1 Peter 2:1-12 - Chosen As Living Stones

¹ So get rid of all evil and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. ² And yearn like newborn infants for pure, spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up to salvation, ³ if you have experienced the Lord's kindness. ⁴ So as you come to him, a living stone rejected by men but chosen and priceless in God's sight, ⁵ 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. ⁶ For it says in scripture, "Look, I lay in Zion a stone, a chosen and priceless cornerstone, and whoever believes in him will never be put to shame."

⁷ So you who believe see his value, but for those who do not believe, the stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone,

⁸ and a stumbling-stone and a rock to trip over. They stumble because they disobey the word, as they were destined to do.

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 of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light. ¹⁰ You once were not a people, but now you are God's people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.

¹¹ Dear friends, I urge you as foreigners and exiles to keep away from fleshly desires that do battle against the soul, ¹² 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.