1 John 1

¹What was from the beginning, what we have heard, what we have seen with our eyes, what we looked at and our hands touched, concerning the word of life— ²and the life was revealed, and we have seen and testify and announce to you the eternal life that was with the Father and was revealed to us— ³what we have seen and heard we announce also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. ⁴We write these things so that our joy may be complete.

⁵This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light, and there is no darkness at all in him. ⁶If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in darkness, we lie and do not do the truth. ⁷But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin. ⁸If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. ⁹If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. ¹⁰If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

Translation notes 4

1:1–3 — The word of life. The opening “what” gathers up the message and the life encountered in Jesus; it is not simply a masculine “he.” “Word” can refer to the proclaimed message, while the seeing and touching emphasize its embodied subject. The long opening resumes in verse 3 after the explanation in verse 2. The letter itself does not name its author.

1:3, 6–7 — Fellowship and walking. “Fellowship” means shared participation, here with one another and with the Father and Son. “Walk” describes the way people live. “Do the truth” preserves the author's expression for putting truth into practice, rather than merely speaking accurately.

1:4 — Our joy. This follows the Greek base; “your joy” is a textual alternative. The writer's joy and the readers' participation belong together.

1:7–10 — Cleansing and confession. Blood names Jesus' death through its concrete sacrificial imagery. Verse 8 speaks of having sin; verse 10 speaks of having sinned. Both stand alongside the letter's forceful statements about not sinning in chapters 3 and 5; the translation does not remove that tension.