1 Peter 1:6-25

1:6 This brings you great joy,¹ although you may have to suffer² for a short time in various trials. 1:7 Such trials show the proven character of your faith,³ which is much more valuable than gold – gold that is tested by fire, even though it is passing away⁴ – and will bring praise⁵ and glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.⁶ 1:8 You⁷ have not seen him, but you love him. You⁸ do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice⁹ with an indescribable and glorious¹⁰ joy, 1:9 because you are attaining the goal of your faith – the salvation of your souls.

1:10 Concerning this salvation,¹¹ the prophets¹² who predicted the grace that would come to you¹³ searched and investigated carefully. 1:11 They probed¹⁴ into what person or time¹⁵ the Spirit of Christ within them was indicating when he testified beforehand about the sufferings appointed for Christ¹⁶ and his subsequent glory.¹⁷ 1:12 They were shown¹⁸ that they were serving not themselves but you, in regard to the things now announced to you through those who proclaimed the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven – things angels long to catch a glimpse of.

1:13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action¹⁹ by being fully sober, and set your hope²⁰ completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.²¹ 1:14 Like obedient children, do not comply with²² the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance,²³ 1:15 but, like the Holy One who called you, become holy yourselves in all of your conduct, 1:16 for it is written, “You shall be holy, because I am holy.”²⁴ 1:17 And if you address as Father the one who impartially judges according to each one’s work, live out the time of your temporary residence here²⁵ in reverence. 1:18 You know that from your empty way of life inherited from your ancestors you were ransomed – not by perishable things like silver or gold, 1:19 but by precious blood like that of an unblemished and spotless lamb, namely Christ. 1:20 He was foreknown²⁶ before the foundation of the world but²⁷ was manifested in these last times²⁸ for your sake. 1:21 Through him you now trust²⁹ in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

1:22 You have purified³⁰ your souls by obeying the truth³¹ in order to show sincere mutual love.³² So³³ love one another earnestly from a pure heart.³⁴ 1:23 You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God. 1:24 For

all flesh³⁵ is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of the grass;³⁶

the grass withers and the flower falls off,

1:25 but the word of the Lord³⁷ endures forever.³⁸

And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

¹tn Grk “in which you exult.”

²tc ‡ The oldest and best witnesses lack the verb (א* B, along with 1505 pc), but most mss (Ì⁷² א² A C P Ψ 048 33 1739 Ï) have ἐστίν here (estin, “[if] it is [necessary]”). The verb looks to be an explanatory gloss. But if no verb is present, this opens up the time frame in the author’s mind even more, since the conditional particle for both the first class condition and the fourth class condition is εἰ (ei). That may well be what was on the author’s mind, as evidenced by some of his other allusions to suffering in this little letter (3:14, 17). NA²⁷ has the verb in brackets, indicating doubts as to its authenticity.

³tn Or “genuineness,” the result of testing. On the other hand it may denote the process of testing: “that the proving of your faith…may bring praise.”

⁴tn Grk “which is passing away but is tested by fire,” describing gold in a lesser-to-greater comparison with faith’s proven character.

⁵tn Grk “that the testing of your faith…may be found unto praise,” showing the result of the trials mentioned in v. 6.

⁶tn Grk “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (cf. v. 13).

⁷tn Grk “whom not having seen, you love.” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁸tn Grk “in whom not now seeing…” Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

⁹tn Grk “in whom not now seeing but believing, you exult.” The participles have been translated as finite verbs due to requirements of contemporary English style.

¹⁰tn Grk “glorified.”

¹¹tn Grk “about which salvation.”

¹²sn Prophets refers to the OT prophets.

¹³tn Grk “who prophesied about the grace that is to/for you.”

¹⁴tn Grk “probing.” The participle continues the sentence from v. 10 but has been translated as an indicative for English style.

¹⁵tn Or “time or circumstances,” focusing not on the person but on the timing and circumstances of the fulfillment.

¹⁶tn Grk “the sufferings unto Christ,” i.e., sufferings directed toward him, what he was destined to suffer.

