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Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, To God’s elect, exiles scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia,
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who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, to be obedient to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: Grace and peace be yours in abundance.
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Praise to God for a Living Hope
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
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and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade. This inheritance is kept in heaven for you,
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who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time.
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In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.
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These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
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Be Holy
Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, set your hope on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming.
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But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do;
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for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.”
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Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and glorified him, and so your faith and hope are in God.
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For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.
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For, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers of the field; the grass withers and the flowers fall,
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but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word that was preached to you.
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Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.
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now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.
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The Living Stone and a Chosen People
As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—
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you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
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For in Scripture it says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame.”
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Now to you who believe, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”
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and, “A stone that causes people to stumble and a rock that makes them fall.” They stumble because they disobey the message—which is also what they were destined for.
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But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s special possession, that you may declare the praises of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light.
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Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.
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Living Godly Lives in a Pagan Society
Dear friends, I urge you, as foreigners and exiles, to abstain from sinful desires, which wage war against your soul.
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Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
