1 This letter is from me, Peter. I am an apostle of Jesus Christ.
I am writing to you, God's own people that he has chosen. You are now living in many different places, in the regions called Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. [ a ] You are living in these foreign places as strangers. 2 God, the Father, already decided that you should be his people. God's Spirit has made you special people who would obey Jesus Christ. God chose you so that Jesus Christ's blood would make you really clean. [ b ]
I pray that God will help you and give you peace in your minds more and more.
3 We praise God, who is the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! He is very kind to us, so that he has given us new life. This is possible because God raised Jesus Christ to new life after his death. Now, as we live, we are sure that we will receive good things from God. 4 We wait to receive all the good things that he has prepared for us. Nobody can ever destroy those things. Nothing can spoil them. They will never become old or less beautiful. God is keeping those things in heaven for you. 5 God is using his great power to keep you safe, because you trust him. He will continue to keep you safe until the last day, when Christ will return. Then you will know that God has saved you completely from sin and from death.
6 All this causes you to be very happy, even when you have troubles. For a short time now, different kinds of troubles may make you sad. 7 The purpose of these troubles is to show whether you really trust God. When you believe in Jesus, that is more valuable even than gold. People put gold into a hot fire to see if it is really good. And even gold will come to an end one day. But if you continue to trust God in your troubles, he will be very happy. On the day when Jesus Christ returns and appears to everyone, God will praise you. He will say that you have done well. That will be great!
8 You have never seen Jesus, but still you love him. You do not see him now, but you believe in him. As a result, you are very happy. There are no words to describe how happy you are. 9 You are happy now because God is saving you from sin. You believe in Jesus, and you know that God saves you because of that. [ c ]
10 A long time ago, God's prophets spoke about this. They said that God would be very kind to you, his people. They studied carefully to learn how God would save people. 11 They wanted to know when God's special Messiah would come and who he would be. Christ's Spirit showed those prophets that the Messiah would receive much trouble and pain. After that, God would show how great the Messiah is. 12 God showed his prophets that his messages about these things were not really to help them. Instead, God sent his message to the prophets to help you. That message is the good news about Jesus Christ which you have now heard. God sent his Holy Spirit from heaven to help people to tell the good news to you. Even the angels would like to understand more about these things.
13 So now, prepare your minds, so that you are ready to live in a good way. Think clearly about how God helps you. Always remember that God will be very kind to you when Jesus Christ comes again. 14 Obey God, like good children who obey their father. Before you knew the true message about Christ, you very much wanted to do bad things. But now you should not agree to live in that bad way. 15 God has chosen you to be his own people. He is completely good. So you must be completely good too, in the way that you live. 16 In the Bible God says this: ‘You must be completely good, because I am completely good.’ [ d ]
17 God knows what each person has done, and he judges each one for those things. He is always fair when he decides about people. He is never kinder to one person than he is to another person. When you pray to God, you call him ‘Father’. So then, always respect him, while you live as strangers here in the world. 18 Your ancestors lived in a way that did not make them really happy. That is the way that you learned to live as well. But now God has saved you from that way of life. You know that he has bought you for himself. He did not buy you with things that do not continue for ever, like silver or gold. 19 Instead, he bought you with the very valuable blood of Christ, who died as a sacrifice for our sins. [ e ] He died like a lamb that is completely good and has nothing wrong with it. [ f ]
20 Before the world began, God had already chosen Christ. But now, during these last days of the world, God has shown Christ to people. God did that so that he could help you. 21 Yes, it is because of Christ that you now believe in God. God raised Christ, so that he became alive again after his death. He did that to show everyone that Christ is great. That is why you believe in God. You trust him that he will do good things for you.
22 You have obeyed God's true message. As a result, you have become clean inside, and now you can really love other believers. So continue to love each other very well, with honest thoughts. 23 You now have a new life! It is not like a human life that quickly comes to an end. It is a new life that will never spoil. You received it because you believed God's message. That message continues for ever and it does not change. 24 The Bible says:
‘All people are like grass.
They may seem beautiful for a short time,
like flowers that grow in the fields.
But grass soon becomes dry and it dies.
Flowers soon fall to the ground.
25 But the Lord God's message will continue for ever.’
That message is the good news about Jesus Christ, which people have taught you.
1 Greetings from Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ.
To God’s chosen people who are away from their homes—people scattered all over the areas of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia. 2 God planned long ago to choose you and to make you his holy people, which is the Spirit’s work. God wanted you to obey him and to be made clean by the blood sacrifice [ a ] of Jesus Christ.
I pray that you will enjoy more and more of God’s grace and peace.
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God has great mercy, and because of his mercy he gave us a new life. This new life brings us a living hope through Jesus Christ’s resurrection from death. 4 Now we wait to receive the blessings God has for his children. These blessings are kept for you in heaven. They cannot be ruined or be destroyed or lose their beauty.
