in shame from him on the Day he comes. 29 You know that Christ is righteous; you should know, then, that everyone who does what is right is God's child.