1 Peter 2

³¹Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, outcry and slander, along with every form of malice.

²¹Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and every expression of evil, and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save your souls.

¹¹Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of the law, but a judge of it.

¹⁰For, “Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech.

⁵Put to death, therefore, the components of your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires, and greed, which is idolatry.

⁶Because of these, the wrath of God is coming on the sons of disobedience.

³For at one time we too were foolish, disobedient, misled, and enslaved to all sorts of desires and pleasures—living in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another.

⁴But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared,

¹²Although by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to reteach you the basic principles of God’s word. You need milk, not solid food!

¹³For everyone who lives on milk is still an infant, inexperienced in the message of righteousness.

¹⁵Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

¹⁸But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.

¹Brothers, I could not address you as spiritual, but as worldly—as infants in Christ.

²I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for solid food. In fact, you are still not ready,

¹⁵Truly I tell you, anyone who does not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

²⁰Brothers, stop thinking like children. In regard to evil be infants, but in your thinking be mature.

⁸Taste and see that the Lord is good; blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him!

⁵who have tasted the goodness of the word of God and the powers of the coming age—

⁶and then have fallen away—to be restored to repentance, because they themselves are crucifying the Son of God all over again and subjecting Him to open shame.

⁵My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.

¹⁷How lovely they will be, and how beautiful! Grain will make the young men flourish, and new wine, the young women.

⁸Who is this King of Glory? The Lord strong and mighty, the Lord mighty in battle.

¹⁰Those who know Your name trust in You, for You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.

²²The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

²³This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

¹²Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

⁷To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

¹⁶So this is what the Lord God says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

¹⁷But Jesus looked directly at them and said, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone’?

¹⁸Everyone who falls on this stone will be broken to pieces, but he on whom it falls will be crushed.”

⁹See the stone I have set before Joshua; on that one stone are seven eyes. Behold, I will engrave on it an inscription, declares the Lord of Hosts, and I will remove the iniquity of this land in a single day.

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

²¹In Him the whole building is fitted together and grows into a holy temple in the Lord.

⁹But you are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, to proclaim the virtues of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

⁹For we are God’s fellow workers; you are God’s field, God’s building.

¹⁰You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

¹⁶Do you not know that you yourselves are God’s temple, and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?

⁶But you will be called the priests of the Lord; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches.

¹⁶So this is what the Lord God says: “See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, a sure foundation; the one who believes will never be shaken.

³²Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

³³as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

⁴As you come to Him, the living stone, rejected by men but chosen and precious in God’s sight,

²⁰built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the cornerstone.

⁴The cornerstone will come from Judah, the tent peg from him, as well as the battle bow and every ruler together.

¹¹It is just as the Scripture says: “Anyone who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

²²The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

²³This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.

¹¹This Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’

¹²Salvation exists in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”

¹⁰Have you never read this Scripture: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

¹¹This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?”

⁴²Jesus said to them, “Have you never read in the Scriptures: ‘The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is from the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes’?

⁸and, “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” They stumble because they disobey the word—and to this they were appointed.

⁷But whatever was gain to me I count as loss for the sake of Christ.

⁸More than that, I count all things as loss compared to the surpassing excellence of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ

¹⁴And He will be a sanctuary—but to both houses of Israel a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, to the dwellers of Jerusalem a trap and a snare.

²³but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles,

⁷To you who believe, then, this stone is precious. But to those who do not believe, “The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,”

³²Why not? Because their pursuit was not by faith, but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone,

³³as it is written: “See, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense; and the one who believes in Him will never be put to shame.”

²²What if God, intending to show His wrath and make His power known, bore with great patience the vessels of His wrath, prepared for destruction?

⁴For certain men have crept in among you unnoticed—ungodly ones who were designated long ago for condemnation. They turn the grace of our God into a license for immorality, and they deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ.

⁵Now if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, you will be My treasured possession out of all the nations—for the whole earth is Mine.

⁶And unto Me you shall be a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.’ These are the words that you are to speak to the Israelites.”

⁶For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for His prized possession out of all peoples on the face of the earth.

