Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has caused us to be born anew to a life of hope through Jesus Christ's resurrection from the dead,

But because you are partakers of Christ's sufferings, rejoice; that at the revelation of his glory you also may rejoice with exceeding joy.

see that ye feed Christ's flock, which is among you, taking the oversight of them: not as though ye were compelled thereto, but willingly; Not for the desire of filthy lucre, but of a good mind.

but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and unspotted -- Christ's --

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!

Be hospitable to one another without complaint.

If ye are reproached in Christ's name, happy are ye, because the Spirit of glory and that of God rests upon you.

The elders, therefore, I exhort, who am a fellow-elder, and a witness of Christ's sufferings, also a partaker of the glory about to be revealed;

If someone's gift is speaking, he should [be sure to] say only what God wants him to. If a person's gift is serving, he should do so by the strength provided by God [who supplies all such gifts]. This is so that, in using all gifts, God may be honored through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs honor and power forever and ever. May it be so.

searching for who or what kind of time the Spirit of Christ, which was in them, pointed to, when he predicted the sufferings of Christ, and the glories that would follow them.

Therefore, since Christ suffered in the flesh [and died for us], arm yourselves [like warriors] with the same purpose [being willing to suffer for doing what is right and pleasing God], because whoever has suffered in the flesh [being like-minded with Christ] is done with [intentional] sin [having stopped pleasing the world],

Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ: To God's own people scattered over the earth, who are living as foreigners in Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Roman Asia, and Bithynia,