5 God’s power protects you through your faith, and it keeps you safe until your salvation comes. That salvation is ready to be given to you at the end of time. 6 I know the thought of that is exciting, even if you must suffer through different kinds of troubles for a short time now. 7 These troubles test your faith and prove that it is pure. And such faith is worth more than gold. Gold can be proved to be pure by fire, but gold will ruin. When your faith is proven to be pure, the result will be praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ comes.
8 You have not seen Christ, but still you love him. You can’t see him now, but you believe in him. You are filled with a wonderful and heavenly joy that cannot be explained. 9 Your faith has a goal, and you are reaching that goal—your salvation.
10 The prophets studied carefully and tried to learn about this salvation. They spoke about the grace that was coming to you. 11 The Spirit of Christ was in those prophets. And the Spirit was telling about the sufferings that would happen to Christ and about the glory that would come after those sufferings. The prophets tried to learn about what the Spirit was showing them—when it would happen and what the world would be like at that time.
12 It was made clear to them that their service was not for themselves. They were serving you when they told about the things you have now heard. You heard them from those who told you the Good News with the help of the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even the angels would like very much to know more about these things you were told.
13 So prepare your minds for service. With complete self-control put all your hope in the grace that will be yours when Jesus Christ comes. 14 In the past you did not have the understanding you have now, so you did the evil things you wanted to do. But now you are children of God, so you should obey him and not live the way you did before. 15 Be holy in everything you do, just as God is holy. He is the one who chose you. 16 In the Scriptures God says, “Be holy, because I am holy.” [ b ]
17 You pray to God and call him Father, but he will judge everyone the same way—by what they do. So while you are visiting here on earth, you should live with respect for God. 18 You know that in the past the way you were living was useless. It was a way of life you learned from those who lived before you. But you were saved from that way of living. You were bought, but not with things that ruin like gold or silver. 19 You were bought with the precious blood of Christ’s death. He was a pure and perfect sacrificial Lamb. 20 Christ was chosen before the world was made, but he was shown to the world in these last times for you. 21 You believe in God through Christ. God is the one who raised him from death and gave honor to him. So your faith and your hope are in God.
22 You have made yourselves pure by obeying the truth. Now you can have true love for your brothers and sisters. So love each other deeply—with all your heart. 23 You have been born again. This new life did not come from something that dies. It came from something that cannot die. You were born again through God’s life-giving message that lasts forever. 24 The Scriptures say,
“Our lives are like the grass of spring,
and any glory we enjoy is like the beauty of a wildflower.
The grass dries up and dies,
and the flower falls to the ground.
25 But the word of the Lord lasts forever.” ( A )
And that word is the Good News that was told to you.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2 Elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through sanctification of the Spirit, unto obedience and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: Grace unto you, and peace, be multiplied.
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
4 To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
5 Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
6 Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
7 That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:
8 Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory:
9 Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.
10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.
13 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;
14 As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance:
15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;
16 Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.
17 And if ye call on the Father, who without respect of persons judgeth according to every man's work, pass the time of your sojourning here in fear:
18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.
22 Seeing ye have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit unto unfeigned love of the brethren, see that ye love one another with a pure heart fervently:
23 Being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which liveth and abideth for ever.
24 For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:
25 But the word of the Lord endureth for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.
1 ( A ) Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ,
To those who reside as ( B ) strangers, ( C ) scattered throughout ( D ) Pontus, ( E ) Galatia, ( F ) Cappadocia, ( G ) Asia, and ( H ) Bithynia, ( I ) who are chosen 2 according to the ( J ) foreknowledge of God the Father, ( K ) by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, [ a ] to ( L ) obey Jesus Christ and be ( M ) sprinkled with His blood: ( N ) May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
3 ( O ) Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who ( P ) according to His great mercy ( Q ) has caused us to be born again to ( R ) a living hope through the ( S ) resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to obtain an ( T ) inheritance which is imperishable, undefiled, and ( U ) will not fade away, ( V ) reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are ( W ) protected by the power of God ( X ) through faith for ( Y ) a salvation ready ( Z ) to be revealed in the last time. 6 ( AA ) In this you greatly rejoice, even though now ( AB ) for a little while, ( AC ) if necessary, you have been distressed by ( AD ) various [ b ] trials, 7 so that the [ c ] ( AE ) proof of your faith, being more precious than gold which perishes ( AF ) though tested by fire, ( AG ) may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at ( AH ) the revelation of Jesus Christ; 8 and ( AI ) though you have not seen Him, you ( AJ ) love Him, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and [ d ] full of glory, 9 obtaining as ( AK ) the outcome of your faith, the salvation of [ e ] your souls.
10 ( AL ) As to this salvation, the prophets who ( AM ) prophesied of the ( AN ) grace that would come to you made careful searches and inquiries, 11 [ f ] seeking to know what person or time ( AO ) the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating as He ( AP ) predicted the sufferings of Christ and the glories [ g ] to follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves, but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who ( AQ ) preached the gospel to you by ( AR ) the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things into which ( AS ) angels long to [ h ] look.
