1 Peter 1:13--2:12

1:13 Therefore, get your minds ready for action ¹  by being fully sober, and set your hope ²  completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed. ³  1:14 Like obedient children, do not comply with ⁴  the evil urges you used to follow in your ignorance, ⁵  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.” ⁶  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 here ⁷  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 foreknown ⁸  before the foundation of the world but ⁹  was manifested in these last times ¹⁰  for your sake. 1:21 Through him you now trust ¹¹  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 purified ¹²  your souls by obeying the truth ¹³  in order to show sincere mutual love. ¹⁴  So ¹⁵  love one another earnestly from a pure heart. ¹⁶  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 flesh ¹⁷  is like grass

and all its glory like the flower of the grass; ¹⁸ 

the grass withers and the flower falls off,

1:25 but the word of the Lord ¹⁹  endures forever. ²⁰ 

And this is the word that was proclaimed to you.

2:1 So get rid of ²¹  all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 2:2 And ²²  yearn ²³  like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, ²⁴  so that by it you may grow up to ²⁵  salvation, ²⁶  2:3 if you have experienced ²⁷  the Lord’s kindness. ²⁸ 

A Living Stone, a Chosen People

2:4 So as you come to him, ²⁹  a living stone rejected by men but ³⁰  chosen and priceless ³¹  in God’s sight, 2:5 you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer ³²  spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 2:6 For it says ³³  in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, ³⁴  and whoever believes ³⁵  in him ³⁶  will never ³⁷  be put to shame.” ³⁸  2:7 So you who believe see ³⁹  his value, ⁴⁰  but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the ⁴¹  cornerstone, ⁴²  2:8 and a stumbling-stone ⁴³  and a rock to trip over. ⁴⁴  They stumble ⁴⁵  because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. ⁴⁶  2:9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues ⁴⁷  of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 2:10 You ⁴⁸  once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, ⁴⁹  but now you have received mercy.

2:11 Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, 2:12 and maintain good conduct ⁵⁰  among the non-Christians, ⁵¹  so that though ⁵²  they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears. ⁵³ 

[1:13]  ¹ tn 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.

[1:13]  ² tn Grk “having bound up…, being sober, set your hope…”

[1:13]  ³ tn Grk “at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (cf. v. 7).

[1:14]  ⁴ tn Or “do not be conformed to”; Grk “not being conformed to.”

[1:14]  ⁵ tn Grk “the former lusts in your ignorance.”

[1:16]  ⁶ sn A quotation from Lev 19:2.

[1:17]  ⁷ tn 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).

[1:20]  ⁸ tn 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.

[1:20]  ⁹ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two clauses more than can be easily expressed in English.

[1:20]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “at the last of the times.”

[1:21]  ¹¹ tc 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.

[1:22]  ¹² tn Grk “having purified,” as the preparation for the love described in the second half of the verse.

[1:22]  ¹³ tc 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).

[1:22]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “for sincere brotherly love.”

[1:22]  ¹⁵ tn 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.

[1:22]  ¹⁶ tc 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.

[1:24]  ¹⁷ sn Here all flesh is a metaphor for humanity – human beings as both frail and temporary.

[1:24]  ¹⁸ tn Or “a wildflower.”

[1:25]  ¹⁹ sn 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.

[1:25]  ²⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 40:6, 8.

[2:1]  ²¹ tn Or “put away.”

[2:2]  ²² tn Here “And” has been supplied in the translation to show clearly the connection between vv. 1 and 2.

[2:2]  ²³ tn Grk “getting rid of…yearn for.”

[2:2]  ²⁴ tn The word for spiritual in Greek is λογικός (logikos), which is a play on words with the reference in 1:23-25 to the living and enduring word (λόγος, logos) of God, through which they were born anew. This is a subtle indication that the nourishment for their growth must be the word of God.

[2:2]  ²⁵ tn Or “in, in regard to.” But the focus of “salvation” here, as in 1:5, 9, is the future deliverance of these who have been born anew and protected by God’s power.

[2:2]  ²⁶ tc The Byzantine text lacks εἰς σωτηρίαν (ei" swthrian, “to salvation”), while the words are found in the earliest and best witnesses (Ì⁷² א A B C K P Ψ 33 81 630 1241 1505 1739 al latt sy co). Not only is the longer reading superior externally, but since the notion of growing up [in]to salvation would have seemed theologically objectionable, it is easy to see why some scribes would omit it.

[2:3]  ²⁷ tn Grk “have tasted that the Lord is kind.”

[2:3]  ²⁸ sn A quotation from Ps 34:8.

[2:4]  ²⁹ tn Grk “to whom coming…you are built up…” as a continuation of the reference to the Lord in v. 3.

[2:4]  ³⁰ tn Greek emphasizes the contrast between these two phrases more than can be easily expressed in English.

[2:4]  ³¹ tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”

[2:5]  ³² tn Grk “unto a holy priesthood to offer.”

[2:6]  ³³ tn Grk “it contains,” “it stands.”

[2:6]  ³⁴ tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”

[2:6]  ³⁵ tn Grk “the one who believes.”

[2:6]  ³⁶ tn Grk either “in him” or “in it,” but the OT and NT uses personify the stone as the King, the Messiah whom God will establish in Jerusalem.

[2:6]  ³⁷ tn The negative (οὐ μή, ou mh) is emphatic: “will certainly not.”

[2:6]  ³⁸ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.

[2:7]  ³⁹ tn Grk “to you who believe is the value,” referring to their perception of the stone in contrast to those who reject (vv. 7b-8). But the expression may also be translated as “to you who believe is this honor,” referring to the lack of shame cited in v. 6b.

[2:7]  ⁴⁰ tn Grk “the value” or “the honor,” but the former is preferred since it comes from the same root as “priceless” in vv. 4, 6, and it is in contrast to the negative estimate of the stone by those who reject (vv. 7b-8).

[2:7]  ⁴¹ tn Grk “the head of the corner.”

[2:7]  ⁴² sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 (cf. Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11).

[2:8]  ⁴³ tn Grk “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense.” The latter phrase uses the term σκάνδαλον (skandalon), denoting an obstacle to faith, something that arouses anger and rejection.

[2:8]  ⁴⁴ sn A quotation from Isa 8:14.

[2:8]  ⁴⁵ tn Grk “who stumble,” referring to “those who do not believe” in vs. 7. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:8]  ⁴⁶ tn Grk “to which they were also destined.”

[2:9]  ⁴⁷ sn This verse contains various allusions and quotations from Exod 19:5-6; 23:22 (LXX); Isa 43:20-21; and Mal 3:17.

[2:10]  ⁴⁸ tn Grk “who,” continuing the description of the readers from vs. 9. Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation.

[2:10]  ⁴⁹ sn The quotations in v. 10 are from Hos 1:6, 9; 2:23.

[2:12]  ⁵⁰ tn Grk “keeping your conduct good.”

[2:12]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.

[2:12]  ⁵² tn Grk “in order that in what they malign you.”

[2:12]  ⁵³ tn Or “when he visits.” Grk “in the day of visitation,” denoting a time when God intervenes directly in human affairs, either for blessing (Luke 1:68, 78; 7:16; 19:44) or for judgment (Isa 10:3; Jer 6:15). This phrase may be a quotation from Isa 10:3, in which case judgment is in view here. But blessing seems to be the point, since part of the motive for good behavior is winning the non-Christian over to the faith (as in 3:1; also apparently in 3:15; cf. Matt 5:16).