¹⁷tn Grk “the glories after these things.”

¹⁸tn Grk “to whom [pl.] it was revealed.”

¹⁹tn Grk “binding up the loins of your mind,” a figure of speech drawn from the Middle Eastern practice of gathering up long robes around the waist to prepare for work or action.

²⁰tn Grk “having bound up…, being sober, set your hope…”

²¹tn Grk “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (cf. v. 7).

²²tn Or “do not be conformed to”; Grk “not being conformed to.”

²³tn Grk “the former lusts in your ignorance.”

²⁴sn A quotation from Lev 19:2.

²⁵tn Grk “the time of your sojourn,” picturing the Christian’s life in this world as a temporary stay in a foreign country (cf. 1:1).

²⁶tn Grk “who was foreknown,” describing Christ in v. 19. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

²⁷tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

²⁸tn Grk “at the last of the times.”

²⁹tc Although there may be only a slight difference in translation, the term translated as “trust” is the adjective πιστούς (pistous). This is neither as common nor as clear as the verb πιστεύω (pisteuw, “believe, trust”). Consequently, most mss have the present participle πιστεύοντας (pisteuonta"; Ì⁷² א C P Ψ 1739 Ï), or the aorist participle πιστεύσαντες (pisteusante"; 33 pc), while A B pc vg have the adjective. Thus, πιστούς is to be preferred. In the NT the adjective is routinely taken passively in the sense of “faithful” (BDAG 820 s.v. πιστός 1). That may be part of the force here as well: “you are now faithful to God,” although the primary force in this context seems to be that of trusting. Nevertheless, it is difficult to separate faith from faithfulness in NT descriptions of Christians’ dependence on God.

³⁰tn Grk “having purified,” as the preparation for the love described in the second half of the verse.

³¹tc Most later mss (P Ï) have διὰ πνεύματος (dia pneumato", “through the spirit”) after ἀληθείας (ajlhqeia", “truth”), while the words are lacking in a broad spectrum of early and important witnesses (Ì⁷² א A B C Ψ 33 81 323 945 1241 1739 al vg sy co). On external grounds, the shorter reading cannot be easily explained if it were not original. The longer reading is clearly secondary, added to show more strongly God’s part in man’s obedience to the truth. But the addition ignores the force that the author gives to “purified” and ruins the balance between v. 22 and v. 23 (for in v. 23 the emphasis is on God’s part; here, on man’s part).

³²tn Grk “for sincere brotherly love.”

³³tn Verses 22-23 are a single sentence in the Greek text. To improve clarity (and because contemporary English tends to use shorter sentences) these verses have been divided into three sentences in the translation. In addition, “So” has been supplied at the beginning of the second English sentence (v. 22b) to indicate the relationship with the preceding statement.

³⁴tc A few mss (A B 1852 pc) lack καθαρᾶς (kaqaras, “pure”) and read simply καρδίας (kardias, “from the heart”), but there is excellent ms support (Ì⁷² א* C P Ψ 33 1739 Ï co) for the word. The omission may have been accidental. In the uncial script (kaqaras kardias) an accidental omission could have happened via homoioteleuton or homoioarcton. καθαρᾶς should be considered original.

³⁵sn Here all flesh is a metaphor for humanity – human beings as both frail and temporary.

³⁶tn Or “a wildflower.”

³⁷sn The word of the Lord is a technical expression in OT literature, often referring to a divine prophetic utterance (e.g., Gen 15:1, Isa 1:10, Jonah 1:1). In the NT it occurs 15 times: 3 times as ῥῆμα τοῦ κυρίου (rJhma tou kuriou; here and in Luke 22:61, Acts 11:16) and 12 times as λόγος τοῦ κυρίου (logo" tou kuriou; Acts 8:25; 13:44, 48, 49; 15:35, 36; 16:32; 19:10, 20; 1 Thess 1:8, 4:15; 2 Thess 3:1). As in the OT, this phrase focuses on the prophetic nature and divine origin of what has been said.

³⁸sn A quotation from Isa 40:6, 8.