²³ You have been born anew, not of perishable but of imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.^[a](A)

A Living Hope

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead^(A)

¹² Indeed, the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing until it divides soul from spirit, joints from marrow; it is able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.^(A)

³ Jesus answered him, “Very truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God without being born from above.”^[a](A)

¹³ who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.^(A)

⁵³ For this perishable body must put on imperishability, and this mortal body must put on immortality. ⁵⁴ When this perishable body puts on imperishability and this mortal body puts on immortality, then the saying that is written will be fulfilled:

⁶³ It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life.

¹⁸ We know that those who are born of God do not sin, but the one who was born of God protects them, and the evil one does not touch them.^[a](A)

⁹ Those who have been born of God do not sin because God’s seed abides in them;^[a] they cannot sin because they have been born of God.^(A)

¹⁸ In fulfillment of his own purpose he gave birth to us by the word of truth, so that we would become a kind of first fruits of his creatures.^(A)