1 Peter 1
Common English Bible
Greeting
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To God’s chosen strangers in the world of the diaspora, who live in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.
2 God the Father chose you because of what he knew beforehand. He chose you through the Holy Spirit’s work of making you holy and because of the faithful obedience and sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
May God’s grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Thanksgiving
3 May the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ be blessed! On account of his vast mercy, he has given us new birth. You have been born anew into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. 4 You have a pure and enduring inheritance that cannot perish—an inheritance that is presently kept safe in heaven for you. 5 Through his faithfulness, you are guarded by God’s power so that you can receive the salvation he is ready to reveal in the last time.
6 You now rejoice in this hope, even if it’s necessary for you to be distressed for a short time by various trials. 7 This is necessary so that your faith may be found genuine. (Your faith is more valuable than gold, which will be destroyed even though it is itself tested by fire.) Your genuine faith will result in praise, glory, and honor for you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 8 Although you’ve never seen him, you love him. Even though you don’t see him now, you trust him and so rejoice with a glorious joy that is too much for words. 9 You are receiving the goal of your faith: your salvation.
10 The prophets, who long ago foretold the grace that you’ve received, searched and explored, inquiring carefully about this salvation. 11 They wondered what the Spirit of Christ within them was saying when he bore witness beforehand about the suffering that would happen to Christ and the glory that would follow. They wondered what sort of person or what sort of time they were speaking about. 12 It was revealed to them that in their search they were not serving themselves but you. These things, which even angels long to examine, have now been proclaimed to you by those who brought you the good news. They did this in the power of the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven.
Response of obedience
13 Therefore, once you have your minds ready for action and you are thinking clearly, place your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. 14 Don’t be conformed to your former desires, those that shaped you when you were ignorant. But, as obedient children, 15 you must be holy in every aspect of your lives, just as the one who called you is holy. 16 It is written, You will be holy, because I am holy.[a] 17 Since you call upon a Father who judges all people according to their actions without favoritism, you should conduct yourselves with reverence during the time of your dwelling in a strange land. 18 Live in this way, knowing that you were not liberated by perishable things like silver or gold from the empty lifestyle you inherited from your ancestors. 19 Instead, you were liberated by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a flawless, spotless lamb. 20 Christ was chosen before the creation of the world, but was only revealed at the end of time. This was done for you, 21 who through Christ are faithful to the God who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. So now, your faith and hope should rest in God.
22 As you set yourselves apart by your obedience to the truth so that you might have genuine affection for your fellow believers, love each other deeply and earnestly. 23 Do this because you have been given new birth—not from the type of seed that decays but from seed that doesn’t. This seed is God’s life-giving and enduring word. 24 Thus,
All human life on the earth is like grass,
and all human glory is like a flower in a field.
The grass dries up and its flower falls off,
25 but the Lord’s word endures forever.[b]
This is the word that was proclaimed to you as good news.
Footnotes
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.
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