PETER an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the foreigners dispers'd thro' Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, whom God the father has chosen in pursuance of his decree,

whom God the Father has chosen and predestined by the consecration of the Spirit to be obedient to Jesus Christ, and to be sprinkled with his blood; God bless you and give you perfect peace.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In accordance with His great mercy He has begotten us anew to an ever living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;

and into an inheritance imperishable and undefiled and fadeless, which has been kept in heaven for you

At the thought of this you are full of exultation, though (if it has been necessary) you have suffered for the moment somewhat from various trials;

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.

to them it was revealed that they got this intelligence not for themselves but for you, regarding all that has now been disclosed to you by those who preached the gospel to you through the holy Spirit sent from heaven. The very angels long to get a glimpse of this!

but in accordance with the Holy Being who has called you, you must prove to be holy too,

Because it has been said in the Writings, You are to be holy, for I am holy.

And if you give the name of Father to him who, judging every man by his acts, has no respect for a man's position, then go in fear while you are on this earth:

who was destin'd before the creation of the world, tho' 'tis of late only that he has appear'd, upon your account:

it is by him that you believe in God, who has raised him from the dead, and invested him with glory, that your faith and your hope might be in God.

Now that your obedience to the Truth has purified your souls for a brotherly love that is sincere, love one another heartily and steadily.

since your new Life has come, not from perishable, but imperishable, seed, through the Message of the Everliving God.

Because all flesh is as grass, and all its glory as the flower of grass. The grass has withered and its flower has fallen;

But the word of the Lord lives on forever"; that is, the message of the good news which has been brought to you.

which however rejected it is by men, is the precious stone, which God has chosen: and

Because it is said in the Writings, See, I am placing a keystone in Zion, of great and special value; and the man who has faith in him will not be put to shame.

For you, then, that believe, is the preciousness; but for those who do not believe, A stone which the builders rejected, The same has become the head stone of the corner,

But you are an elect race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people, that you may show forth the virtues of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light??10 you who once were not a people, but now are the people of God; who were once without mercy, but now you have found mercy.

In the past you were not a people, but now you are the people of God; then there was no mercy for you, but now mercy has been given to you.

For it is a sign of grace if a man, desiring to do right in the eyes of God, undergoes pain as punishment for something which he has not done.

this will conciliate the divine favour. and this is the condition of your vocation, since Christ himself has suffer'd for us,

who himself has borne our sins in his own body on the wood, in order that we, being made free from sins, may live unto righteousness: by whose stripe you are healed.

yours must be the inner beauty of character, the imperishable attraction of a quiet and gentle spirit, which has great value in the sight of God.

And you husbands, give thought to your way of life with your wives, giving honour to the woman who is the feebler vessel, but who has an equal part in the heritage of the grace of life; so that you may not be kept from prayer.

For it is said, Let the man who has a love of life, desiring to see good days, keep his tongue from evil and his lips from words of deceit:

for Jesus Christ himself has already suffer'd for our sins, the innocent for the guilty, to bring us to God: who, tho' he died with respect to his body, was rais'd to life by that spirit,

Who has gone into heaven, and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been put under his rule.

Therefore of Christ having suffered in flesh for us, arm ye yourselves also with the same mentality, because he who has suffered in flesh has ceased from sin,

For enough time of life has past for you to accomplish the will of the Gentiles, having gone in debaucheries, lusts, excesses of wine, revelings, drinking parties, and lawless idolatries.

For the gospel has for this purpose been preached even to those who are dead, that though they are judged in the flesh as men, they may live in the spirit according to the will of God.

But the end of all things has approached. Therefore be serious, and be sober for the prayers.

As each has received a gift, serving it for yourselves, as good stewards of the manifold grace of God.

If anyone has anything to say, let it be as the words of God; if anyone has the desire to be the servant of others, let him do it in the strength which is given by God; so that in all things God may have the glory through Jesus Christ, whose are the glory and the power for ever.

Do not think it strange, beloved, that a fiery ordeal has come to test you, as though some surprising thing had befallen you.

You should rejoice that you are sharing some of what Christ has suffered, so that you will get to rejoice all the more when He returns in His splendor.

For the time has come for the judging, starting with the church of God; but if it makes a start with us, what will be the end of those who are not under the rule of God?

And if it is hard for even the good man to get salvation, what chance has the man without religion or the sinner?

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

She who is in Babylon, who has a part with you in the purpose of God, sends you her love; and so does my son Mark.