1 PETER, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the Chosen Ones of the scattered Jews in foreign lands who are living in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia \'97

2 chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father and made holy by the Spirit to obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with his blood: Grace be to you and peace be multiplied.

3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to his great mercy has given us a new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead \'97

4 a birth into an inheritance immortal, unstained and unfading, kept in heaven for you

5 who are guarded by the power of God through faith for the salvation which is ready to be revealed on the last day.

6 In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you are sorrowful in trials of many kinds,

7 so that your tested faith, much more precious than gold that perishes though tested by fire, may be found to your praise and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed,

8 whom you love though you have not seen him; in whom you have faith though now you do not see him, and you rejoice with unspeakable and glorious joy

9 while you receive the reward of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

10 Regarding this salvation the prophets who foretold the grace that was to come to you

11 inquired and searched, trying to find out what time, or what sort of time, the Spirit of Christ which was in them was disclosing when it witnessed beforehand regarding the sufferings of Christ and the glories to follow.

12 It was revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you, in these things which now have been announced to you through those who have told you the good news by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven \'97 things which angels earnestly long to look into.

13 Therefore brace up your minds, be calm and set your hope perfectly on the grace that is to be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

14 As obedient children, do not shape your lives by the passions that ruled you in the former days of ignorance,

15 but, like the Holy One who has called you, become yourselves holy in all your way of life,

16 for it is written, "You shall be holy because I am holy."

17 And if you call upon him as Father who impartially judges by each one's work, live out the time of your sojourn here in reverence,

18 for you know that you were not ransomed with perishable things, silver or gold, from your purposeless life handed down from your forefathers,

19 but by precious blood, as of a faultless, spotless lamb, the blood of Christ,

20 who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but was manifested at the end of time for your sake

21 who through him are faithful to God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

22 Now that you have made your souls holy by obedience to the truth for sincere brotherly love, you must love one another steadily from your hearts,

23 for you have been reborn, not from mortal seed but from immortal by the living and enduring word of God.

24 For "All flesh is like grass and all its glory is like the flower of the grass; the grass withers and the flower falls,

25 but the word of the Lord endures forever." And this is the word of good news that has been brought to you.