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,

given us the new Life of undying hope, that promises an inheritance, imperishable, stainless, unfading, which has been reserved for you in Heaven--

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.

And since you call upon him as 'Father,' who judges every one impartially by what he has done, let reverence be the spirit of your lives during the time of your stay upon earth.

Destined for this before the beginning of the world, he has been revealed in these last days for your sakes,

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

But the teaching of the Lord remains for ever.' And that is the Teaching of the Good News which has been told to you.

It is to you, then, who believe in him that he is precious, but to those who do not believe he is 'a stone which, though rejected by the builders, has now itself become the corner-stone,'

who has gone into Heaven, and is at God's right hand, where Angels and Archangels and the Powers of Heaven now yield submission to him.

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,

Surely in the past you have spent time enough living as the Gentiles delight to live. For your path has lain among scenes of debauchery, licentiousness, drunkenness, revelry, hard-drinking, and profane idolatry.

Whatever the gift that each has received, use it in the service of others, as good stewards of the varied bounty of God.

For the time has come for judgment to begin with the House of God; and, if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who reject God's Good News?