1 Peter 2:9-17

EasyEnglish Bible

⁹ But you are not like that. You are a special group of people that God has chosen. You serve God like priests who serve a King. You are his own holy people who belong to him. He has taken you out of the dark place of sin, and he has brought you into his great light. He has done all this so that you can tell people how great he is. ¹⁰ In past times, you were not people who knew God. But now you are God's people. In past times, God did not forgive you. But now he has been very kind to you and he has forgiven you.^[a]

¹¹ My friends, remember that you are really strangers in this world. You do not belong here. So I am telling you not to do the bad things that your bodies may want to do. Those bad things fight against what is good for your soul. ¹² You are living among people who do not know God. So be very careful that you always live in a good way. Sometimes these people may wrongly say that you do bad things. But if you continue to live in a good way, they will see that you really do good things. As a result, on the day when God comes as judge, they will give honour to him.

Obey people who have authority over you

¹³ Obey all people who have authority in this world. Obey them, because you are servants of the Lord Jesus. First of all, obey the king, who rules everyone. ¹⁴ Also obey the officers that serve the king. He has sent them to punish people who do bad things. And they praise people who do good things. ¹⁵ God wants you to do only what is good. Then silly people will not be able to say bad things against you. Those people do not really know what is true.

¹⁶ You are free people. But you are servants of God. So do not think, ‘Because I am free, I can do any bad thing that I want to do.’ ¹⁷ Respect all people. Love the believers as you would love your family. Obey God as your master. Respect the king.