1 Peter 2:4-10
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
4 Come to him, a living stone, though rejected by mortals yet chosen and precious in God’s sight, and 5 like living stones let yourselves be built[a] into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.(A) 6 For it stands in scripture:
“See, I am laying in Zion a stone,
a cornerstone chosen and precious,
and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.”(B)
7 This honor, then, is for you who believe, but for those who do not believe,[b]
“The stone that the builders rejected
has become the very head of the corner,”(C)
8 and
“A stone that makes them stumble
and a rock that makes them fall.”
They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.(D)
9 But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people,[c] in order that you may proclaim the excellence of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.(E)
10 Once you were not a people,
but now you are God’s people;
once you had not received mercy,
but now you have received mercy.(F)
1 Peter 2:4-10
The Message
The Stone
4-8 Welcome to the living Stone, the source of life. The workmen took one look and threw it out; God set it in the place of honor. Present yourselves as building stones for the construction of a sanctuary vibrant with life, in which you’ll serve as holy priests offering Christ-approved lives up to God. The Scriptures provide precedent:
Look! I’m setting a stone in Zion,
a cornerstone in the place of honor.
Whoever trusts in this stone as a foundation
will never have cause to regret it.
To you who trust him, he’s a Stone to be proud of, but to those who refuse to trust him,
The stone the workmen threw out
is now the chief foundation stone.
For the untrusting it’s
. . . a stone to trip over,
a boulder blocking the way.
They trip and fall because they refuse to obey, just as predicted.
9-10 But you are the ones chosen by God, chosen for the high calling of priestly work, chosen to be a holy people, God’s instruments to do his work and speak out for him, to tell others of the night-and-day difference he made for you—from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.
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Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson