as He who called you is holy, so you must be holy too in all your conduct ??16 for it is written, You shall be holy because I am holy.

And as you call upon a Father who judges everyone impartially by what he has done, be reverent in your conduct while you sojourn here below;

Now you believe, you hold him 'precious,' but as for the unbelieving ??the very stone the builders rejected is now the cornerstone,

Beloved, as sojourners and exiles I appeal to you to abstain from the passions of the flesh that wage war upon the soul.

Conduct yourselves properly before pagans; so that for all their slander of you as bad characters, they may come to glorify God when you are put upon your trial, by what they see of your good deeds.

Submit for the Lord's sake to any human authority; submit to the emperor as supreme,

and to governors as deputed by him for the punishment of wrongdoers and the encouragement of honest people ??15 for it is the will of God that by your honest lives you should silence the ignorant charges of foolish persons.

Servants, be submissive to your masters with perfect respect, not simply to those who are kind and reasonable but to the surly as well ??19 for it is a merit when from a sense of God one bears the pain of unjust suffering.

In the same way you husbands must be considerate in living with your wives, since they are the weaker sex; you must honour them as heirs equally with yourselves of the grace of Life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.

but reverence Christ as Lord in your own hearts. Always be ready with a reply for anyone who calls you to account for the hope you cherish, but answer gently and with a sense of reverence;

Well, as Christ has suffered for us in the flesh, let this very conviction that he who has suffered in the flesh gets quit of sin,

It is quite enough to have done as pagans choose to do, during the time gone by! You used to lead lives of sensuality, lust, carousing, revelry, dissipation and illicit idolatry,

(for this was why the gospel was preached to the dead as well, that while they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live as God lives in the spirit).

You must serve one another, each with the talent he has received, as efficient stewards of God's varied grace.

If anyone preaches, he must preach as one who utters the words of God; if anyone renders some service, it must be as one who is supplied by God with power, so that in everything God may be glorified through Jesus Christ. The glory and the dominion are his for ever and ever: Amen.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the ordeal that has come to test you, as though some foreign experience befell you.

None of you must suffer as a murderer or a thief or a bad character or a revolutionary;

So let those who are suffering by the will of God trust their souls to him, their faithful Creator, as they continue to do right.

Resist him; keep your foothold in the faith, and learn to pay the same tax of suffering as the rest of your brotherhood throughout the world.