1 Peter

Chapter 1

1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect sojourners of the dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in the sanctification of the Spirit, for obedience and the sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: may grace and peace be multiplied to you.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has begotten us anew to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

4 to an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and unfading, kept in heaven for you,

5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if it must be so, you have been grieved by various trials,

7 so that the tested genuineness of your faith, more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

8 whom, not having seen, you love; in whom, though you do not now see him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory,

9 receiving the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Concerning this salvation the prophets who prophesied of the grace that was to come to you sought and searched diligently,

11 inquiring into what person or what time the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating, when it testified beforehand to the sufferings destined for Christ and the glories that would follow.

12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you in these things, which have now been announced to you through those who preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which angels long to look.

13 Therefore, having girded up the loins of your mind, being sober, set your hope fully upon the grace that is being brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.

14 As children of obedience, do not be conformed to the desires you formerly had in your ignorance,

15 but as he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves also in all your conduct,

16 since it is written: You shall be holy, for I am holy.

17 And if you call upon him as Father who judges impartially according to each one's work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourning,

18 knowing that you were ransomed from the futile way of life handed down from your fathers not with perishable things, silver or gold,

19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, the blood of Christ,

20 who was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest at the end of the times for your sake,

21 who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Having purified your souls by obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,

23 having been born again not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.

24 For all flesh is like grass, and all its glory like the flower of grass; the grass withers, and the flower falls off,

25 but the word of the Lord abides forever. And this is the word that was preached as good news to you.

Chapter 2

1 Therefore, putting away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander,

2 like newborn infants long for the pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up into salvation,

3 if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is good.

4 Coming to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and precious in God's sight,

5 you yourselves also, like living stones, are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

6 For it stands in Scripture: "Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame."

7 So the honor is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe, "the stone that the builders rejected has become the head of the corner,"

8 and "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense." They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

10 Once you were not a people, but now you are God's people; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

11 Beloved, I urge you as sojourners and exiles to abstain from the fleshly desires, which wage war against the soul. 12 Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day of visitation.

13 Be subject to every human institution for the Lord's sake, whether to the emperor as supreme,

14 or to governors as sent by him to punish evildoers and to praise those who do good.

15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you should silence the ignorance of foolish men

16 as free people, and not using your freedom as a cover-up for evil, but as servants of God. 17 Honor everyone. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

18 Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle but also to the harsh.

19 For this is a gracious thing, when, mindful of God, one endures sorrows while suffering unjustly.

20 For what credit is it if, when you sin and are beaten for it, you endure? But if when you do good and suffer for it you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God.

21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

22 He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth.

23 When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but entrusted himself to him who judges justly.

24 He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sins and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

25 For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.

Chapter 3

1 Likewise, you wives, be subject to your own husbands, so that even if some are disobedient to the word, they may be won without a word through the conduct of their wives,

2 when they observe your pure conduct in fear.

3 Let your adornment not be the outward one of braiding hair and putting on gold ornaments or wearing fine garments,

4 but the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God.

5 For in this way in former times the holy women also, who hoped in God, adorned themselves, being subject to their own husbands,

6 as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; and you have become her children, if you do good and are not frightened by any fear.

7 Husbands likewise, live with your wives with understanding, as with a weaker vessel, the feminine, showing them honor as also fellow heirs of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

8 Finally, be all of one mind, sympathetic, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, humble-minded,

9 not returning evil for evil or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, because to this you were called, that you might inherit a blessing.

10 For "he who would love life and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit;

11 let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace and pursue it.

12 For the eyes of the Lord are upon the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil."

13 And who is there to harm you, if you become zealous for what is good?

14 But even if you should suffer for righteousness' sake, you are blessed. Do not fear their fear, nor be troubled,

15 but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you for an account of the hope that is in you,

16 yet with gentleness and fear, keeping a good conscience, so that, in the matter in which you are slandered, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame.

17 For it is better, if the will of God should so will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

18 For Christ also suffered once for sins, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring you to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit;

19 in which he also went and preached to the spirits in prison,

20 who once were disobedient, when the patience of God was waiting in the days of Noah, while the ark was being built, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water.

21 And corresponding to this, baptism now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but the appeal of a good conscience to God—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

22 who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, angels and authorities and powers having been subjected to him.

Chapter 4

1 Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves also with the same way of thinking, because whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin,

2 so as to live the remaining time in the flesh no longer for human desires but for the will of God.

3 For the time that has passed is sufficient for having done the will of the Gentiles, having walked in licentiousness, lusts, drunkenness, revelries, drinking parties, and lawless idolatries.

4 In this they are surprised that you do not run with them into the same flood of dissipation, and they blaspheme;

5 but they will give an account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead.

6 For this is why the gospel was preached even to the dead, so that though judged in the flesh according to men, they might live in the spirit according to God.

7 But the end of all things has drawn near. Therefore be of sound mind and be sober for prayers,

8 above all keeping your love for one another fervent, because love covers a multitude of sins.

9 Be hospitable to one another without grumbling.

10 As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

11 If anyone speaks, let it be as the oracles of God; if anyone serves, let it be as from the strength that God supplies, so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belong the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

12 Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal among you, which comes upon you for your testing, as though something strange were happening to you,

13 but insofar as you share in the sufferings of Christ, rejoice, so that also at the revelation of his glory you may rejoice with exultation.

14 If you are reviled for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

15 For let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler in others' affairs;

16 but if as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in this matter.

17 For it is the time for judgment to begin from the house of God; and if first from us, what will be the end of those who disobey the gospel of God?

18 And if the righteous is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?

19 Therefore let those also who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator in doing good.

Chapter 5

1 I exhort the elders among you, I who am a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that is to be revealed:

2 shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight not under compulsion but willingly, according to God; not for shameful gain but eagerly;

3 not as lording it over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock.

4 And when the chief Shepherd is revealed, you will receive the unfading crown of glory.

5 Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, for God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time,

7 casting all your anxiety upon him, because he cares for you.

8 Be sober, be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

9 Resist him, firm in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are being accomplished in your brotherhood throughout the world.

10 And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore, establish, strengthen, and settle you.

11 To him be dominion forever. Amen.

12 Through Silvanus, the faithful brother, as I regard him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting and testifying that this is the true grace of God; stand firm in it.

13 She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you, as does Mark my son.

14 Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to you all who are in Christ.