¹⁶ So then, it does not depend on the person who ^[a]wants it nor the one who ^[b](A)runs, but on ^(B)God who has mercy.

^3 (A)Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in ^(B)the heavenly places in Christ, ⁴ just as ^(C)He chose us in Him before ^(D)the foundation of the world, that we would be ^(E)holy and blameless before ^[a]Him. ^(F)In love ^5 [b]He ^(G)predestined us to ^(H)adoption as sons and daughters through Jesus Christ to Himself, ^(I)according to the good pleasure of His will, ^6 (J)to the praise of the glory of His grace, with which He favored us in ^(K)the Beloved.

A Living Hope and a Sure Salvation

1 ^(A)Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

To those who reside as ^(B)strangers, ^(C)scattered throughout ^(D)Pontus, ^(E)Galatia, ^(F)Cappadocia, ^(G)Asia, and ^(H)Bithynia, ^(I)who are chosen ² according to the ^(J)foreknowledge of God the Father, ^(K)by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, ^[a]to ^(L)obey Jesus Christ and be ^(M)sprinkled with His blood: ^(N)May grace and peace be multiplied to you.