1 Peter 2:4-10

New Living Translation

Living Stones for God’s House

⁴You are coming to Christ, who is the living cornerstone of God’s temple. He was rejected by people, but he was chosen by God for great honor.

⁵And you are living stones that God is building into his spiritual temple. What’s more, you are his holy priests.^[a] Through the mediation of Jesus Christ, you offer spiritual sacrifices that please God. ⁶As the Scriptures say,

“I am placing a cornerstone in Jerusalem,^[b]
chosen for great honor,
and anyone who trusts in him
will never be disgraced.”^[c]

⁷Yes, you who trust him recognize the honor God has given him.^[d] But for those who reject him,

“The stone that the builders rejected
has now become the cornerstone.”^[e]

⁸And,

“He is the stone that makes people stumble,
the rock that makes them fall.”^[f]

They stumble because they do not obey God’s word, and so they meet the fate that was planned for them.

⁹But you are not like that, for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests,^[g] a holy nation, God’s very own possession. As a result, you can show others the goodness of God, for he called you out of the darkness into his wonderful light.

¹⁰“Once you had no identity as a people;
now you are God’s people.
Once you received no mercy;
now you have received God’s mercy.”^[h]

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Footnotes

2:5 Greek holy priesthood.
2:6a Greek in Zion.
2:6b Isa 28:16 (Greek version).
2:7a Or Yes, for you who believe, there is honor.
2:7b Ps 118:22.
2:8 Isa 8:14.
2:9 Greek a royal priesthood.
2:10 Hos 1:6, 9; 2:23.

Romans 12:1-2

New Living Translation

A Living Sacrifice to God

12 And so, dear brothers and sisters,^[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.^[b] ²Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.

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