1 Peter 1

¹ Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those chosen by God who live as strangers, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia—

² chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling with his blood: grace and peace to you in full measure.

³ Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

⁴ into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil, or fade—kept in heaven for you,

⁵ who through faith are shielded by God's power until the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

⁶ In this you rejoice greatly, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials.

⁷ These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

⁸ Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with a joy beyond words, filled with glory,

⁹ for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰ Concerning this salvation, the prophets who spoke of the grace that was to come to you searched and inquired carefully,

¹¹ trying to find out the time and circumstances to which the Spirit of Christ in them was pointing when he foretold 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, when they spoke of the things now announced to you by those who preached the gospel to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things even angels long to look into.

¹³ So then, with minds ready for action and fully alert, set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

¹⁴ As obedient children, do not be shaped by the desires you had when you lived in ignorance.

¹⁵ But just as the one who called you is holy, so be holy in everything you do,

¹⁶ since it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy."

¹⁷ Since you call on a Father who judges each person's work impartially, live out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear.

¹⁸ For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors,

¹⁹ but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect.

²⁰ He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

²¹ Through him you trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

²² Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from a pure heart.

²³ For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.

²⁴ For,
"All people are like grass,
and all their glory like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,

²⁵ but the word of the Lord endures forever."
And this is the word that was preached to you.