13 Therefore, [ i ] ( AT ) prepare your minds for action, [ j ] ( AU ) keep sober in spirit , set your ( AV ) hope completely on the ( AW ) grace to be brought to you at ( AX ) the revelation of Jesus Christ. 14 As [ k ] ( AY ) obedient children, do not [ l ] ( AZ ) be conformed to the former lusts which were yours in your ( BA ) ignorance, 15 but [ m ] ( BB ) like the Holy One who called you, [ n ] ( BC ) be holy yourselves also ( BD ) in all your behavior; 16 because it is written: “ ( BE ) You shall be holy, for I am holy .”
17 If you ( BF ) address as Father the One who ( BG ) impartially ( BH ) judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves ( BI ) in fear during the time of your ( BJ ) stay on earth ; 18 knowing that you were not [ o ] ( BK ) redeemed with perishable things like silver or gold from your ( BL ) futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, 19 but with precious ( BM ) blood, as of a ( BN ) lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ. 20 For He was ( BO ) foreknown before ( BP ) the foundation of the world, but has ( BQ ) appeared [ p ] in these last times ( BR ) for the sake of you 21 who through Him are ( BS ) believers in God, who raised Him from the dead and ( BT ) gave Him glory, so that your faith and ( BU ) hope are in God.
22 Since you have ( BV ) purified your souls ( BW ) in obedience to the truth for a ( BX ) sincere love of the brothers and sisters, fervently love one another from [ q ] the heart, 23 for you have been ( BY ) born again ( BZ ) not of seed which is perishable, but imperishable, that is , through the living and enduring ( CA ) word of God. 24 For,
“ ( CB ) All flesh is like grass ,
And all its glory is like the flower of grass .
The grass withers ,
And the flower falls off ,
25 ( CC ) But the word of the Lord endures forever .”
And this is ( CD ) the word which was [ r ] preached to you.
1 Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, ( A )
To God’s elect, ( B ) exiles ( C ) scattered ( D ) throughout the provinces of Pontus, ( E ) Galatia, ( F ) Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia, ( G ) 2 who have been chosen according to the foreknowledge ( H ) of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, ( I ) to be obedient ( J ) to Jesus Christ and sprinkled with his blood: ( K )
Grace and peace be yours in abundance. ( L )
3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! ( M ) In his great mercy ( N ) he has given us new birth ( O ) into a living hope ( P ) through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, ( Q ) 4 and into an inheritance ( R ) that can never perish, spoil or fade. ( S ) This inheritance is kept in heaven for you, ( T ) 5 who through faith are shielded by God’s power ( U ) until the coming of the salvation ( V ) that is ready to be revealed ( W ) in the last time. 6 In all this you greatly rejoice, ( X ) though now for a little while ( Y ) you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. ( Z ) 7 These have come so that the proven genuineness ( AA ) of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire ( AB ) —may result in praise, glory and honor ( AC ) when Jesus Christ is revealed. ( AD ) 8 Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him ( AE ) and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, 9 for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls. ( AF )
10 Concerning this salvation, the prophets, who spoke ( AG ) of the grace that was to come to you, ( AH ) searched intently and with the greatest care, ( AI ) 11 trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ ( AJ ) in them was pointing when he predicted ( AK ) the sufferings of the Messiah and the glories that would follow. 12 It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you, ( AL ) when they spoke of the things that have now been told you by those who have preached the gospel to you ( AM ) by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. ( AN ) Even angels long to look into these things.
13 Therefore, with minds that are alert and fully sober, ( AO ) set your hope ( AP ) on the grace to be brought to you ( AQ ) when Jesus Christ is revealed at his coming. ( AR ) 14 As obedient ( AS ) children, do not conform ( AT ) to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. ( AU ) 15 But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; ( AV ) 16 for it is written: “Be holy, because I am holy.” [ a ] ( AW )
17 Since you call on a Father ( AX ) who judges each person’s work ( AY ) impartially, ( AZ ) live out your time as foreigners ( BA ) here in reverent fear. ( BB ) 18 For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed ( BC ) from the empty way of life ( BD ) handed down to you from your ancestors, 19 but with the precious blood ( BE ) of Christ, a lamb ( BF ) without blemish or defect. ( BG ) 20 He was chosen before the creation of the world, ( BH ) but was revealed in these last times ( BI ) for your sake. 21 Through him you believe in God, ( BJ ) who raised him from the dead ( BK ) and glorified him, ( BL ) and so your faith and hope ( BM ) are in God.
22 Now that you have purified ( BN ) yourselves by obeying ( BO ) the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, ( BP ) from the heart. [ b ] 23 For you have been born again, ( BQ ) not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, ( BR ) through the living and enduring word of God. ( BS ) 24 For,
“All people are like grass,
and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
25 but the word of the Lord endures forever.” [ c ] ( BT )
And this is the word that was preached to you.
