1 T his letter is from Peter, a missionary of Jesus Christ. I am writing to those who were taken away from their homeland and are living in the countries of Pontus and Galatia and Cappadocia and Asia and Bithynia.

¶ Peter, apostle of Jesus, the Christ, to the strangers scattered in Pontus, in Galatia, in Cappadocia, in Asia, and in Bithynia,

2 Y ou were chosen by God the Father long ago. He knew you were to become His children. You were set apart for holy living by the Holy Spirit. May you obey Jesus Christ and be made clean by His blood. May you be full of His loving-favor and peace.

chosen (according to the foreknowledge of God the Father) in sanctification of the Spirit, to obey and be sprinkled with the blood of Jesus, the Christ, Grace and peace, be multiplied unto you.

3 L et us thank the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It was through His loving-kindness that we were born again to a new life and have a hope that never dies. This hope is ours because Jesus was raised from the dead.

¶ Praised be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Christ, who according to his great mercy has begotten us again unto a living hope by the resurrection of Jesus, the Christ, from the dead,

4 W e will receive the great things that we have been promised. They are being kept safe in heaven for us. They are pure and will not pass away. They will never be lost.

unto the incorruptible inheritance that cannot be defiled and that does not fade away, conserved in the heavens for you,

5 Y ou are being kept by the power of God because you put your trust in Him and you will be saved from the punishment of sin at the end of the world.

who are kept in the virtue of God by faith, to attain unto the saving health which is made ready to be manifested in the last time.

6 W ith this hope you can be happy even if you need to have sorrow and all kinds of tests for awhile.

¶ In which ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are afflicted in diverse temptations,

7 T hese tests have come to prove your faith and to show that it is good. Gold, which can be destroyed, is tested by fire. Your faith is worth much more than gold and it must be tested also. Then your faith will bring thanks and shining-greatness and honor to Jesus Christ when He comes again.

that the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold (which perishes, nevertheless it is tried with fire), might be found unto praise and glory and honour when Jesus, the Christ, is made manifest;

8 Y ou have never seen Him but you love Him. You cannot see Him now but you are putting your trust in Him. And you have joy so great that words cannot tell about it.

whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though at present ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory;

9 Y ou will get what your faith is looking for, which is to be saved from the punishment of sin.

receiving the end of your faith, even the saving health of your souls.

10 T he early preachers tried to find out how to be saved. They told of the loving-favor that would come to you.

¶ Of which saving health the prophets, (who prophesied of the grace that was to come in you) have enquired and searched diligently;

11 T he early preachers wondered at what time or to what person this would happen. The Spirit of Christ in them was talking to them and told them to write about how Christ would suffer and about His shining-greatness later on.

searching when and in what point of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, which announced beforehand the afflictions that were to come upon the Christ, and the glory that should follow them.

12 T hey knew these things would not happen during the time they lived but while you are living many years later. These are the very things that were told to you by those who preached the Good News. The Holy Spirit Who was sent from heaven gave them power and they told of things that even the angels would like to know about. Holy Living

Unto whom it was revealed that not unto themselves, but unto us they did administer the things, which are now announced unto you by those that have preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent down from heaven, which things the angels desire to look into.

13 G et your minds ready for good use. Keep awake. Set your hope now and forever on the loving-favor to be given you when Jesus Christ comes again.

¶ Therefore, having the loins of your understanding girded with temperance, wait perfectly in the grace that is presented unto you when Jesus, the Christ, is manifested unto you,

14 B e like children who obey. Do not desire to sin like you used to when you did not know any better.

as obedient sons, not conforming yourselves with the former desires that you had before in your ignorance,

15 B e holy in every part of your life. Be like the Holy One Who chose you.

but as he who has called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

16 T he Holy Writings say, “You must be holy, for I am holy.”

for it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

17 T he Father is the One Who judges you by what you do. He does not respect one person more than another. If you call Him Father, be sure you honor Him with love and fear all the days of your life here on earth.

And if ye invoke as Father, he who without respect of persons judges according to the work of each one, converse in fear the entire time of your sojourning here,

18 Y ou know you were not bought and made free from sin by paying gold or silver which comes to an end. And you know you were not saved from the punishment of sin by the way of life that you were given from your early fathers. That way of life was worth nothing.

knowing that ye have been ransomed from your vain conversation (which you received from your fathers), not with corruptible things like silver and gold,

19 T he blood of Christ saved you. This blood is of great worth and no amount of money can buy it. Christ was given as a lamb without sin and without spot.

but with the precious blood of the Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without contamination,

20 L ong before the world was made, God chose Christ to be given to you in these last days.

already ordained from before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for love of you,

21 B ecause of Christ, you have put your trust in God. He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great honor. So now your faith and hope are in God. The Living Word

who by him do believe God, who raised him up from the dead and has given him glory: that your faith and hope might be in God.

22 Y ou have made your souls pure by obeying the truth through the Holy Spirit. This has given you a true love for the Christians. Let it be a true love from the heart.

Having purified your souls in the obedience of the truth, by the Spirit, in unfeigned brotherly love, love one another with a pure heart fervently,

23 Y ou have been given a new birth. It was from a seed that cannot die. This new life is from the Word of God which lives forever.

being born again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides for ever.

24 A ll people are like grass. Their greatness is like the flowers. The grass dries up and the flowers fall off.

¶ For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withers, and its flower falls away,

25 B ut the Word of the Lord will last forever. That Word is the Good News which was preached to you.

but the word of the Lord endures for ever. And this is the word which by the gospel is preached unto you.