1Peter:1-5
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Peter ,
an Apostle of Jesus Christ :
To God '
s own people scattered over the earth ,
who are living as foreigners in Pontus ,
Galatia ,
Cappadocia ,
Roman Asia ,
and Bithynia ,
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chosen in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the Father ,
through the sanctifying work of the Spirit ,
with a view to their obedience and to their being sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ .
May more and more grace and peace be granted to you .
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Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ ,
who in His great mercy has begotten us anew to an ever-living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead ,
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to an inheritance imperishable ,
undefiled and unfading ,
which has been reserved in Heaven for you ,
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whom God in His power is guarding through faith for a salvation that even now stands ready for unveiling at the End of the Age .
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Rejoice triumphantly in the prospect of this ,
even if now ,
for a short time ,
you are compelled to sorrow amid various trials .
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The sorrow comes in order that the testing of your faith –
being more precious than that of gold ,
which perishes and yet is proved by fire –
may be found to result in praise and glory and honour at the re-appearing of Jesus Christ .
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Him you love ,
though your eyes have never looked on Him .
In Him ,
though at present you cannot see Him ,
you nevertheless trust ,
and triumph with a joy which is unspeakable and is crowned with glory ,
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while you are securing as the outcome of your faith the salvation of your souls .
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There were Prophets who earnestly inquired about that salvation ,
and closely searched into it –
even those who spoke beforehand of the grace which was to come to you .
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They were eager to know the time which the Spirit of Christ within them kept indicating ,
or the characteristics of that time ,
when they solemnly made known beforehand the sufferings that were to come upon Christ and the glories which would follow .
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To them it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you ,
when they foretold the very things which have now been openly declared to you by those who ,
having been taught by the Holy Spirit which had been sent from Heaven ,
brought you the Good News .
Angels long to stoop and look into these things .
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Therefore gird up your minds and fix your hopes calmly and unfalteringly upon the boon that is soon to be yours ,
at the re-appearing of Jesus Christ .
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And ,
since you delight in obedience ,
do not shape your lives by the cravings which used to dominate you in the time of your ignorance ,
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but –
in imitation of the holy One who has called you –
you also must be holy in all your habits of life .
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Because it stands written ,
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And if you address as your Father Him who judges impartially in accordance with each man '
s actions ,
then spend in fear the time of your stay here on earth ,
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knowing ,
as you do ,
that it was not with a ransom of perishable wealth ,
such as silver or gold ,
that you were set free from your frivolous habits of life which had been handed down to you from your forefathers ,
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but with the precious blood of Christ –
as of an unblemished and spotless lamb .
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He was pre-destined indeed to this work ,
even before the creation of the world ,
but has been plainly manifested in these last days for the sake of you who ,
through Him ,
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are faithful to God ,
who raised Him from among the dead and gave Him glory ,
so that your faith and hope are resting upon God .
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Now that ,
through your obedience to the truth ,
you have purified your souls for cherishing sincere brotherly love ,
you must love another heartily and fervently .
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For you have been begotten again by God '
s ever-living and enduring word from a germ not of perishable ,
but of imperishable life .
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And that means the Message which has been proclaimed among you in the Good News .
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Rid yourselves therefore of all ill-will and all deceitfulness ,
of insincerity and envy ,
and of all evil speaking .
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Thirst ,
like newly-born infants ,
for pure milk for the soul ,
that by it you may grow up to salvation ;
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if you have had any experience of the goodness of the Lord .
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Come to Him ,
the ever-living Stone ,
rejected indeed by men as worthless ,
but in God '
s esteem chosen and held in honour .
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And be yourselves also like living stones that are being built up into a spiritual house ,
to become a holy priesthood to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ .
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For it is contained in Scripture ,
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To you believers ,
therefore ,
that honour belongs ;
but for unbelievers –
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and Their foot strikes against it because they are disobedient to God '
s Message ,
and to this they were appointed .
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But you are a chosen race ,
a priesthood of kingly lineage ,
a holy nation ,
a people belonging specially to God ,
that you may make known the perfections of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light .
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Once you were not a people ,
but now you are the people of God .
Once you had not found mercy ,
but now you have .
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Dear friends ,
I entreat you as pilgrims and foreigners not to indulge the cravings of your lower natures :
for all such cravings wage war upon the soul .
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Live honourable lives among the Gentiles ,
in order that ,
although they now speak against you as evil-doers ,
they may yet witness your good conduct ,
and may glorify God on the day of reward and retribution .
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Submit ,
for the Lord '
s sake ,
to every authority set up by man ,
whether it be to the Emperor as supreme ruler ,
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or to provincial Governors as sent by him for the punishment of evil-doers and the encouragement of those who do what is right .
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For it is God '
s will that by doing what is right you should thus silence the ignorant talk of foolish persons .
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Be free men ,
and yet do not make your freedom an excuse for base conduct ,
but be God '
s bondservants .
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Honour every one .
Love the brotherhood ,
fear God ,
honour the Emperor .
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Household servants ,
be submissive to your masters ,
and show them the utmost respect –
not only if they are kind and thoughtful ,
but also if they are unreasonable .
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For it is an acceptable thing with God ,
if ,
from a sense of duty to Him ,
a man patiently submits to wrong ,
when treated unjustly .
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If you do wrong and receive a blow for it ,
what credit is there in your bearing it patiently ?
But if when you do right and suffer for it you bear it patiently ,
this is an acceptable thing with God .
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And it is to this you were called ;
because Christ also suffered on your behalf ,
leaving you an example so that you should follow in His steps .
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He never sinned ,
and no deceitful language was ever heard from His mouth .
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When He was reviled ,
He did not answer with reviling ;
when He suffered He uttered no threats ,
but left His wrongs in the hands of the righteous Judge .
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The burden of our sins He Himself carried in His own body to the Cross and bore it there ,
so that we ,
having died so far as our sins are concerned ,
may live righteous lives .
By His wounds yours have been healed .
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For you were straying like lost sheep ,
but now you have come back to the Shepherd and Protector of your souls .
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Married women ,
in the same way ,
be submissive to your husbands ,
so that even if some of them disbelieve the Message ,
they may ,
apart from the Message ,
be won over by the daily life of their wives ,
after watching your daily life –
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so full of reverence ,
and so blameless !
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Your adornment ought not to be a merely outward thing –
one of plaiting the hair ,
putting on jewelry ,
or wearing beautiful dresses .
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Instead of that ,
it should be a new nature within –
the imperishable ornament of a gentle and peaceful spirit ,
which is indeed precious in the sight of God .
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For in ancient times also this was the way the holy women who set their hopes upon God used to adorn themselves ,
being submissive to their husbands .
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Thus ,
for instance ,
Sarah obeyed Abraham ,
acknowledging his authority over her .
And you have become Sarah '
s children if you do what is right and permit nothing whatever to terrify you .
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Married men ,
in the same way ,
live with your wives with a clear recognition of the fact that they are weaker than you .
Yet ,
since you are heirs with them of God '
s free gift of Life ,
treat them with honour ;
so that your prayers may not be hindered .
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In conclusion ,
all of you should be of one mind ,
quick to sympathize ,
kind to the brethren ,
tenderhearted ,
lowly-minded ,
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not requiting evil with evil nor abuse with abuse ,
but ,
on the contrary ,
giving a blessing in return ,
because a blessing is what you have been called by God to inherit .
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For
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And who will be able to harm you ,
if you show yourselves zealous for that which is good ?
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But even if you suffer for righteousness '
sake ,
you are to be envied .
So do not be alarmed by their threats ,
nor troubled ;
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but in your hearts consecrate Christ as Lord ,
being always ready to make your defence to any one who asks from you a reason for the hope which you cherish .
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Yet argue modestly and cautiously ,
keeping your consciences free from guilt ,
so that ,
when you are spoken against ,
those who slander your good Christian lives may be put to shame .
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For it is better that you should suffer for doing right ,
if such be God '
s will ,
than for doing evil ;
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because Christ also once for all died for sins ,
the innocent One for the guilty many ,
in order to bring us to God .
He was put to death in the flesh ,
but made alive in the spirit ,
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in which He also went and proclaimed His Message to the spirits that were in prison ,
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who in ancient times had been disobedient ,
while God '
s longsuffering was patiently waiting in the days of Noah during the building of the Ark ,
in which a few persons –
eight in number –
were brought safely through the water .
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And ,
corresponding to that figure ,
the water of baptism now saves you –
not the washing off of material defilement ,
but the craving of a good conscience after God –
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ ,
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who is at God '
s right hand ,
having gone into Heaven ,
angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him .
