1 Peter 2:5-7
EasyEnglish Bible
5 You yourselves are also like stones that are alive. God is using you, like stones, to build a house where his Spirit lives. You will serve him like his special priests who offer sacrifices to him. God will be happy with the spiritual offerings that you give to him, because you belong to Jesus Christ.[a]
6 In the Bible, God says this:
‘Look, I have chosen a stone that is very valuable.
I have chosen this stone as the most important stone,
for the corner of my house in Zion.[b]
Anyone who believes in him will never be disappointed.’[c]
7 This stone is very valuable to you who believe in Jesus. But the Bible says this about people who do not believe in him:
‘The builders refused to use a certain stone.
They thought that it had no value.
But now that stone has become the most important stone at the corner of the building.’[d]
Footnotes
- 2:5 In God's house in Jerusalem, Israel's priests offered sacrifices to God on behalf of the people. The sacrifices were special gifts to thank God, or to show that the people were sorry. They were sorry about the wrong things that they had done. We offer ‘spiritual sacrifices’ to God when we obey him completely. We choose always to believe God. We thank him. We do good things, to help other people. These are the kind of ‘spiritual sacrifices’ that we offer.
- 2:6 Zion is another name for the city of Jerusalem, either on earth or in heaven. Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, was the place where the Israelites built the Temple.
- 2:6 See Isaiah 28:16.
- 2:7 See Psalms 118:22. Many years before Jesus lived on the earth, the Israelites built a special house for God. See 1 Kings 6—8. The stone at the corner of the house was the most important stone. It made the whole building strong and safe. It was the first stone that the builders put into its place. Then they put other stones next to it and above it, to build the walls. It was a big, square stone with very straight sides. So it made all the walls of the house straight and strong. Jesus is like the stone at the corner of God's house. God's true house is a spiritual house. God builds his true house with people who belong to Jesus Christ.
EasyEnglish Bible Copyright © MissionAssist 2019 - Charitable Incorporated Organisation 1162807. Used by permission. All rights reserved.