1 Peter 2:4-12

A Living Stone, a Chosen People

2:4 So as you come to him, ¹  a living stone rejected by men but ²  chosen and priceless ³  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 ⁴  spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. 2:6 For it says ⁵  in scripture, “Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, ⁶  and whoever believes ⁷  in him ⁸  will never ⁹  be put to shame.” ¹⁰  2:7 So you who believe see ¹¹  his value, ¹²  but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the ¹³  cornerstone, ¹⁴  2:8 and a stumbling-stone ¹⁵  and a rock to trip over. ¹⁶  They stumble ¹⁷  because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do. ¹⁸  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 ¹⁹  of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. 2:10 You ²⁰  once were not a people, but now you are God’s people. You were shown no mercy, ²¹  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 ²²  among the non-Christians, ²³  so that though ²⁴  they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears. ²⁵ 

[2:4]  ¹ tn Grk “to whom coming…you are built up…” as a continuation of the reference to the Lord in v. 3.

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

[2:4]  ³ tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”

[2:5]  ⁴ tn Grk “unto a holy priesthood to offer.”

[2:6]  ⁵ tn Grk “it contains,” “it stands.”

[2:6]  ⁶ tn Grk “chosen, priceless.”

[2:6]  ⁷ tn Grk “the one who believes.”

[2:6]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ tn The negative (οὐ μή, ou mh) is emphatic: “will certainly not.”

[2:6]  ¹⁰ sn A quotation from Isa 28:16.

[2:7]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Grk “the head of the corner.”

[2:7]  ¹⁴ sn A quotation from Ps 118:22 (cf. Matt 21:42; Mark 12:10; Luke 20:17; Acts 4:11).

[2:8]  ¹⁵ 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]  ¹⁶ sn A quotation from Isa 8:14.

[2:8]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “to which they were also destined.”

[2:9]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ sn The quotations in v. 10 are from Hos 1:6, 9; 2:23.

[2:12]  ²² tn Grk “keeping your conduct good.”

[2:12]  ²³ tn Grk “the Gentiles,” used here of those who are not God’s people.

[2:12]  ²⁴ tn Grk “in order that in what they malign you.”

[2:12]  ²⁵ 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).