¹⁶ Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and through grace gave us eternal comfort and good hope,

¹⁶ “For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.^(A)

² through whom we have obtained access^[a] to this grace in which we stand, and we^[b] boast in our hope of sharing the glory of God.^{(A) 3} And not only that, but we^[c] also boast in our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance,^{(B) 4} and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, ⁵ and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.^(C)

A Living Hope

³ Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead^{(A) 4} and into an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, ⁵ who are being protected by the power of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.^{(B) 6} In this you rejoice,^[a] even if now for a little while you have had to suffer various trials,^{(C) 7} so that the genuineness of your faith—being more precious than gold that, though perishable, is tested by fire—may be found to result in praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.^{(D) 8} Although you have not seen^[b] 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,^(E)

⁴ But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared,^{(A) 5} he saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we had done, but according to his mercy, through the water^[a] of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.^{(B) 6} This Spirit he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, ⁷ so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.^(C)

² in the hope of eternal life that God, who never lies, promised before the ages began^(A)—

¹¹ Now may our God and Father himself and our Lord Jesus direct our way to you.

²⁴ For in^[a] hope we were saved. Now hope that is seen is not hope, for who hopes for what one already sees? ²⁵ But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience.

⁵ and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

To him who loves us and freed^[a] us from our sins by his blood