⁶who has made us to be a kingdom, priests to His God and Father—to Him be the glory and power forever and ever! Amen.

¹⁰You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign upon the earth.”

⁶But you will be called the priests of the Lord; they will speak of you as ministers of our God; you will feed on the wealth of nations, and you will boast in their riches.

⁹He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began.

²³And I will sow her as My own in the land, and I will have compassion on ‘No Compassion.’ I will say to those called ‘Not My People,’ ‘You are My people,’ and they will say, ‘You are my God.’”

⁹And the Lord said, “Name him Lo-ammi, for you are not My people, and I am not your God.

¹⁰Yet the number of the Israelites will be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or counted. And it will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’

¹⁶Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

²⁵As He says in Hosea: “I will call them ‘My People’ who are not My people, and I will call her ‘My Beloved’ who is not My beloved,”

²⁶and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”

⁶And if it is by grace, then it is no longer by works. Otherwise, grace would no longer be grace.

⁷What then? What Israel was seeking, it failed to obtain, but the elect did. The others were hardened,

¹⁹I ask instead, did Israel not understand? First, Moses says: “I will make you jealous by those who are not a nation; I will make you angry by a nation without understanding.”

¹⁵Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.

¹⁶For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh, the desires of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not from the Father but from the world.

²⁴Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

²Consequently, he does not live out his remaining time on earth for human passions, but for the will of God.

¹³All these people died in faith, without having received the things they were promised. However, they saw them and welcomed them from afar. And they acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.

¹³For if you live according to the flesh, you will die; but if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live.

¹⁵For we are foreigners and strangers in Your presence, as were all our forefathers. Our days on earth are like a shadow, without hope.

¹⁶keeping a clear conscience, so that those who slander you may be put to shame by your good behavior in Christ.

¹⁶In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.

⁷In everything, show yourself to be an example by doing good works. In your teaching show integrity, dignity,

⁸and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.

¹⁵so that you may be blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and perverse generation, in which you shine as lights in the world

¹⁶as you hold forth the word of life, in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor in vain.

²¹For we are taking great care to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of men.

¹²Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.

¹Remind the believers to submit to rulers and authorities, to be obedient and ready for every good work,

¹Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which is from God. The authorities that exist have been appointed by God.

²Consequently, whoever resists authority is opposing what God has set in place, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.

¹First of all, then, I urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgiving be offered for everyone—

²for kings and all those in authority—so that we may lead tranquil and quiet lives in all godliness and dignity.

²⁵So Jesus told them, “Give to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.”

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.

⁷Seek the prosperity of the city to which I have sent you as exiles. Pray to the Lord on its behalf, for if it prospers, you too will prosper.”

³For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Do you want to be unafraid of the one in authority? Then do what is right, and you will have his approval.

⁴For he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not carry the sword in vain. He is God’s servant, an agent of retribution to the wrongdoer.

¹⁷For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

⁸and wholesome speech that is above reproach, so that anyone who opposes us will be ashamed, having nothing bad to say about us.

¹²Conduct yourselves with such honor among the Gentiles that, though they slander you as evildoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us.

¹⁸Give thanks in every circumstance, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

²⁶But everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

³For it is God’s will that you should be holy: You must abstain from sexual immorality;

¹³For you, brothers, were called to freedom; but do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. Rather, serve one another in love.

²²But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the fruit you reap leads to holiness, and the outcome is eternal life.

¹⁸You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness.

²²For he who was a slave when he was called by the Lord is the Lord’s freedman. Conversely, he who was a free man when he was called is Christ’s slave.

²⁵But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.

¹It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not be encumbered once more by a yoke of slavery.

²¹My son, fear the Lord and the king, and do not associate with the rebellious.

¹⁰Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Outdo yourselves in honoring one another.

⁷Pay everyone what you owe him: taxes to whom taxes are due, revenue to whom revenue is due, respect to whom respect is due, honor to whom honor is due.

³Do nothing out of selfish ambition or empty pride, but in humility consider others more important than yourselves.

