Who, through the purpose of God, have been made holy by the Spirit, disciples of Jesus, made clean by his blood: May you have grace and peace in full measure.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whose great mercy we have been born anew into a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;

and into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and fadeless, which has been kept in heaven for you

by the power of God, having been kept through faith to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time;

Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, ye have been put to grief in manifold trials,

whom having not seen, you love; in whom not yet seeing, but believing in Him you exult with unspeakable joy, and having been glorified,

To whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto you, did they minister these things, which now have been announced unto you through them that preached the gospel unto you by the Holy Spirit sent forth from heaven; which things angel desire to look into.

Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.

because you know that you have not been ransomed with things that perish as silver or gold, from the futile way of living taught by your fathers,

who was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has been revealed in these last times for you

having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth.

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass; the grass withers, and its flower fails away: but the word of the Lord abides forever: and this is the word which has been preached as gospel to you.

But the word of the Lord lives on forever"; that is, the message of the good news which has been brought to you.

to whom coming -- a living stone -- by men, indeed, having been disapproved of, but with God choice, precious,

To those of you who believe in Him then, this "Stone" is [very] precious. But to those who do not believe [Psa. 118:22 says], "The stone which those in charge of the building project have rejected has been made the principal stone for aligning the whole structure."

And a stone to strike against, and a rock to stumble over: Who stumble because, unto the word, they do not yield, - unto which also they have been appointed;

In the past you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; then there was no mercy for you, but now mercy has been given to you.

or to governors, as those having been sent out by him unto the condemnation of evil doers, and the praise of those doing good;

For, hereunto, have ye been called; because, Christ also, suffered in your behalf, unto you, leaving behind a pattern, that ye might follow in his steps:

He bore our sins in his own body upon the tree, in order that we might become dead to sins, and be alive unto righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

Having been permitted to behold your reverently chaste behaviour, -

not paying back evil for evil or abuse for abuse, but on the contrary giving a blessing. Because for this you have been called??o inherit a blessing.

Because Christ also once suffered for sins, a righteous man for unrighteous men, so that he might bring you to God. Having indeed been killed in flesh, but made alive in spirit,

who in old times had been disobedient, when God's longsuffering was waiting in the days of Noah, while an ark was building, in which a few persons??ight in number??ere saved by water.)

who is at the right hand of God, having gone into heaven, agents, and positions of authority, and powers having been subordinated to him.

Therefore, Christ having suffered for us in the flesh, also you arm yourselves with the same thought, that he suffering in the flesh has been made to rest from sin,

Because for long enough, in times past, we have been living after the way of the Gentiles, given up to the desires of the flesh, to drinking and feasting and loose behaviour and unclean worship of images;

This is the purpose that the Gospel was preached to those who have died physically [for the faith]: It was so that, even though they had been judged physically [i.e., by suffering death at the hands of men], they could still live spiritually in the presence of God.

Making distribution among one another of whatever has been given to you, like true servants of the unmeasured grace of God;

So I exhort the Elders among you--I who am their fellow Elder and have been an eye-witness of the sufferings of the Christ, and am also a sharer in the glory which is soon to be revealed.

And the chief Shepherd having been manifested, ye shall be attired with an unfading crown of glory.

I have been writing to you briefly by the hand of Silas, our true-hearted Brother (for so I regard him), to urge upon you, and to bear my testimony, that in what I have written is to be found the true love of God. On that take your stand.

Your sister [church] here in Babylon, [also] chosen [by God], as you have been, sends her greetings along with my [spiritual] son Mark.