First Epistle of Peter - The New Testament

¹ Peter, apostle of Jesus Christ, to all those living as aliens in the Dispersion of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, who have been chosen,

² in the foresight of God the Father, to be made holy by the Spirit, obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.

³ Blessed be God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who in his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead

⁴ and into a heritage that can never be spoilt or soiled and never fade away. It is reserved in heaven for you

⁵ who are being kept safe by God's power through faith until the salvation which has been prepared is revealed at the final point of time.

⁶ This is a great joy to you, even though for a short time yet you must bear all sorts of trials;

⁷ so that the worth of your faith, more valuable than gold, which is perishable even if it has been tested by fire, may be proved -- to your praise and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.

⁸ You have not seen him, yet you love him; and still without seeing him you believe in him and so are already filled with a joy so glorious that it cannot be described;

⁹ and you are sure of the goal of your faith, that is, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ This salvation was the subject of the search and investigation of the prophets who spoke of the grace you were to receive,

¹¹ searching out the time and circumstances for which the Spirit of Christ, bearing witness in them, was revealing the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow them.

¹² It was revealed to them that it was for your sake and not their own that they were acting as servants delivering the message which has now been announced to you by those who preached to you the gospel through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even the angels long to catch a glimpse of these things.

¹³ Your minds, then, must be sober and ready for action; put all your hope in the grace brought to you by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴ Do not allow yourselves to be shaped by the passions of your old ignorance,

¹⁵ but as obedient children, be yourselves holy in all your activity, after the model of the Holy One who calls us,

¹⁶ since scripture says, 'Be holy, for I am holy.'

¹⁷ And if you address as Father him who judges without favouritism according to each individual's deeds, live out the time of your exile here in reverent awe.

¹⁸ For you know that the price of your ransom from the futile way of life handed down from your ancestors was paid, not in anything perishable like silver or gold,

¹⁹ but in precious blood as of a blameless and spotless lamb, Christ.

²⁰ He was marked out before the world was made, and was revealed at the final point of time for your sake.

²¹ Through him you now have faith in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory for this very purpose -- that your faith and hope should be in God.

²² Since by your obedience to the truth you have purified yourselves so that you can experience the genuine love of brothers, love each other intensely from the heart;

²³ for your new birth was not from any perishable seed but from imperishable seed, the living and enduring Word of God.

²⁴ For all humanity is grass, and all its beauty like the wild flower's. As grass withers, the flower fades,

²⁵ but the Word of the Lord remains for ever. And this Word is the Good News that has been brought to you.