1 Peter 2
Worldwide English (New Testament)
2 So stop all the wrong things you do. Stop all the ways you cheat people. Stop fooling people. Stop being jealous. Stop saying wrong things about people.
2 Babies who have just been born want milk very much. In the same way, you should want God's word. That is like good milk. It will make you grow up so that you will then be fully saved.
3 You should want God's word if you have already tasted and know that the Lord is good.
4 Come to the Lord Jesus. He is like a living stone. People did not want to use it. But God chose it. It was worth very much to him.
5 You also are like living stones. You are being built into a temple, a holy place for God. You are to be holy priests there. You are to give sacrifices to God from your heart. God will accept them because of Jesus Christ.
6 The holy writings say, `Listen, I am placing a stone in Zion. It is the main stone of the house. I have chosen it and it is worth very much. Anyone who believes in him will not be ashamed.'
7 He is worth very much to you who believe in him. But some people do not believe in him. To them he is, `the stone that the men who were building would not use. But now it is the chief stone at the corner.'
8 And to them he is also, `a stone on which people will hit their feet, and a rock that will make them fall down.' They hit their feet on it, because they do not obey the word. It was planned that this would happen to them!
9 But you are a chosen people. You are priests to your king. You are a holy nation. You are God's very own people. All this is so that you will tell how good he is. He called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
10 At one time you were not God's people. But now you are God's people. At one time you did not know God's kindness. Now you do.
11 Dear brothers, you are people who do not belong to this world. You are like visitors who are on a journey. I beg you, do not do the things your body wants to do. Those things fight against your soul.
12 Live good lives among the people who do not believe. They may talk about you as if you do wrong things. But when they see the good things you do, they will praise God on the day he comes to help you.
13 Obey every officer of the government to please the Lord. Obey the king because he is over all.
14 Obey the rulers because they are sent by him. They are sent to punish those who do wrong things and to praise those who do good things.
15 That is what God wants you to do. He wants you to do good things. By doing good things, you will stop foolish people from saying wrong things about you. They say wrong things about you because they do not know you.
16 You are free people. But do not think, `I am free so I can do wrong things.' You are God's servants.
17 Respect all men. Love your Christian brothers. Fear God. Respect the king.
18 Servants, respect and obey your masters in all things. Obey not only those who are good to you. But also obey those who are hard on you.
19 Maybe a person is punished when he has done nothing wrong. If he takes these troubles to please God, he does a very good thing.
20 What praise will you have if you take a beating when you have done something wrong? But when you do right and are punished, if you take it quietly, God is pleased.
21 You have been called to do this because Christ also was punished for you. He showed you what you should do. So do as he did.
22 He did no wrong. And he told no lie.
23 When people said wrong things to him, he did not say wrong things to them. When he was punished, he did not say, `I will do something to you!' But he trusted in God who judges what is right.
24 Christ in his own body took the wrong things we have done to the cross. He did this so that we would stop our bad ways and live right. Because he was punished, you were healed.
25 Like lost sheep, you were going away from God. But now you have come back to the one who takes care of you and helps you.
1 Peter 2
New King James Version
Our Inheritance Through Christ’s Blood
2 Therefore, (A)laying aside all malice, all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and all evil speaking, 2 (B)as newborn babes, desire the pure (C)milk of the word, that you may grow [a]thereby, 3 if indeed you have (D)tasted that the Lord is gracious.
The Chosen Stone and His Chosen People(E)
4 Coming to Him as to a living stone, (F)rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God and precious, 5 you also, as living stones, are being built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 6 Therefore it is also contained in the Scripture,
(G)“Behold, I lay in Zion
A chief cornerstone, elect, precious,
And he who believes on Him will by no means be put to shame.”
7 Therefore, to you who believe, He is precious; but to those who [b]are disobedient,
(H)“The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief cornerstone,”
8 and
(I)“A stone of stumbling
And a rock of offense.”
(J)They stumble, being disobedient to the word, (K)to which they also were appointed.
9 But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of (L)darkness into His marvelous light; 10 (M)who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.
Living Before the World
11 Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts (N)which war against the soul, 12 (O)having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, (P)they may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation.
Submission to Government(Q)
13 (R)Therefore submit yourselves to every [c]ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake, whether to the king as supreme, 14 or to governors, as to those who are sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of those who do good. 15 For this is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men— 16 (S)as free, yet not (T)using liberty as a cloak for [d]vice, but as bondservants of God. 17 Honor all people. Love the brotherhood. Fear (U)God. Honor the king.
Submission to Masters(V)
18 (W)Servants, be submissive to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle, but also to the harsh. 19 For this is (X)commendable, if because of conscience toward God one endures grief, suffering wrongfully. 20 For (Y)what credit is it if, when you are beaten for your faults, you take it patiently? But when you do good and suffer, if you take it patiently, this is commendable before God. 21 For (Z)to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for [e]us, (AA)leaving [f]us an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 “Who(AB) committed no sin,
Nor was deceit found in His mouth”;
23 (AC)who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He suffered, He did not threaten, but (AD)committed Himself to Him who judges righteously; 24 (AE)who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, (AF)that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—(AG)by whose [g]stripes you were healed. 25 For (AH)you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned (AI)to the Shepherd and [h]Overseer of your souls.
Footnotes
- 1 Peter 2:2 NU adds up to salvation
- 1 Peter 2:7 NU disbelieve
- 1 Peter 2:13 institution
- 1 Peter 2:16 wickedness
- 1 Peter 2:21 NU you
- 1 Peter 2:21 NU, M you
- 1 Peter 2:24 wounds
- 1 Peter 2:25 Gr. Episkopos
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Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
