Chapter 1

¹Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who are scattered as foreigners over Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, ²whom God the Father has chosen and predestined by the consecration of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ, and to be sprinkled with his blood; God bless you and give you perfect peace.

³Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has caused us to be born anew to a life of hope through Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead, ⁴and to an imperishable, unsullied, and unfading inheritance, which is kept safe for you in heaven, ⁵and you by God’s power are being protected through faith to receive a salvation that is now ready to be disclosed at the last time. ⁶Rejoice over this, although just now perhaps distressed by various trials; ⁷they are to show that your faith when tested is found to be more precious than gold, which though it is perishable is tested with fire, and they will bring you praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. ⁸You must love him, though you have not seen him, but since you believe in him though you do not now see him, rejoice with triumphant, unutterable joy ⁹to attain the goal of faith, the salvation of your souls.

¹⁰About this salvation the prophets who prophesied of the blessing that was destined for you made the most careful investigation, ¹¹trying to learn for what possible time the spirit of Christ within them in predicting the sufferings destined for Christ intended them and the glories that were to follow them. ¹²It was disclosed to them that they were serving not themselves but you in dealing with these things, which have now been told you by those who through the holy Spirit sent from heaven brought you the good news; things into which angels long to look!

¹³Therefore, prepare your minds for action, and with perfect calmness fix your hopes on the mercy that you are to experience when Jesus Christ is revealed. ¹⁴Like obedient children, do not adapt yourselves to the cravings you used to follow when you were ignorant, ¹⁵but like the holy Being who has called you, you must also prove holy in all your conduct, ¹⁶for the Scripture says,

“You must be holy,

Because I am holy.”

¹⁷And if you address him as Father who judges everyone impartially by what he does, you must live reverently all the time you stay here, ¹⁸for you know that you have not been ransomed with anything perishable like silver or gold, from the futile way of living in which you were brought up, ¹⁹but with precious blood, like that of an unblemished, spotless lamb, the blood of Christ, ²⁰who was predestined for this before the foundation of the world, but was revealed only at the end of the ages, ²¹for the sake of you who through him trust in God, who raised him from the dead and showed him honor; and so your faith and hope rest on God.

²²Now that by obeying the truth you have purified your souls for sincere love of the brotherhood, you must love one another intensely and heartily, ²³for you have been born anew from a germ not perishable, but imperishable, through the message of the living, everlasting God. ²⁴For

“All flesh is like grass,

And all its glory like the flower of the grass.

The grass withers,

And the flower fades,

²⁵But the word of the Lord will last forever,”

that is, the good news that has been brought to you.