according to the foreknowledge of God the Father by being set apart by the Spirit for obedience and for sprinkling with Jesus Christ's blood. May grace and peace be yours in full measure!

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! By his great mercy he gave us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

who by God's power are protected through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.

Therefore, get your minds ready for action by being fully sober, and set your hope completely on the grace that will be brought to you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

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.

You have been born anew, not from perishable but from imperishable seed, through the living and enduring word of God.

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

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

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.

You once were not a people, but now you are God's people. You were shown no mercy, but now you have received mercy.

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.

or to governors as those he commissions to punish wrongdoers and praise those who do good.

For God wants you to silence the ignorance of foolish people by doing good.

Live as free people, not using your freedom as a pretext for evil, but as God's slaves.

Honor all people, love the family of believers, fear God, honor the king.

Slaves, be subject to your masters with all reverence, not only to those who are good and gentle, but also to those who are perverse.

For this finds God's favor, if because of conscience toward God someone endures hardships in suffering unjustly.

For what credit is it if you sin and are mistreated and endure it? But if you do good and suffer and so endure, this finds favor with God.

When he was maligned, he did not answer back; when he suffered, he threatened no retaliation, but committed himself to God who judges justly.

but the inner person of the heart, the lasting beauty of a gentle and tranquil spirit, which is precious in God's sight.

For in the same way the holy women who hoped in God long ago adorned themselves by being subject to their husbands,

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.

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

And he must turn away from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it.

For who is going to harm you if you are devoted to what is 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.

For it is better to suffer for doing good, if God wills it, than for doing evil.

Because Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, to bring you to God, by being put to death in the flesh but by being made alive in the spirit.

after they were disobedient long ago when God patiently waited in the days of Noah as an ark was being constructed. In the ark a few, that is eight souls, were delivered through water.

And this prefigured baptism, which now saves you -- not the washing off of physical dirt but the pledge of a good conscience to God -- through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

who went into heaven and is at the right hand of God with angels and authorities and powers subject to him.

in that he spends the rest of his time on earth concerned about the will of God and not human desires.

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.

Just as each one has received a gift, use it to serve one another as good stewards of the varied grace of God.

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.

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory, who is the Spirit of God, rests on you.

But if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but glorify God that you bear such a name.

For it is time for judgment to begin, starting with the house of God. And if it starts with us, what will be the fate of those who are disobedient to the gospel of God?

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

Give a shepherd's care to God's flock among you, exercising oversight not merely as a duty but willingly under God's direction, not for shameful profit but eagerly.

In the same way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

And God will exalt you in due time, if you humble yourselves under his mighty hand

And, after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory in Christ will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.

Through Silvanus, whom I know to be a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, in order to encourage you and testify that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it.