1 John 4

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit. Test the spirits to see whether they come from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

1Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world.

Note"Try" in 1611 English meant to test or examine, the way metal was assayed for purity; it did not mean to attempt. A "spirit" here is a person speaking under a claimed inspiration, which is why the second half of the verse explains the warning in terms of false prophets: testing the spirits means testing the people who claim to speak for God. "Beloved" is a form of address to the whole group of readers, plural, meaning something like "you whom I love."

2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: every spirit that openly agrees that Jesus Christ has come as a human being is from God.

2Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God:

Note"Confess" in the King James does not mean owning up to wrongdoing. It renders a Greek word meaning to say the same thing openly that others say, that is, to declare an agreed position out loud and in public. "Come in the flesh" means arrived as an actual human being with a body, and the phrase is pointed: the teachers being tested denied exactly that.

3And every spirit that does not openly agree this about Jesus Christ is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, the one you have heard was coming. It is already here in the world right now.

3And every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world.

Note"Antichrist" is a Greek compound meaning against Christ, or in place of Christ. In this letter it is not only a single figure expected in the future; the verse says the spirit behind it is already at work. The Greek manuscripts also differ here: the King James follows copies that repeat the full phrase "confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh," while the earliest copies read only "does not confess Jesus."

4My dear children, you belong to God, and you have won out over them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

4Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world.

Note"Little children" is how an older teacher addresses the congregation he is writing to. The readers are adults; the phrase marks affection and seniority, not age.

5They belong to the world. That is why what they say comes from the world, and the world listens to them.

5They are of the world: therefore speak they of the world, and the world heareth them.

Note"The world" in this letter does not mean the planet, or people in general. It means human society as it runs itself without reference to God. "The world heareth them" means it listens to them and takes them in, not merely that it hears a sound.

6We belong to God. Anyone who knows God listens to us. Anyone who does not belong to God does not listen to us. That is how we can tell the spirit of truth from the spirit of falsehood.

6We are of God: he that knoweth God heareth us; he that is not of God heareth not us. Hereby know we the spirit of truth, and the spirit of error.

Note"Heareth" again means heeds or accepts, not simply perceives. "The spirit of error" translates a word for deception and leading astray: it is about actively misleading people, not about making an innocent mistake.

7Dear friends, let us love one another, because love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.

7Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.

8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

8He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

9This is how God showed his love for us: God sent his only Son into the world so that we could live through him.

9In this was manifested the love of God toward us, because that God sent his only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through him.

Note"Only begotten" renders a Greek word meaning one of a kind, the only one of its sort. "Begotten" was the 1611 way of saying "fathered," and the word was used of an only child, so the stress falls on there being no other. "Manifested" means made visible, brought out where it could be seen.

10This is what love is: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the sacrifice that deals with our sins.

10Herein is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.

Note"Propitiation" is a technical word from the world of sacrifice, and the Greek behind it is genuinely disputed. It can mean the offering that turns away anger, which is what the English word "propitiation" says; or the offering that wipes away the sin and cleanses the person who brought it, which other translators render "expiation" or "atoning sacrifice." A related form of the same Greek word is used in the Greek Old Testament for the gold cover of the ark, where blood was sprinkled on the Day of Atonement.

11Dear friends, since God loved us this much, we should also love one another.

11Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another.

12No one has ever seen God. But if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is brought to completion in us.

12No man hath seen God at any time. If we love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Note"Dwelleth" translates a Greek verb meaning to stay, remain, or go on living somewhere. It is about continuing rather than about having an address, and the same verb runs through verses 12 to 16. "Perfected" does not mean made faultless; the Greek means brought to its intended completion, finished, arrived at what it was for.

13This is how we know that we live in him and he lives in us: he has given us a share of his Spirit.

13Hereby know we that we dwell in him, and he in us, because he hath given us of his Spirit.

Note"Given us of his Spirit" uses "of" in its older sense of "some of" or "a share of," not "belonging to."

14And we have seen it for ourselves, and we say so publicly: the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world.

14And we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Saviour of the world.

Note"Testify" is courtroom language: to state publicly what one has seen, the way a witness does. It is deliberately paired here with "we have seen."

15Whoever openly agrees that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in that person, and that person lives in God.

15Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God.

16And we have come to know the love God has for us, and we trust it. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God lives in him.

16And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.

17This is how love is brought to completion in us: so that we can be confident on the day of judgment. We can be confident because, in this world, we are like him.

17Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world.

Note"Boldness" translates a Greek word that first meant the right of a free citizen to speak openly in the public assembly, and so came to mean confidence in someone's presence, without fear of being silenced or shamed. It does not mean daring or brashness. The last clause is compressed in the Greek and does not say in what respect "as he is, so are we," which is why translations word it differently.

18There is no fear in love. Instead, love that is complete drives fear out, because fear has to do with punishment. Whoever is afraid has not been brought to complete love.

18There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

Note"Torment" in 1611 could mean punishment in general, and it renders a Greek word for punishment or penalty. The line is saying that fear is bound up with expecting punishment, not that fear is an agonizing sensation. "Perfect love" again means love brought to completion, as in verse 12.

19We love him because he first loved us.

19We love him, because he first loved us.

NoteThe oldest Greek manuscripts read simply "we love," with no object at all. Later copies supply one, some "him" as the King James has it, some "God." Modern translations divide along the same lines.

20If someone says, "I love God," but hates his brother, he is a liar. Anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.

20If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Note"Brother" renders a Greek word used for a fellow member of the community, male or female, which is why many modern versions read "brother or sister." It does not mean a blood relative here.

21And this is the command we have from him: whoever loves God must love his brother too.

21And this commandment have we from him, That he who loveth God love his brother also.