Finally, brothers, good-bye [or, “be glad”]. Be fully restored [spiritually]. Be comforted [or, “exhort one another”]. Think alike on things. Be at peace among yourselves. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
1 John 4:8 - An Understandable Version (2005 edition) The person who does not love [others] does not know God [as Savior], for [the very nature of] God is love. More versionsKing James Version (Oxford) 1769 He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. Amplified Bible - Classic Edition He who does not love has not become acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. American Standard Version (1901) He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. Common English Bible The person who doesn’t love does not know God, because God is love. Catholic Public Domain Version Whoever does not love, does not know God. For God is love. Douay-Rheims version of The Bible - 1752 version He that loveth not, knoweth not God: for God is charity. |
Finally, brothers, good-bye [or, “be glad”]. Be fully restored [spiritually]. Be comforted [or, “exhort one another”]. Think alike on things. Be at peace among yourselves. And the God of love and peace will be with you.
And this is the message we heard from Him, and [now want to] announce to you: God is light [i.e. righteousness] and in His [very nature] there is no trace of darkness [i.e., evil].
The person who says, “I have come to know Him,” but does not obey what He commands, is lying [by such a profession], and the truth [about the matter] is not in his heart.
The person who claims to be living in [harmony with] the light [i.e., by obeying God’s truth], and [yet] hates his brother is still [living] in the darkness [of sin].
Here is how the children of God and the children of the devil can be recognized: All those who do not continue to do what is right do not belong to God. Also, the person who does not continue to love his brother [or sister does not belong to God].
No person who lives in [fellowship with] Christ will continue living a sinful life; the one who keeps on sinning [however], has not seen Him or known Him [as his personal Savior].
And we have known [with certainty] and have believed [with assurance] that God has truly loved us. God’s [very nature] is love and the person who [continually] loves [Him and others] lives in [fellowship with] God [continually], and God [continually] lives in that person’s heart.
Loved ones, we should have love for one another, because love comes from [the very nature of] God, and every person who [continually] loves [others] has been [spiritually] conceived by God [See 2:29; 3:9], and knows [he is in fellowship with] God.