1 Peter 1:17-23
New King James Version
17 And if you call on the Father, who (A)without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your [a]stay here in fear; 18 knowing that you were not redeemed with [b]corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, 19 but (B)with the precious blood of Christ, (C)as of a lamb without blemish and without spot. 20 (D)He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was [c]manifest (E)in these last times for you 21 who through Him believe in God, (F)who raised Him from the dead and (G)gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
The Enduring Word
22 Since you (H)have purified your souls in obeying the truth [d]through the Spirit in [e]sincere (I)love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart, 23 (J)having been born again, not of [f]corruptible seed but [g]incorruptible, (K)through the word of God which lives and abides [h]forever,
Read full chapterFootnotes
- 1 Peter 1:17 sojourning, dwelling as resident aliens
- 1 Peter 1:18 perishable
- 1 Peter 1:20 revealed
- 1 Peter 1:22 NU omits through the Spirit
- 1 Peter 1:22 Lit. unhypocritical
- 1 Peter 1:23 perishable
- 1 Peter 1:23 imperishable
- 1 Peter 1:23 NU omits forever
1 Peter 1:17-25
The Message
17 You call out to God for help and he helps—he’s a good Father that way. But don’t forget, he’s also a responsible Father, and won’t let you get by with sloppy living.
18-21 Your life is a journey you must travel with a deep consciousness of God. It cost God plenty to get you out of that dead-end, empty-headed life you grew up in. He paid with Christ’s sacred blood, you know. He died like an unblemished, sacrificial lamb. And this was no afterthought. Even though it has only lately—at the end of the ages—become public knowledge, God always knew he was going to do this for you. It’s because of this sacrificed Messiah, whom God then raised from the dead and glorified, that you trust God, that you know you have a future in God.
22-25 Now that you’ve cleaned up your lives by following the truth, love one another as if your lives depended on it. Your new life is not like your old life. Your old birth came from mortal sperm; your new birth comes from God’s living Word. Just think: a life conceived by God himself! That’s why the prophet said,
The old life is a grass life,
its beauty as short-lived as wildflowers;
Grass dries up, flowers wilt,
God’s Word goes on and on forever.
This is the Word that conceived the new life in you.
Read full chapterScripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson