To: The exiles of the Dispersion in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, the people chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father through the sanctifying action of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus, the Messiah, and to be sprinkled with his blood. May grace and peace be yours in abundance!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah! Because of his great mercy he has granted us a new birth, resulting in an immortal hope through the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah, from the dead

Through faith you are being protected by God's power for a salvation that is ready to be revealed at the end of this era.

It was revealed to them that they were not serving themselves but you in regard to the things that have now been announced to you by those who brought you the good news through the Holy Spirit sent from heaven. These are things that even the angels desire to look into.

Through him you believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory, so that your faith and hope might be in God.

For you have been born again, not by a seed that perishes but by one that cannot perish by the living and everlasting word of God.

but the word of the Lord lasts forever." Now this word is the good news that was announced to you.

Surely you have tasted that the Lord is good!

As you come to him, the living stone who was rejected by people but was chosen and precious in God's sight,

you, too, as living stones, are building yourselves up into a spiritual house and a holy priesthood, so that you may offer spiritual sacrifices that are acceptable to God through Jesus, the Messiah.

Once you were not a people, but now you are the people of God. Once you had not received mercy, but now you have received mercy.

Continue to live such upright lives among the gentiles that, when they slander you as practicers of evil, they may see your good actions and glorify God when he visits them.

For it is God's will that by doing right you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish people.

Live like free people, and do not use your freedom as an excuse for doing evil. Instead, be God's servants.

Honor everyone. Keep on loving the community of believers, fearing God, and honoring the king.

For it is a fine thing if, when moved by your conscience to please God, you suffer patiently when wronged.

What good does it do if, when you sin, you patiently receive punishment for it? But if you suffer for doing good and receive it patiently, you have God's approval.

Instead, it should be the inner disposition of the heart, consisting in the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which God values greatly.

After all, this is how holy women who set their hope on God used to make themselves beautiful in the past. They submitted themselves to their husbands,

just as Sarah obeyed Abraham and called him lord. You have become her daughters by doing good and by not letting anything terrify you.

"For the person who wants to love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking deceit.

He must turn away from evil and do good. He must seek peace and pursue it.

Who will harm you if you are devoted to doing what is good?

But even if you should suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. "Never be afraid of their threats, and never get upset.

But do this gently and respectfully, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak evil of your good conduct in the Messiah will be ashamed of slandering you.

After all, if it is the will of God, it is better to suffer for doing right than for doing wrong.

For the Messiah also suffered for sins once for all, an innocent person for the guilty, so that he could bring you to God. He was put to death in a mortal body but was brought to life by the Spirit,

who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah, when God waited patiently while the ark was being built. In it a few, that is, eight persons, were saved by water.

Baptism, which is symbolized by that water, now saves you also, not by removing dirt from the body, but by asking God for a clear conscience based on the resurrection of Jesus, the Messiah,

who has gone to heaven and is at the right hand of God, where angels, authorities, and powers have been made subject to him.

so that he can live the rest of his mortal life guided, not by human desires, but by the will of God.

Indeed, this is why the gospel was proclaimed even to those who have died, so that they could be judged in their mortal flesh like all humans and live in the spiritual realm like God.

As good servant managers of God's grace in its various forms, serve one another with the gift each of you has received.

Whoever speaks must speak God's words. Whoever serves must serve with the strength that God supplies, so that in every way God may be glorified through Jesus, the Messiah. Glory and power belong to him forever and ever! Amen.

If you are insulted because of the name of the Messiah, you are blessed, for the glorious Spirit of God is resting on you.

But if you suffer for being a Christian, do not feel ashamed, but glorify God with that name.

For the time has come for judgment to begin with the household of God. And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who refuse to obey the gospel of God?

So then, those who suffer according to God's will should entrust their souls to their faithful Creator and continue to do what is good.

Be shepherds of God's flock that is among you, watching over it, not because you must but because you want to, and not greedily but eagerly, as God desires.

In a similar way, you young people must submit to the elders. All of you must clothe yourselves with humility for the sake of each other, because: "God opposes the arrogant, but gives grace to the humble."

Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you by the Messiah Jesus to his eternal glory, will restore you, establish you, strengthen you, and support you.

Through Silvanus, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written this short letter to encourage you and to testify that this is to be the true grace of God in which you are to stand firm!