and who were chosen in accordance with the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the consecration of the Spirit, to learn obedience, and to be purified by the sprinkling of the Blood of Jesus Christ, from Peter, an Apostle of Jesus Christ. May blessing and peace be yours in ever-increasing measure.

Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has, in his great mercy, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,

that the genuineness of your faith--a thing far more precious than gold, which is perishable, yet has to be tested by fire--may win praise and glory and honour at the Appearing of Jesus Christ.

as they strove to discern what that time could be, to which the Spirit of Christ within them was pointing, when foretelling the sufferings that would befall Christ, and the glories that would follow.

Therefore concentrate your minds, with the strictest self-control, and fix your hopes on the blessing that is coming for you at the Appearing of Jesus Christ.

but by precious blood, as it were of a lamb, unblemished and spotless, the Blood of Christ.

and, as living stones, form yourselves into a spiritual House, to be a consecrated Priesthood, for the offering of spiritual sacrifices that will be acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

For it was to this that you were called! For Christ, too, suffered--on your behalf--and left you an example, that you should follow in his steps.

Revere the Christ as Lord in your hearts; always ready to give an answer to any one who asks your reason for the hope that you cherish, but giving it humbly and in all reverence,

For Christ himself died to atone for sins once for all--the good on behalf of the bad--that he might bring you to God; his body being put to death, but his spirit entering upon new Life.

And baptism, which this foreshadowed, now saves you--not the mere cleansing of the body, but the search of a clear conscience after God--through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

Since, then, Christ suffered in body, arm yourselves with the same resolve as he; for he who has suffered in body has ceased to sin,

When any one speaks, let him speak as one who is delivering the oracles of God. When any one is endeavoring to serve others, let him do so in reliance on the strength which God supplies; so that in everything God may be honour ed through Jesus Christ--to whom be ascribed all honour and might for ever and ever. Amen.

No, the more you share the sufferings of the Christ, the more may you rejoice, that, when the time comes for the manifestation of his Glory, you may rejoice and exult.

If you are reviled for bearing the name of Christ, count yourselves blessed; because the divine Glory and the Spirit of God are resting upon you.

As for the older men among you, who bear office in the Church, I, their fellow-Officer, and a witness to the sufferings of the Christ, who shall also share in the glory that is to be revealed--

God, from whom all help comes, and who called you, by your union with Christ, into his eternal glory, will, when you have suffered for a little while, himself perfect, establish, strengthen you.

Greet one another with the kiss of love. May God give his peace to you all in your union with Christ.