1 Peter 1:22–2:5

22 Now that you have purifiedn yourselves by obeyingo the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply,p from the heart.b 23 For you have been born again,q not of perishable seed, but of imperishable,r through the living and enduring word of God.s 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 t

And this is the word that was preached to you.

2 Therefore, rid yourselvesu of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slanderv of every kind. 2 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk,w so that by it you may grow upx in your salvation, 3 now that you have tasted that the Lord is good.y

The Living Stone and a Chosen People

4 As you come to him, the living Stonez—rejected by humans but chosen by Goda and precious to him—5 you also, like living stones, are being builtb into a spiritual housea c to be a holy priesthood,d offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.e