1 Peter 2:4–6

A Living Stone, a Chosen People

2:4 So as you come to him,9 a living stone rejected by men but10 chosen and priceless11 in God’s sight, 2:5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer12 spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 2:6 For it says13 in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone,14 and whoever believes15 in him16 will never17 be put to shame.”18

9	tn Grk “to whom coming … you are built up …” as a continuation of the reference to the Lord in v. 3.
10	tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two phrases more than can be easily expressed in English.
11	tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”
12	tn Grk “unto a holy priesthood to offer.”
13	tn Grk “it contains,” “it stands.”
14	tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”
15	tn Grk “the one who believes.”
16	tn Grk either “in him” or “in it,” but the OT and NT uses personify the stone as the King, the Messiah whom God will establish in Jerusalem.
17	tn The negative (οὐ μή, ou mē) is emphatic: “will certainly not.”
18	sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.