1 Peter
From Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Messiah, to the spiritual resident aliens of the Dispersion who are living in the provinces of Pontus, Galatia,
Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen
in the
foreknowledge of God who is the Father, through being made holy in the spirit, for the
purpose of obedience to Jesus Messiah and sprinkling with his blood:
Grace and peace be multiplied to you.
Blessed be the God and Father of our lord Jesus Messiah, who in His great mercy has caused us to be born again into a living hope through the
resurrection of Jesus Messiah from the dead.
That hope is an imperishable
and undefiled inheritance which will never fade away, now stored up for
you in heaven,
you who by the power of God are now being safeguarded
through faith for the salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
This hope
brings you joy, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have to
suffer various trials.
The point of the trials is the testing of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by
fire. The object is that your faith may result in praise, glory, and
honor for you at the revelation of Jesus Messiah.
You have not seen him,
but you love him. Although you do not see him now, yet you believe in him
and rejoice greatly with an unspeakable joy which is full of glory,
because you will receive the ultimate goal of your faith — the salvation of yourselves.
About this salvation, the prophets who prophesied the grace that would
come to you searched and investigated diligently.
They were seeking to
know what person or time the Messianic spirit in them was pointing to
when predicting the sufferings destined for Messiah, and the glories to come after.
To them it was revealed that they were serving not themselves but you in
these things, which have now been announced to you through those who preached the Gospel to you by the holy spirit sent from heaven — things
angels long to peer into.
So then, preparing your minds for action and being self-disciplined, focus all your hope on the grace which is going to be brought to you at the
revelation
of Jesus Messiah.
As obedient children, do not follow the
previous lusts which you had when you were in ignorance,
but like the Holy
One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your
behavior.
For it is written, “You are to be holy, because I am holy.”
If you call on Him as Father, the One who impartially judges each
person’s work, live your time as “resident aliens” in reverent
fear.
You know that you were redeemed from the useless way of life handed
down from your ancestors, not with perishable things like silver or gold,
but
with precious blood like that of a spotless and pure lamb, the blood of
Messiah.
He was foreknown before the foundation of the world; however, he was
revealed in these final times for your sake.
Through him you are believers in
God, who resurrected him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your
faith and hope are in God.
Seeing that you have purified yourselves by your obedience to the
truth for genuine brotherly love, so love one another from the heart
fervently.
You have been born again, not from perishable seed, but from
an imperishable seed — the Gospel-word of God, which is living and lasting.
For “All humanity is like grass, and all of their glory like wildflowers.
Grass withers and flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures
forever.” And this is the word which was preached as Gospel to you.
1 Peter