1 Peter 2–5

2ND CHAPTER

Live as God’s Chosen People

¹So get rid of every kind of evil, every kind of deception, hypocrisy, jealousy, and every kind of slander. ²Desire God’s pure word as newborn babies desire milk. Then you will grow in your salvation. ³Certainly you have tasted that the Lord is good! 

⁴You are coming to Christ, the living stone who was rejected by humans but was chosen as precious by God. ⁵You 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 Jesus Christ. ⁶That is why Scripture says, 

“I am laying a chosen and precious cornerstone in Zion, 

and the person who believes in him 

will never be ashamed.” 

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

“The stone that the builders rejected 

has become the cornerstone, 

⁸a stone that people trip over, 

a large rock that people find offensive.” 

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

⁹However, 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. ¹⁰Once you were not God’s people, but now you are. Once you were not shown mercy, but now you have been shown mercy. 

¹¹Dear 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. ¹²Live 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

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

¹⁸Slaves, 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. ¹⁹God is pleased if a person is aware of him while enduring the pains of unjust suffering. ²⁰What 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. 

²¹God called you to endure suffering because Christ suffered for you. He left you an example so that you could follow in his footsteps. ²²Christ never committed any sin. He never spoke deceitfully. ²³Christ 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. ²⁴Christ 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. ²⁵You were like lost sheep. Now you have come back to the shepherd and bishopof your lives. 

3RD CHAPTER

¹Wives, 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. ²Their husbands would see how pure and reverent their lives are. 

³Wives must not let their beauty be something external. Beauty doesn’t come from hairstyles, gold jewelry, or clothes. ⁴Rather, beauty is something internal that can’t be destroyed. Beauty expresses itself in a gentle and quiet attitude which God considers precious. ⁵After all, this is how holy women who had confidence in God expressed their beauty in the past. They placed themselves under their husbands’ authority ⁶as 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. 

⁷Husbands, 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^aso that nothing will interfere with your prayers. 

Dedicate Your Lives to Jesus

⁸Finally, everyone must live in harmony, be sympathetic, love each other, have compassion, and be humble. ⁹Don’t pay people back with evil for the evil they do to you, or ridicule those who ridicule you. Instead, bless them, because you were called to inherit a blessing. 

¹⁰“People who want to live a full life and enjoy good days 

must keep their tongues from saying evil things, 

and their lips from speaking deceitful things. 

¹¹They must turn away from evil and do good. 

They must seek peace and pursue it. 

¹²The Lord’s eyes are on those who do what he approves. 

His ears hear their prayer. 

The Lord confronts those who do evil.” 

¹³Who will harm you if you are devoted to doing what is good? ¹⁴But even if you suffer for doing what God approves, you are blessed. Don’t be afraid of those who want to harm you. Don’t get upset. ¹⁵But dedicate your lives to Christ as Lord. Always be ready to defend your confidence ⸤in God⸥ when anyone asks you to explain it. However, make your defense with gentleness and respect. ¹⁶Keep your conscience clear. Then those who treat the good Christian life you live with contempt will feel ashamed that they have ridiculed you. ¹⁷After all, if it is God’s will, it’s better to suffer for doing good than for doing wrong. 

¹⁸This is true because Christ suffered for our sins once. He was an innocent person, but he suffered for guilty people so that he could bring you to God. His body was put to death, but he was brought to life through his spirit. ¹⁹In it he also went to proclaim his victory to the spirits kept in prison. ²⁰They are like those who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah when God waited patiently while Noah built the ship. In this ship a few people—eight in all—were saved by water. ²¹Baptism, which is like that water, now saves you. Baptism doesn’t save by removing dirt from the body. Rather, baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience. It saves you through Jesus Christ, who came back from death to life. ²²Now Christ has gone to heaven where he holds the honored position—the one next to God the Father on the throne. Angels, rulers, and powers have been placed under his authority. 

4TH CHAPTER

¹Since Christ has suffered physically, take the same attitude that he had. (A person who has suffered physically no longer sins.) ²That way you won’t be guided by sinful human desires as you live the rest of your lives on earth. Instead, you will be guided by what God wants you to do. ³You spent enough time in the past doing what unbelievers like to do. You were promiscuous, had sinful desires, got drunk, went to wild parties, and took part in the forbidden worship of false gods. ⁴Unbelievers insult you now because they are surprised that you no longer join them in the same excesses of wild living. ⁵They will give an account to the one who is ready to judge the living and the dead. ⁶After all, the Good News was told to people like that, although they are now dead. It was told to them so that they could be judged like humans in their earthly lives and live like God in their spiritual lives. 

⁷The end of everything is near. Therefore, practice self-control, and keep your minds clear so that you can pray. ⁸Above all, love each other warmly, because love covers many sins. ⁹Welcome each other as guests without complaining. ¹⁰Each of you as a good manager must use the gift that God has given you to serve others. ¹¹Whoever speaks must speak God’s words. Whoever serves must serve with the strength God supplies so that in every way God receives glory through Jesus Christ. Glory and power belong to Jesus Christ forever and ever! Amen. 

Share Christ’s Sufferings

¹²Dear friends, don’t be surprised by the fiery troubles that are coming in order to test you. Don’t feel as though something strange is happening to you, ¹³but be happy as you share Christ’s sufferings. Then you will also be full of joy when he appears again in his glory. ¹⁴If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed because the Spirit of glory—the Spirit of God—is resting on you. 

¹⁵If you suffer, you shouldn’t suffer for being a murderer, thief, criminal, or troublemaker. ¹⁶If you suffer for being a Christian, don’t feel ashamed, but praise God for being called that name. ¹⁷The time has come for the judgment to begin, and it will begin with God’s family. If it starts with us, what will be the end for those who refuse to obey the Good News of God? ¹⁸If it’s hard for the person who has God’s approval to be saved, what will happen to the godless sinner? ¹⁹Those who suffer because that is God’s will for them must entrust themselves to a faithful creator and continue to do what is good. 

5TH CHAPTER

Instructions for Spiritual Leaders

¹I appeal to your spiritual leaders.^aI make this appeal as a spiritual leader who also witnessed Christ’s sufferings and will share in the glory that will be revealed. ²Be shepherds over the flock God has entrusted to you. Watch over it as God does: Don’t do this because you have to, but because you want to. Don’t do it out of greed, but out of a desire to serve. ³Don’t be rulers over the people entrusted to you, but be examples for the flock to follow. ⁴Then, when the chief shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away. 

Instructions for Christians

⁵Young people, in a similar way, place yourselves under the authority of spiritual leaders. 

Furthermore, all of you must serve each other with humility, because God opposes the arrogant…