1Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to God’s chosen people who are scattered as foreigners in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,
2chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the Spirit’s work of making you holy, so that you might obey Jesus Christ and be cleansed by his blood. May grace and peace be given to you in abundance.
3Praise be to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! Because of his great mercy, he gave us new birth into a living hope through Jesus Christ’s resurrection from the dead.
4This new birth means we have an inheritance that can’t be ruined, stained, or fade away. This inheritance is kept safe in heaven for you.
5Through faith, God’s power protects you until the salvation that is ready to be shown at the end of time.
6You greatly rejoice in this, even though now for a little while, if it is necessary, you have been made to suffer in various trials.
7These trials prove your faith is genuine. This tested faith is more precious than gold, which can be destroyed, even though it is refined by fire. Your faith will result in praise, glory, and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.
8You love him even though you haven’t seen him. And even though you don’t see him now, you believe in him and rejoice with an amazing and glorious joy that words cannot express.
9You are receiving the outcome of your faith, which is the salvation of your souls.
10The prophets diligently searched and inquired about this salvation. They prophesied about the grace that would come to you.
11They tried to find out the timing and circumstances that the Spirit of Christ, present in them, was pointing to when he predicted Christ’s sufferings and the glories that would follow.
12It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves, but you, when they spoke these things. These things have now been announced to you by those who preached the Good News to you through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to look into these truths.
13So get your minds ready for action, be sober-minded, and put all your hope in the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.
14As obedient children, do not let your lives be shaped by the desires you used to have when you lived in ignorance.
15But just as the God who called you is holy, you should be holy in everything you do.
16Because it is written, "You must be holy, for I am holy."
17If you call on God as your Father, who judges everyone fairly based on their actions without favoritism, then live the rest of your time here on Earth as foreigners with respectful fear.
18You know that you were bought back, not with perishable things like silver or gold, from the useless way of life you inherited from your ancestors,
19but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without any flaws or imperfections.
20Christ was chosen by God before the creation of the world, but he was revealed in these last times for your benefit.
21Through him, you are believers in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.
22Now that you have purified your souls by obeying the truth through the Spirit, which leads to sincere love for your brothers and sisters, love one another deeply from the heart.
23You have been born again, and your new birth did not come from a seed that can decay, but from one that cannot decay. This happened through God’s living and never-ending word.
24As the Scripture says, “All people are like grass, and all their glory is like the flowers in the grass. The grass dries up, and its flowers fall off,
25but the word of the Lord lasts forever.” This is the Good News that was preached to you.