The church in Babylon, chosen together with you, greets you, and so does Mark, my son.

So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.

And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation,

Through him you now trust in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.

But rejoice in the degree that you have shared in the sufferings of Christ, so that when his glory is revealed you may also rejoice and be glad.

Whoever speaks, let it be with God’s words. Whoever serves, do so with the strength that God supplies, so that in everything God will be glorified through Jesus Christ. To him belong the glory and the power forever and ever. Amen.

You have purified your souls by obeying the truth in order to show sincere mutual love. So love one another earnestly from a pure heart.

So, since Christ suffered in the flesh, you also arm yourselves with the same attitude, because the one who has suffered in the flesh has finished with sin,

For the culmination of all things is near. So be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of prayer.

So then let those who suffer according to the will of God entrust their souls to a faithful Creator as they do good.

Yet do it with courtesy and respect, keeping a good conscience, so that those who slander your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame when they accuse you.

So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,

So they are astonished when you do not rush with them into the same flood of wickedness, and they vilify you.

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

like Sarah who obeyed Abraham, calling him lord. You become her children when you do what is good and have no fear in doing so.

and maintain good conduct among the non-Christians, so that though they now malign you as wrongdoers, they may see your good deeds and glorify God when he appears.

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.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people of his own, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

So as your fellow elder and a witness of Christ’s sufferings and as one who shares in the glory that will be revealed, I urge the elders among you:

You have not seen him, but you love him. You do not see him now but you believe in him, and so you rejoice with an indescribable and glorious joy,