First Letter of Peter

who through him are believers in God, who raised him from the dead, and gave him glory; so that your faith and hope might be in God.

Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently:

having been born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which lives and remains forever.

For, "All flesh is like grass, And all of man's glory like the flower in the grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls;

But the Lord's word endures forever." This is the word of good news which was preached to you.

Putting away therefore all wickedness, all deceit, hypocrisies, envies, and all evil speaking,

as newborn babes, long for the pure milk of the Word, that you may grow thereby,

if indeed you have tasted that the Lord is gracious:

coming to him, a living stone, rejected indeed by men, but chosen by God, precious.

You also, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Because it is contained in Scripture, "Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect, precious: He who believes in him will not be put to shame."

For you therefore who believe is the honor, but for such as are disobedient, "The stone which the builders rejected, Has become the chief cornerstone,"

and, "A stone of stumbling, and a rock of offense." For they stumble at the word, being disobedient, whereunto also they were appointed.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God's own possession, that you may show forth the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:

who in time past were no people, but now are God's people, who had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

Beloved, I beg you as sojourners and pilgrims, to abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul;

having good behavior among the nations, so in that which they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they see, glorify God in the day of visitation.

Therefore subject yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake: whether to the king, as supreme;

or to governors, as sent by him for vengeance on evil-doers and for praise to those who do well.

For this is the will of God, that by well-doing you should put to silence the ignorance of foolish men: