1 Peter 1
Worldwide English (New Testament)
1 I am Peter. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ. I send this letter to God's chosen people. You are like people on a journey. You live in the countries of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. But you do not belong there.
2 God the Father chose you as he planned to do long ago. You were made holy by the Spirit. You were chosen to obey Jesus Christ and to be made clean by the blood of his death. May you have much blessing and peace.
3 Praise the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He was very kind to us, and made us his children. So we have a new hope. This hope is a living hope because Jesus Christ was raised from death.
4 Because we are God's children, one day we shall receive special blessings. They cannot be spoiled in any way, and they will last for ever. They are kept safe in heaven for you.
5 You are saved by God's power because you believe. You will then be fully saved. The way is ready and you will see it when the end of time comes.
6 This makes you very glad, even though now maybe you are sad because you have troubles of many kinds. They are only for a short time.
7 To believe is worth more than to have gold. Gold can spoil, but it is tested by fire to show that it is good. So troubles test you to prove that you believe. Then, because you really believe, you will be praised and made great and have honour when Jesus Christ comes again.
8 You love him even though you have not seen him. You trust him even though you do not see him. And so you are very happy. No words can tell how happy you are. Your joy is very great.
9 God will reward you because you have believed. You will then be fully saved.
10 The prophets of God long ago told about this way of being saved. They tried to find out about it and asked much about it. They spoke words from God telling about the blessing God would give you.
11 The Spirit of Christ in them showed them that Christ would have troubles and after that he would be great. They tried to find out when these things would happen or how things would be when they did happen.
12 The Spirit showed them that they told these things not for themselves, but for you. And now the men who told you the good news have told you these same things. They spoke by the power of the Holy Spirit who was sent from heaven. Even the angels wanted very much to know about these things.
13 So think clearly. Keep awake. When Jesus Christ comes, he will bring you blessing. Set all your hope on that.
14 Be children who obey. Do not be like what you were before you knew Christ. Then you did anything you wanted to do.
15 But be holy in all the things you do. Be holy because the one who has called you is holy.
16 God says in the holy writings, `You must be holy, because I am holy.'
17 You call God your Father. He does not think one man is better than another. He judges everyone by what he has done. So then you must fear him as you live your life here on earth.
18 You know this. You lived the way your fathers taught you to live, and it was not a good way to live. You were bought and set free from that way of life. But you were not bought with silver or gold money, which can spoil.
19 You were bought with blood that is worth much. It is like the blood of a sheep that is perfect with nothing wrong in its body. You were bought with the blood of Christ.
20 Before the world was made God chose Christ to do it, and Christ came at the end of time for your sake.
21 It is through Christ that you believe in God. God raised Christ from death and made him great. And that is why you are able to believe and hope in God.
22 You have obeyed what is true and that has made your hearts clean. And now you really love your Christian brothers. So with your clean hearts, love each other very much.
23 You have been made God's children. He did not make you his children by something that dies, but by something that cannot die. That is the word of God.
24 The holy writings say, `People may be great. But they are like a flower on the grass. The grass dies and the flower falls off.
25 But the word of the Lord cannot die!' And this word is the good news which has been told to you.
1 Peter 1
American Standard Version
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the elect who are sojourners of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace to you and peace be multiplied.
3 Blessed be [a]the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy begat us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who by the power of God are guarded through faith unto a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. 6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold [b]trials, 7 that the proof of your faith, being more precious than gold that perisheth though it is proved by fire, may be found unto praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ: 8 whom not having seen ye love; on whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice greatly with joy unspeakable and [c]full of glory: 9 receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. 10 Concerning which salvation the prophets sought and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you: 11 searching what time or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did point unto, when it testified beforehand the sufferings [d]of Christ, and the glories that should follow them. 12 To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that [e]preached the gospel unto you [f]by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angels desire to look into.
13 Wherefore girding up the loins of your mind, be sober and set your hope perfectly on the grace that [g]is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; 14 as children of obedience, not fashioning yourselves according to your former lusts in the time of your ignorance: 15 but [h]like as he who called you is holy, be ye yourselves also holy in all manner of living; 16 because it is written, [i]Ye shall be holy; for I am holy. 17 And if ye call on him as Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to each man’s work, pass the time of your sojourning in fear: 18 knowing that ye were redeemed, not with corruptible things, with silver or gold, from your vain manner of life handed down from your fathers; 19 but with precious blood, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot, even the blood of Christ: 20 who was foreknown indeed before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of the times for your sake, 21 who through him are believers in God, that raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God. 22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another [j]from the heart fervently: 23 having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of [k]God, which liveth and abideth. 24 For,
[l]All flesh is as grass,
And all the glory thereof as the flower of grass.
The grass withereth, and the flower falleth:
25 But the [m]word of the Lord abideth for ever.
And this is the [n]word of good tidings which was [o]preached unto you.
Footnotes
- 1 Peter 1:3 Or, God and the Father. See Rom. 15:6 margin.
- 1 Peter 1:6 Or, temptations
- 1 Peter 1:8 Greek glorified.
- 1 Peter 1:11 Greek unto.
- 1 Peter 1:12 Greek brought good tidings. Compare Mt. 11:5.
- 1 Peter 1:12 Greek in.
- 1 Peter 1:13 Greek is being brought.
- 1 Peter 1:15 Or, like the Holy One who called you
- 1 Peter 1:16 Lev. 11:44f; 19:2; 20:7.
- 1 Peter 1:22 Many ancient authorities read from a clean heart. Compare 1 Tim. 1:5.
- 1 Peter 1:23 Or, God who liveth. Compare Dan. 6:26.
- 1 Peter 1:24 Isa. 40:6ff.
- 1 Peter 1:25 Greek saying.
- 1 Peter 1:25 Greek saying.
- 1 Peter 1:25 See verse 12.
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