1 Peter 1-2

I Peter 1

¹Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, to the saints who are living in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

²Who, through the purpose of God, have been made holy by the Spirit, disciples of Jesus, made clean by his blood: May you have grace and peace in full measure.

³Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who through his great mercy has given us a new birth and a living hope by the coming again of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴And a heritage fair, holy and for ever new, waiting in heaven for you,

⁵Who, by the power of God are kept, through faith, for that salvation, which will be seen at the last day.

⁶You have cause for great joy in this, though it may have been necessary for you to be troubled for a little time, being tested in all sorts of ways,

⁷So that the true metal of your faith, being of much greater value than gold (which, though it comes to an end, is tested by fire), may come to light in praise and glory and honour, at the revelation of Jesus Christ:

⁸To whom your love is given, though you have not seen him; and the faith which you have in him, though you do not see him now, gives you joy greater than words and full of glory:

⁹For so you have the true end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰For the prophets who gave the news of the grace which would come to you, made search with all care for knowledge of this salvation;

¹¹Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.

¹²And it was made clear to those prophets that they were God's servants not for themselves but for you, to give you word of the things which have now come to your ears from the preachers of the good news through the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven; things which even angels have a desire to see.

¹³So make your minds ready, and keep on the watch, hoping with all your power for the grace which is to come to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

¹⁴Like children ruled by God, do not go back to the old desires of the time when you were without knowledge:

¹⁵But be holy in every detail of your lives, as he, whose servants you are, is holy;

¹⁶Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.

¹⁷And if you give the name of Father to him who, judging every man by his acts, has no respect for a man's position, then go in fear while you are on this earth:

¹⁸Being conscious that you have been made free from that foolish way of life which was your heritage from your fathers, not through a payment of things like silver or gold which come to destruction,

¹⁹But through holy blood, like that of a clean and unmarked lamb, even the blood of Christ:

²⁰Who was marked out by God before the making of the world, but was caused to be seen in these last times for you,

²¹Who through him have faith in God who took him up again from the dead into glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

²²And as you have made your souls clean, being ruled by what is true, and loving one another without deceit, see that your love is warm and from the heart:

²³Because you have had a new birth, not from the seed of man, but from eternal seed, through the word of a living and unchanging God.

²⁴For it is said, All flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of the grass. The grass becomes dry and the flower dead:

²⁵But the word of the Lord is eternal. And this is the word of the good news which was given to you.

I Peter 2

¹So putting away all wrongdoing, and all tricks and deceits and envies and evil talk,

²Be full of desire for the true milk of the word, as babies at their mothers' breasts, so that you may go on to salvation;

³If you have had a taste of the grace of the Lord:

⁴To whom you come, as to a living stone, not honoured by men, but of great and special value to God;

⁵You, as living stones, are being made into a house of the spirit, a holy order of priests, making those offerings of the spirit which are pleasing to God through Jesus Christ.

⁶Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame.

⁷And the value is for you who have faith; but it is said for those without faith, The very stone which the builders put on one side, was made the chief stone of the building;

⁸And, A stone of falling, a rock of trouble; the word is the cause of their fall, because they go against it, and this was the purpose of God.

⁹But you are a special people, a holy nation, priests and kings, a people given up completely to God, so that you may make clear the virtues of him who took you out of the dark into the light of heaven.

¹⁰In the past you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; then there was no mercy for you, but now mercy has been given to you.

¹¹My loved ones, I make this request with all my heart, that, as those for whom this world is a strange country, you will keep yourselves from the desires of the flesh which make war against the soul;

¹²Being of good behaviour among the Gentiles; so that though they say now that you are evil-doers, they may see your good works and give glory to God when he comes to be their judge.

¹³Keep all the laws of men because of the Lord; those of the king, who is over all,

¹⁴And those of the rulers who are sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and for the praise of those who do well.

¹⁵Because it is God's pleasure that foolish and narrow-minded men may be put to shame by your good behaviour:

¹⁶As those who are free, not using your free position as a cover for wrongdoing, but living as the servants of God;

¹⁷Have respect for all, loving the brothers, fearing God, honouring the king.

¹⁸Servants, take orders from your masters with all respect; not only if they are good and gentle, but even if they are bad-humoured.

¹⁹For it is a sign of grace if a man, desiring to do right in the eyes of God, undergoes pain as punishment for something which he has not done.

²⁰What credit is it if, when you have done evil, you take your punishment quietly? but if you are given punishment for doing right, and take it quietly, this is pleasing to God.

²¹This is God's purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps:

²²Who did no evil, and there was no deceit in his mouth:

²³To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:

²⁴He took our sins on himself, giving his body to be nailed on the tree, so that we, being dead to sin, might have a new life in righteousness, and by his wounds we have been made well.

²⁵Because, like sheep, you had gone out of the way; but now you have come back to him who keeps watch over your souls.