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Since ,
then ,
Christ has suffered in the flesh ,
you also must arm yourselves with a determination to do the same –
because he who has suffered in the flesh has done with sin –
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that in future you may spend the rest of your earthly lives ,
governed not by human passions ,
but by the will of God .
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For you have given time enough in the past to the doing of the things which the Gentiles delight in –
pursuing ,
as you did ,
a course of habitual licence ,
debauchery ,
hard drinking ,
noisy revelry ,
drunkenness and unholy image-worship .
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At this they are astonished –
that you do not run into the same excess of profligacy as they do ;
and they speak abusively of you .
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But they will have to give account to Him who stands ready to pronounce judgement on the living and the dead .
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For it is with this end in view that the Good News was proclaimed even to some who were dead ,
that they may be judged ,
as all mankind will be judged ,
in the body ,
but may be living a godly life in the spirit .
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But the end of all things is now close at hand :
therefore be sober-minded and temperate ,
so that you may give yourselves to prayer .
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Above all continue to love one another fervently ,
for love throws a veil over a multitude of faults .
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Extend ungrudging hospitality towards one another .
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Whatever be the gifts which each has received ,
you must use them for one another '
s benefit ,
as good stewards of God '
s many-sided kindness .
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If any one preaches ,
let it be as uttering God '
s truth ;
if any one renders a service to others ,
let it be in the strength which God supplies ;
so that in everything glory may be given to God in the name of Jesus Christ ,
to whom belong the glory and the might to the Ages of the Ages .
Amen .
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Dear friends ,
do not be surprised at finding that that scorching flame of persecution is raging among you to put you to the test –
as though some surprising thing were accidentally happening to you .
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On the contrary ,
in the degree that you share in the sufferings of the Christ ,
rejoice ,
so that at the unveiling of His glory you may also rejoice with triumphant gladness .
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You are to be envied ,
if you are being reproached for bearing the name of Christ ;
for in that case the Spirit of glory –
even the Spirit of God –
is resting upon you .
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But let not one of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evil-doer ,
or as a spy upon other people '
s business .
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If ,
however ,
any one suffers because he is a Christian ,
let him not be ashamed ,
but let him glorify God for being permitted to bear that name .
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For the time has come for judgement to begin ,
and to begin at the house of God ;
and if it begins with us ,
what will be the end of those who reject God '
s Good News ?
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And if it is difficult even for a righteous man to be saved ,
what will become of irreligious men and sinners ?
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Therefore also ,
let those who are suffering in accordance with the will of God entrust their souls in well-doing to a faithful Creator .
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So I exhort the Elders among you –
I who am their fellow Elder and have been an eye-witness of the sufferings of the Christ ,
and am also a sharer in the glory which is soon to be revealed .
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Be shepherds of God '
s flock which is among you .
Exercise the oversight not reluctantly but eagerly ,
in accordance with the will of God ;
not for base gain but with cheerful minds ;
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not lording it over your Churches but proving yourselves patterns for the flock to imitate .
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And then ,
when the chief Shepherd appears ,
you will receive the never-withering wreath of glory .
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In the same way you younger men must submit to your elders ;
and all of you must gird yourselves with humility towards one another ,
for God sets Himself against the proud ,
but gives grace to the humble .
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Humble yourselves therefore beneath the mighty hand of God ,
so that at the right time He may set you on high .
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Throw the whole of your anxiety upon Him ,
because He Himself cares for you .
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Curb every passion ,
and be on the alert .
Your great accuser ,
the Devil ,
is going about like a roaring lion to see whom he can devour .
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Withstand him ,
firm in your faith ;
knowing that your brethren in other parts of the world are passing through just the same experiences .
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And God ,
the giver of all grace ,
who has called you to share His eternal glory ,
through Christ ,
after you have suffered for a short time ,
will Himself make you perfect ,
firm ,
and strong .
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To Him be all power unto the Ages of the Ages !
Amen .
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I send this short letter by Silas ,
our faithful brother –
for such I regard him –
in order to encourage you ,
and to bear witness that what I have told you is the true grace of God .
In it stand fast .
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The Church in Babylon ,
chosen like yourselves by God ,
sends greetings ,
and so does Mark my son .
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Greet one another with a kiss of love .
Peace be with all of you who are in Christ .