Read the New Testament in 24 Weeks

Greeting

1 From Peter, an apostle of Yeshua Christ.

To God’s chosen people who are temporary residents in the world and are scattered throughout the provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. ² God the Father knew you long ago and chose you to live holy lives with the Spirit’s help so that you are obedient to Yeshua Christ and are sprinkled with his blood.

May good will^[a] and peace fill your lives!

Faith in Christ Brings You Joy

³ Praise the God and Father of our Lord Yeshua Christ! God has given us a new birth because of his great mercy. We have been born into a new life that has a confidence which is alive because Yeshua Christ has come back to life. ⁴ We have been born into a new life which has an inheritance that can’t be destroyed or corrupted and can’t fade away. That inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ⁵ since you are guarded by God’s power through faith for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

⁶ You are extremely happy about these things, even though you have to suffer different kinds of trouble for a little while now. ⁷ The purpose of these troubles is to test your faith as fire tests how genuine gold is. Your faith is more precious than gold, and by passing the test, it gives praise, glory, and honor to God. This will happen when Yeshua Christ appears again.

⁸ Although you have never seen Christ, you love him. You don’t see him now, but you believe in him. You are extremely happy with joy and praise that can hardly be expressed in words ⁹ as you obtain the salvation that is the goal of your faith.

¹⁰ The prophets carefully researched and investigated this salvation. Long ago they spoke about God’s kindness^[b] that would come to you. ¹¹ So they tried to find out what time or situation the Spirit of Christ kept referring to whenever he predicted Christ’s sufferings and the glory that would follow. ¹² God revealed to the prophets that the things they had spoken were not for their own benefit but for yours. What the prophets had spoken, the Holy Spirit, who was sent from heaven, has now made known to you by those who spread the Good News among you. These are things that even the angels want to look into.

Live Holy Lives

¹³ Therefore, your minds must be clear and ready for action. Place your confidence completely in what God’s kindness will bring you when Yeshua Christ appears again. ¹⁴ Because you are children who obey God, don’t live the kind of lives you once lived. Once you lived to satisfy your desires because you didn’t know any better. ¹⁵ But because the God who called you is holy you must be holy in every aspect of your life. ¹⁶ Scripture says, “Be holy, because I am holy.” ¹⁷ So if you call God your Father, live your time as temporary residents on earth in fear. He is the God who judges all people by what they have done, and he doesn’t play favorites. ¹⁸ Realize that you weren’t set free from the worthless life handed down to you from your ancestors by a payment of silver or gold which can be destroyed. ¹⁹ Rather, the payment that freed you was the precious blood of Christ, the lamb with no defects or imperfections. ²⁰ He is the lamb who was known long ago before the world existed, but for your good he became publicly known in the last period of time. ²¹ Through him you believe in God who brought Christ back to life and gave him glory. So your faith and confidence are in God.

Love Each Other

²² Love each other with a warm love that comes from the heart. After all, you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth. As a result you have a sincere love for each other. ²³ You have been born again, not from a seed that can be destroyed, but through God’s everlasting word that can’t be destroyed. That’s why Scripture says,

This word is the Good News that was told to you.

Live as God’s Chosen People

2 So get rid of every kind of evil, every kind of deception, hypocrisy, jealousy, and every kind of slander. ² Desire God’s pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation. ³ Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good!

⁴ You are coming to Christ, the living stone who was rejected by humans but was chosen as precious by God. ⁵ You come to him as living stones, a spiritual house that is being built into a holy priesthood. So offer spiritual sacrifices that God accepts through Yeshua Christ. ⁶ That is why Scripture says,

⁷ This honor belongs to those who believe. But to those who don’t believe:

The people tripped over the word because they refused to believe it. Therefore, this is how they ended up.

⁹ However, you are chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, people who belong to God. You were chosen to tell about the excellent qualities of God, who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ Once you were not God’s people, but now you are. Once you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy.

¹¹ Dear friends, since you are foreigners and temporary residents in the world, I’m encouraging you to keep away from the desires of your corrupt nature. These desires constantly attack you. ¹² Live decent lives among unbelievers. Then, although they ridicule you as if you were doing wrong while they are watching you do good things, they will praise God on the day he comes to help you.

Respect the Authority of Others

¹³ Place yourselves under the authority of human governments to please the Lord. Obey the emperor. He holds the highest position of authority. ¹⁴ Also obey governors. They are people the emperor has sent to punish those who do wrong and to praise those who do right. ¹⁵ God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing what is right. ¹⁶ Live as free people, but don’t hide behind your freedom when you do evil. Instead, use your freedom to serve God. ¹⁷ Honor everyone. Love your brothers and sisters in the faith. Fear God. Honor the emperor.

¹⁸ Slaves, place yourselves under the authority of your owners and show them complete respect. Obey not only those owners who are good and kind, but also those who are unfair. ¹⁹ God is pleased if a person is aware of him while enduring the pains of unjust suffering. ²⁰ What credit do you deserve if you endure a beating for doing something wrong? But if you endure suffering for doing something good, God is pleased with you.

²¹ God called you to endure suffering because Christ suffered for you. He left you an example so that you could follow in his footsteps. ²² Christ never committed any sin. He never spoke deceitfully. ²³ Christ never verbally abused those who verbally abused him. When he suffered, he didn’t make any threats but left everything to the one who judges fairly. ²⁴ Christ carried our sins in his body on the cross so that freed from our sins, we could live a life that has God’s approval. His wounds have healed you. ²⁵ You were like lost sheep. Now you have come back to the shepherd and bishop^[c] of your lives.

3 Wives, in a similar way, place yourselves under your husbands’ authority. Some husbands may not obey God’s word. Their wives could win these men for Christ by the way they live without saying anything. ² Their husbands would see how pure and reverent their lives are.

³ Wives must not let their beauty be something external. Beauty doesn’t come from hairstyles, gold jewelry, or clothes. ⁴ Rather, beauty is something internal that can’t be destroyed. Beauty expresses itself in a gentle and quiet attitude which God considers precious. ⁵ After all, this is how holy women who had confidence in God expressed their beauty in the past. They placed themselves under their husbands’ authority ⁶ as Sarah did. Sarah obeyed Abraham and spoke to him respectfully. You became Sarah’s daughters by not letting anything make you afraid to do good.

⁷ Husbands, in a similar way, live with your wives with understanding since they are weaker than you are. Honor your wives as those who share God’s life-giving kindness^[d] so that nothing will interfere with your prayers.