⁵Young men, in the same way, submit yourselves to your elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”

¹Continue in brotherly love.

⁹Slaves are to submit to their own masters in everything, to be well-pleasing, not argumentative,

¹⁰not stealing from them, but showing all good faith, so that in every respect they will adorn the teaching about God our Savior.

²²Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything, not only to please them while they are watching, but with sincerity of heart and fear of the Lord.

²³Whatever you do, work at it with your whole being, as for the Lord and not for men,

⁵Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear and sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.

⁶And do this not only to please them while they are watching, but as servants of Christ, doing the will of God from your heart.

¹All who are under the yoke of slavery should regard their masters as fully worthy of honor, so that God’s name and our teaching will not be discredited.

²Those who have believing masters should not show disrespect because they are brothers, but should serve them all the more, since those receiving their good service are beloved believers. Teach and encourage these principles.

³²for the Lord detests the perverse, but He is a friend to the upright.

²²But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,

¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”

¹⁵But in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give a defense to everyone who asks you the reason for the hope that is in you. But respond with gentleness and respect,

²⁰How is it to your credit if you are beaten for doing wrong and you endure it? But if you suffer for doing good and you endure it, this is commendable before God.

³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

¹⁰But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace to me was not in vain. No, I worked harder than all of them—yet not I, but the grace of God that was with me.

²¹But they will treat you like this because of My name, since they do not know the One who sent Me.

¹⁹For if anyone endures the pain of unjust suffering because he is conscious of God, this is to be commended.

¹⁷For it is better, if it is God’s will, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil.

¹⁰Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

¹¹Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.

¹⁴But even if you should suffer for what is right, you are blessed. “Do not fear what they fear; do not be shaken.”

¹⁴If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you.

¹⁵Indeed, none of you should suffer as a murderer or thief or wrongdoer, or even as a meddler.

³²If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them.

⁶Whoever claims to abide in Him must walk as Jesus walked.

²⁴Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.

¹⁵I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you.

²and walk in love, just as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us as a fragrant sacrificial offering to God.

¹⁶By this we know what love is: Jesus laid down His life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.

¹You are to imitate me, just as I imitate Christ.

⁹He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with a rich man in His death, although He had done no violence, nor was any deceit in His mouth.

¹⁵For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who was tempted in every way that we are, yet was without sin.

²¹God made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.

⁵But you know that Christ appeared to take away sins, and in Him there is no sin.

²⁶Such a high priest truly befits us—One who is holy, innocent, undefiled, set apart from sinners, and exalted above the heavens.

²⁷Unlike the other high priests, He does not need to offer daily sacrifices, first for His own sins and then for the sins of the people; He sacrificed for sin once for all when He offered up Himself.

⁵And no lie was found in their mouths; they are blameless.

⁷He was oppressed and afflicted, yet He did not open His mouth. He was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is silent, so He did not open His mouth.

¹⁹So then, those who suffer according to God’s will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do good.

³Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

⁵Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will do it.

²⁹And now, Lord, consider their threats, and enable Your servants to speak Your word with complete boldness,

¹²For this reason, even though I suffer as I do, I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day.

⁴Surely He took up our infirmities and carried our sorrows; yet we considered Him stricken, struck down by God, and afflicted.

⁵But He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.

¹⁷This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: “He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases.”

¹¹So you too must count yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus.

²down the middle of the main street of the city. On either side of the river stood a tree of life, bearing twelve kinds of fruit and yielding a fresh crop for each month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.

²⁹If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.

¹⁶Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.

⁶We all like sheep have gone astray, each one has turned to his own way; and the Lord has laid upon Him the iniquity of us all.

⁶My flock went astray on all the mountains and every high hill. They were scattered over the face of all the earth, with no one to search for them or seek them out.’

⁴“What man among you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the pasture and go after the one that is lost, until he finds it?

⁵And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders,

²⁸Keep watch over yourselves and the entire flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which He purchased with His own blood.

¹¹I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

¹²The hired hand is not the shepherd, and the sheep are not his own. When he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf pounces on them and scatters the flock.

¹¹He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes.