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1 Peter 1
New Living Translation

Greetings from Peter

1 This letter is from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.

I am writing to God’s chosen people who are living as foreigners in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia.[a] 2 God the Father knew you and chose you long ago, and his Spirit has made you holy. As a result, you have obeyed him and have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus Christ.

May God give you more and more grace and peace.

The Hope of Eternal Life

3 All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, 4 and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. 5 And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see.

6 So be truly glad.[b] There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. 7 These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world.

8 You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. 9 The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

10 This salvation was something even the prophets wanted to know more about when they prophesied about this gracious salvation prepared for you. 11 They wondered what time or situation the Spirit of Christ within them was talking about when he told them in advance about Christ’s suffering and his great glory afterward.

12 They were told that their messages were not for themselves, but for you. And now this Good News has been announced to you by those who preached in the power of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. It is all so wonderful that even the angels are eagerly watching these things happen.

A Call to Holy Living

13 So prepare your minds for action and exercise self-control. Put all your hope in the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world. 14 So you must live as God’s obedient children. Don’t slip back into your old ways of living to satisfy your own desires. You didn’t know any better then. 15 But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God who chose you is holy. 16 For the Scriptures say, “You must be holy because I am holy.”[c]

17 And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time here as “temporary residents.” 18 For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver, which lose their value. 19 It was the precious blood of Christ, the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. 20 God chose him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days he has been revealed for your sake.

21 Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because he raised Christ from the dead and gave him great glory.

22 You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters.[d] Love each other deeply with all your heart.[e]

23 For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal, living word of God. 24 As the Scriptures say,

“People are like grass;
    their beauty is like a flower in the field.
The grass withers and the flower fades.
25     But the word of the Lord remains forever.”[f]

And that word is the Good News that was preached to you.

Footnotes

  1. 1:1 Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia were Roman provinces in what is now Turkey.
  2. 1:6 Or So you are truly glad.
  3. 1:16 Lev 11:44-45; 19:2; 20:7.
  4. 1:22a Greek must have brotherly love.
  5. 1:22b Some manuscripts read with a pure heart.
  6. 1:24-25 Isa 40:6-8.
Close ISV

1 Peter 1
International Standard Version

Greetings

1 From:[a] Peter, an apostle of Jesus, the Messiah.[b]

To: The exiles of the Dispersion[c] in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, 2 the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah,[d] and to be sprinkled with his blood.

May grace and peace be yours in abundance!

Our Hope and Joy are in the Messiah

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah![e] Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah,[f] from the dead 4 and to an inheritance kept in heaven for you that can’t be destroyed, corrupted, or changed. 5 Through faith you are being protected by God’s power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era. 6 You greatly rejoice in this, even though you have to suffer various kinds of trials for a little while, 7 so that your genuine faith, which is more valuable than gold that perishes when tested by fire, may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus, the Messiah,[g] is revealed.

8 Though you have not seen[h] him, you love him. And even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy, 9 because you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Even the prophets, who prophesied about the grace that was to be yours, carefully researched and investigated this salvation. 11 They tried to find out what era or specific time the Spirit of the Messiah[i] in them kept referring to when he predicted the sufferings of the Messiah[j] and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

Be Holy

13 Therefore, prepare your minds for action, keep a clear head, and set your hope completely on the grace to be given you when Jesus, the Messiah,[k] is revealed. 14 As obedient children, do not be shaped by the desires that used to influence you when you were ignorant. 15 Instead, be holy in every aspect of your life, just as the one who called you is holy. 16 For it is written, “You must be holy, because I am holy.”[l]

17 If you call “Father” the one who judges everyone impartially according to what they have done, you must live in reverent fear as long as you are strangers in a strange land. 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things like silver or gold that you have been ransomed from the worthless way of life handed down to you by your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood of the Messiah,[m] like that of a lamb without blemish or defect. 20 On the one hand, he was foreknown before the creation[n] of the world, but on the other hand, he was revealed at the end of time for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

Love One Another

22 Now that you have obeyed the truth[o] and have purified your souls to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart. 23 For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish—by the living and everlasting word of God.[p] 24 For

“All human life[q] is like grass,
    and all its glory is like a flower in the grass.
The grass dries up and the flower drops off,
25 but the word of the Lord[r] lasts forever.”[s]

Now this word is the good news that was announced to you.

Footnotes

  1. 1 Peter 1:1 The Gk. lacks From
  2. 1 Peter 1:1 Or Christ
  3. 1 Peter 1:1 Or Diaspora; i.e. the Jewish communities outside the land of Israel
  4. 1 Peter 1:2 Or Christ
  5. 1 Peter 1:3 Or Christ
  6. 1 Peter 1:3 Or Christ
  7. 1 Peter 1:7 Or Christ
  8. 1 Peter 1:8 Other mss. read known
  9. 1 Peter 1:11 Or Christ
  10. 1 Peter 1:11 Or Christ
  11. 1 Peter 1:13 Or Christ
  12. 1 Peter 1:16 Cf. Lev 11:44-45; Lev 19:2
  13. 1 Peter 1:19 Or Christ
  14. 1 Peter 1:20 Or foundation
  15. 1 Peter 1:22 Other mss. read the truth through the Spirit
  16. 1 Peter 1:23 Or by the word of the living and everlasting God
  17. 1 Peter 1:24 Lit. all flesh
  18. 1 Peter 1:25 MT source citation reads Lord
  19. 1 Peter 1:25 Cf. Isa 40:6-8
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.


International Standard Version (ISV)

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