You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

They will face a reckoning before Jesus Christ who stands ready to judge the living and the dead.

So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God’s sight,

Now it was for this very purpose that the gospel was preached to those who are now dead, so that though they were judged in the flesh by human standards they may live spiritually by God’s standards.

you yourselves, as living stones, are built up as a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood and to offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we may cease from sinning and live for righteousness. By his wounds you were healed.