1 Peter 2:4–25

⁴Coming to Him, a living stone—rejected by men but chosen and valuable to God— ⁵you yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house for a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God ^gthrough Jesus Christ. ⁶For it is contained in Scripture:

Look! I lay a stone in Zion, ^h

a chosen and honored ⁱ cornerstone, ^jk

and the one who believes in Him

will never be put to shame! ^lmn

⁷So honor will come to you who believe, but for the unbelieving,

The stone that the builders rejected—

this One has become the cornerstone, ^op

⁸and

A stone to stumble over, ^q

and a rock to trip over. ^rst

They stumble because they disobey the message; they were destined ^ufor this.

⁹But you are a chosen race, ^vwxa royal priesthood, ^yz

a holy nation, ^aba people for His possession, ^cd

so that you may proclaim the praises ^efg

of the One who called you out of darkness

into His marvelous light. ^h

¹⁰Once you were not a people,

but now you are God’s people;

you had not received mercy, ⁱ

but now you have received mercy.

A Call to Good Works

¹¹Dear friends, I urge you as strangers and temporary residents ^jto abstain ^kfrom fleshly ^ldesires that war against you. ^mn12Conduct ^oyourselves honorably among the Gentiles, ^pso that in a case where they speak against you as those who do what is evil, they will, by observing your good works, glorify God on the day of visitation. ^qr

¹³Submit ^sto every human authority ^tbecause of the Lord, whether to the Emperor ^uas the supreme authority ^v14or to governors as those sent out by him to punish those who do what is evil and to praise those who do what is good. ¹⁵For it is God’s will ^wthat you silence the ignorance ^xof foolish people by doing good. ¹⁶As God’s slaves, ^ylive as free people, but don’t use your freedom as a way to conceal evil. ^z17Honor everyone. Love ^athe brotherhood. ^bFear God. ^cHonor the Emperor. ^d

Submission of Slaves to Masters

¹⁸Household slaves, submit with all fear ^eto your masters, ^fnot only to the good and gentle but also to the cruel. ^gh19For it brings favor ⁱif, mindful of God’s will, ^jksomeone endures grief from suffering unjustly. ²⁰For what credit is there if you sin and are punished, and you endure it? But when you do what is good and suffer, ^lif you endure it, this brings favor with God.

²¹For you were called to this,

because Christ also suffered ^mfor you,

leaving you an example, ⁿ

so that you should follow ^oin His steps.

²²He did not commit sin, ^p

and no deceit ^qwas found in His mouth; ^rs

²³when He was reviled,

He did not revile in return;

when He was suffering,

He did not threaten

but entrusted Himself to the One who judges ^tjustly.

²⁴He Himself bore our sins ^u

in His body ^von the tree, ^w

so that, having died to sins, ^x

we might live for righteousness; ^y

you have been healed by His wounds. ^za

²⁵For you were like sheep going astray, ^bc

but you have now returned

to the Shepherd ^dand Guardian ^eof your souls.