1 Peter 1

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the resident aliens of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are the chosen ones

²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, in holiness produced by the spirit for obedience and sprinkling with the blood of Jesus Christ: May grace and peace be multiplied to you.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has given us new birth to a living hope by means of the resurrection of Jesus Christ from among the dead,

⁴and to an inheritance that is imperishable and undefiled and unfading, which is being kept in heaven for you,

⁵the ones who, through their trust, are being guarded by the power of God for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end time of the age.

⁶You rejoice in this, even though now for a little while, you must suffer various trials,

⁷so that the tested genuineness of your trust—which is more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire—will be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

⁸Although you have not seen him, you love him; although you do not see him now but believe in him, you rejoice greatly with inexpressible and glorious joy,

⁹because you are attaining the goal of your trust—the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰Concerning this salvation, the prophets (who prophesied of the grace that would come to you) searched diligently for and made careful inquiry,

¹¹inquiring about what time or what sort of circumstance the spirit of Christ in them was indicating when it testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ and the glories that would come after them.

¹²It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves—but you—in the things that have now been announced to you by those who proclaimed the good news to you by the holy spirit sent from heaven, things into which angels long to look.

¹³Therefore, having prepared your mind for action and being clearheaded, set your hope fully on the grace that will be brought to you at the appearing of Jesus Christ.

¹⁴As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former desires you had in your ignorance,

¹⁵but as the one who called you is holy, you yourselves must also be holy in all your way of life,

¹⁶for it is written: Be holy, for I am holy.

¹⁷And since you call on him as Father, the one who judges impartially according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves in fear during the time of your sojourning.

¹⁸For you know that you were not redeemed from your pointless way of life—the life handed down from your fathers—by corruptible things such as silver or gold,

¹⁹but by the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot.

²⁰For he was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was revealed in these last times for your sake.

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

²²Now that you have purified your souls by your obedience to the truth so that you have sincere affection for God’s family, love one another fervently from a pure heart,

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

²⁴for “all flesh is like grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls,

²⁵but the word of the Lord endures forever.” And this is the word—the good news that was proclaimed to you.