elect according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctification of the Spirit, in order to obedience, and sprinkling of the blood of Jesus Christ: grace be to you, and peace be multiplied.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who, according to his abundant mercy, has, by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, regenerated us for a living hope

who are kept secure by the power of God through faith, to a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time:

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

having been begotten again, not with corruptible seed, but with incorruptible, by the word of God, which lives and abides forever.

Coming to him as to a living stone, rejected indeed by man, but in the sight of God, chosen and precious,

you, also, as living stones, are built up a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, that you may offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.

who formerly were not a people, but now are the people of God; who had not received mercy, but now have received mercy.

maintaining an honorable mode of life am one the Gentiles, that, inasmuch as they speak against you as evil-doers, they may, on account of your good works which they witness, glorify God in the day of visitation.

For such is the will of God, that by doing good you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men;

as being free, and yet not using your freedom as a cloak for malice, but as servants of God.

Honor all men; love the brotherhood; reverence God; honor the king.

Servants, be subject to your masters with all respect; not only to the good and gentle, but also to the perverse.

For this is praiseworthy, if any one, on account of conscience to ward God, endure sorrows, suffering unjustly.

For what praise is due, if, when you are punished for your faults, you endure it patiently? But if, when you do well, and suffer for it, you endure it patiently, this is praiseworthy in the- sight of God.

but let it be the hidden man of the heart, adorned with the incorruptible ornament of a meek and quiet spirit, which, in the sight of God, is of great price.

For, in former times, the holy women also, who trusted in God, thus adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands,

as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: and you are her children, if you do good, and fear no dismay.

For he that will love life, and see good days, let him keep his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking guile:

let him turn from evil and do good: let him seek peace, and pursue it.

And who is he that will harm you, if you be followers of that which is good?

but reverence the Lord God in your hearts, and be always ready to answer every one that asks of you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;

having a good conscience, that, inasmuch as they speak against you as evil-doers, they may be ashamed who traduce your good con duct in Christ.

For it is better, if such be the will of God, that you suffer for doing good, than for doing evil.

For Christ also once suffered for sins, the Just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, having been put to death in flesh, but made alive in spirit;

who formerly were disobedient, when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while an ark was preparing, in which few, that is, eight souls, were brought in safety through the water;

the likeness of which, even immersion, (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the seeking of a good conscience toward God,) does now also save us, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

who has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having become subject to him.

so that he no longer lives the rest of his time in the flesh, according to the desires of men, but according to the will of God.

For this cause, indeed, even those who have died had the gospel preached to them, that though they might be judged according to the will of men in the flesh, yet they might live according to the will of God in the spirit.

As each has received a gift, minister the same one to another, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If any man speaks, let him speak as the oracles of God: if any man acts as a deacon, let him do this as from the strength which God supplies; that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory and strength from age to age. Amen.

If you are reproached on account of Christ, happy are you: for the glorious Spirit of God rests upon you. On their part he is reviled, but on your part he is glorified:

But if any one suffer as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God on this account.

For the time has come that judgment must begin at the house of God; and if it begin first at us, what shall be the end of those who obey not the gospel of God?

Wherefore, let those also who suffer according to the will of God, by doing good, commit their souls to him as to a faithful Creator.

Act as shepherds to the flock of God which is among you, taking the oversight, not by compulsion, but willingly; not for the sake of sordid gain, but from readiness of mind:

neither as being lords over God's possessions, but being examples to the flock.

Likewise, you younger, be in subjection to the older: do you all indeed be subject one to another, and be clothed with humility: for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the lowly.

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the strong hand of God, that he may exalt you in due season.

But may the God of all grace, who has called us to his eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, make you perfect, establish, strengthen, confirm you.

By Sylvanus, a faithful brother to you, as I suppose, I have written briefly, exhorting, and testifying that this is the true grace of God in which you stand.