Chapter 1

1From Peter, an apostle sent by Jesus the Messiah. To God’s chosen people who live as temporary residents, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, the province of Asia, and Bithynia.

2God the Father chose you in keeping with what he knew beforehand. His Spirit has set you apart for God, so that you would obey Jesus the Messiah and be purified through the sprinkling of his blood. May God give you more and more kindness and peace.

3Praise God, the Father of our Lord Jesus the Messiah! Because of his great mercy, he caused us to be born anew. Through Jesus’ resurrection from the dead, God gave us a living hope

4and an inheritance that cannot decay, be stained, or fade. It is being kept in heaven for you.

5Through your faith, God’s power guards you for the salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of time.

6You rejoice in this, though for a little while now, if it must be so, many kinds of trials bring you grief.

7These trials test whether your faith is genuine. Faith is far more valuable than gold, which perishes even though fire is used to test it. When Jesus the Messiah is revealed, your tested faith will result in praise, glory, and honor.

8You love Jesus even though you have never seen him. Although you do not see him now, you trust him and rejoice with joy too deep for words and filled with glory,

9because you are receiving the goal of your faith: the salvation of your lives.

10The prophets who spoke beforehand about the gift God would give you searched and investigated carefully concerning this salvation.

11They kept trying to discover when it would happen and what that time would be like. The Spirit of the Messiah within them was pointing ahead to the sufferings that would come upon the Messiah and the glorious things that would follow.

12God revealed to them that they were serving not themselves but you. They spoke about the things now announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. Even angels long to bend down and look closely into these things.

13Therefore, prepare your minds for action and stay fully alert. Put all your hope in the generous gift that will be brought to you when Jesus the Messiah is revealed.

14Live as obedient children. Do not shape your lives around the desires you followed before, when you did not know better.

15Instead, just as the one who called you is holy, let every part of your conduct also be holy—set apart for God.

16For Scripture says, “You will be holy, because I am holy.”

17You call God your Father, but he judges each person’s actions without favoritism. So live with respectful fear during your time here as temporary residents.

18You know that you were bought free from the empty way of life handed down by your ancestors. The price was not something perishable like silver or gold.

19Instead, you were bought with the precious blood of the Messiah, who was like a lamb without defect or stain.

20God chose him before the creation of the world, but revealed him at the end of these times for your sake.

21Through him you trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory. Therefore, your faith and hope are placed in God.

22You have purified your lives by obeying the truth, so that you can love one another sincerely as members of one family. Love one another deeply from the heart.

23You have been born anew, not from seed that perishes but from seed that cannot perish, through God’s living and enduring message.

24For Scripture says, “All human life is like grass, and all its splendor is like a wildflower. The grass dries up, and the flower falls,

25but the Lord’s message remains forever.” This is the message that was announced to you as good news.