³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ⁴ to an incorruptible and undefiled inheritance that doesn’t fade away, reserved 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.

¹⁸ knowing that you were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from the useless way of life handed down from your fathers, ¹⁹ but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish or spot, the blood of Christ, ²⁰ who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was revealed in this last age 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 might be in God.

⁴ coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious. ⁵ You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. ⁶ Because it is contained in Scripture,

⁷ For you who believe therefore is the honor, but for those who are disobedient,

⁸ and,

For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, to which also they were appointed. ⁹ But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ In the past, you were not a people, but now are God’s people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

⁵ Likewise, you younger ones, be subject to the elder. Yes, all of you clothe yourselves with humility, to subject yourselves to one another; for “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”Proverbs 3:34 ⁶ Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time, ⁷ casting all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

⁸ Be sober and self-controlled. Be watchful. Your adversary, the devil, walks around like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. ⁹ Withstand him steadfast in your faith, knowing that your brothers who are in the world are undergoing the same sufferings. ¹⁰ But may the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. ¹¹ To him be the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

¹² Through Silvanus, our faithful brother, as I consider him, I have written to you briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand. ¹³ She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you. So does Mark, my son.